JP2015093665A - Grill shutter device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a grille shutter device that enables a shutter mechanism to more reliably perform an opening/closing operation.SOLUTION: When a shutter mechanism is put into a stop state before reaching a control target position (step 106: NO), a control apparatus makes the shutter mechanism operate in a direction opposite to a direction of a forward operation for making the shutter mechanism reach the control target position (reverse operation control, step 107), and subsequently makes the shutter mechanism perform the forward operation again (forward reoperation control, step 108).

Description

  The present invention relates to a grill shutter device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a grill shutter device capable of controlling the flow rate of air flowing into an engine room from the grill opening based on the opening / closing operation of a shutter mechanism provided at the grill opening at the front of the vehicle body (for example, Patent Document 1). reference).

  That is, for example, during high speed running, the aerodynamic performance (for example, “Cd value”) can be improved by closing the shutter mechanism and restricting the inflow of air into the engine room. Further, when the engine is started, the warm-up time can be shortened by suppressing the flow rate introduced into the radiator. When the engine temperature tends to increase, the engine temperature can be appropriately managed by increasing the flow rate of the shutter mechanism opened to flow into the engine room.

JP 2007-320527 A

  However, when the shutter mechanism is exposed to the outside air, for example, a situation in which the shutter mechanism cannot be opened / closed to the target control position due to foreign matter being caught or the like may occur. In such a situation, there is a possibility that the expected control effect may not be obtained, so that there is still room for improvement in this respect.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a grille shutter device that can more reliably open and close the shutter mechanism.

  A grill shutter device that solves the above-described problems includes a shutter mechanism that can open and close a grill opening at a front portion of a vehicle body, and a control device that controls the operation of the shutter mechanism, and the control device is controlled by the shutter mechanism. When the stop state is reached before reaching the target position, the shutter mechanism is operated in the opposite direction to the forward operation for reaching the control target position, and then the shutter mechanism is again operated in order. preferable.

  According to the above configuration, for example, it is possible to eliminate an event that causes a stoppage during the process, such as a foreign object being caught. As a result, the shutter mechanism can reach the control target position more reliably.

  In the grill shutter device that solves the above-described problem, it is preferable that the control device changes an operation amount of a reversing operation that operates the shutter mechanism in a direction opposite to the forward operation based on a running state of a vehicle.

According to the above configuration, the shutter mechanism can reach the control target position more reliably while suppressing the occurrence of delay due to the execution of the reversing operation and the reordering operation.
In the grill shutter device that solves the above-described problem, the control device sets either the fully open position or the fully closed position as the control target position, and is stopped before the shutter mechanism reaches the control target position. In such a case, the shutter mechanism is moved forward again after being returned to either the fully open position or the fully closed position, which is the operation start position, by the reversing operation in the direction opposite to the forward movement. preferable.

  According to the above configuration, it is possible to more effectively eliminate the event that caused the stoppage on the way.

  According to the present invention, the shutter mechanism can be opened and closed more reliably.

The schematic diagram which shows schematic structure of the vehicle by which a grill shutter apparatus is mounted. The control block diagram of a grill shutter apparatus. (A)-(c) is explanatory drawing which shows the aspect of refresh control. The flowchart which shows the process sequence of refresh control. The flowchart which shows another example of refresh control.

Hereinafter, an embodiment relating to a grille shutter device will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the vehicle 1 shown in FIG. 1, a radiator 5 for cooling the engine 4 is accommodated in an engine room 3 formed inside the vehicle body 2. In addition, a grill opening 7 is formed in the front portion of the vehicle body 2 (the left end portion in the figure) to communicate the external space in front of the vehicle and the internal space of the vehicle body 2. The radiator 5 is arranged in front of the engine 4 so that air flowing from the grill opening 7 into the engine room 3 is hit.

  A fan 6 is provided behind the radiator 5 (on the right side in the figure). As the fan 6 rotates, air flows efficiently through the radiator 5.

  In the present embodiment, the grill opening 7 is formed below the bumper 8. A front grille 9 constituting a design surface (lower grille) is attached to the opening end 7 a of the grill opening 7. The vehicle 1 according to this embodiment includes a grill shutter device 10 that can control the flow rate of air flowing into the engine room 3 from the grill opening 7.

  More specifically, the grill shutter device 10 includes a shutter mechanism 11 that can control the flow rate of air based on the opening / closing operation, and an actuator 12 that opens / closes the shutter mechanism 11.

  The shutter mechanism 11 of the present embodiment is formed by arranging a plurality of movable fins 14 in a frame 13 formed in a substantially square frame shape. Specifically, the upper end of the frame 13 is fixed to the bumper reinforcement 15 so as to be disposed in the grill opening 7. Each of the movable fins 14 is rotatably supported by a rotation shaft 16 that extends over the width direction of the frame 13 (a direction orthogonal to the paper surface in the figure). Each movable fin 14 is provided with a fin portion 17 capable of closing the inside of the frame 13 by rotating about the rotation shaft 16.

  That is, in the shutter mechanism 11, each movable fin 14 rotates in a direction (see FIG. 1, clockwise direction) in which the fin portion 17 is parallel to the inflow direction of the air flowing from the grill opening 7. Open state. Further, the movable fins 14 are closed by rotating in a direction (see FIG. 1, counterclockwise direction) where the fin portions 17 intersect with the air inflow direction. And when each movable fin 14 exists in the rotation position corresponding to a fully closed state, the front-end | tip (fin tip of the fin part 17) of each adjacent movable fin 14 overlaps, and the inside of the flame | frame 13 is carried out. It can be blocked.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the actuator 12 of the present embodiment drives the shutter mechanism 11 to open and close by converting the rotation of the motor 18 into the rotation of each movable fin 14. In the present embodiment, the motor 18 serving as the drive source rotates based on the drive power supplied by the control device 20. The control device 20 controls the operation of the shutter mechanism 11 through the supply of driving power to the motor 18.

  More specifically, in the present embodiment, various vehicle state quantities such as the vehicle speed V, the cooling water temperature Tw of the engine 4, or the ambient temperature (outside temperature) Ta can be estimated to the control device 20. It has come to be. And the control apparatus 20 performs drive control of the shutter mechanism 11 based on these vehicle state quantities.

  Specifically, the control device 20 of the present embodiment has turned on the ignition switch of the vehicle 1 (IG on) by starting communication of each vehicle state quantity via the in-vehicle network (not shown). That is, it recognizes that the vehicle 1 is in a traveling state or a traveling preparation state. Then, well-known drive control such as closing the shutter mechanism 11 or closing the shutter mechanism 11 by increasing the vehicle speed V is executed until the cooling water temperature Tw rises.

  Here, the control device 20 of the present embodiment controls the operation of the shutter mechanism 11 with one of the fully open position and the fully closed position as the control target position (Pt). In the present embodiment, the shutter mechanism 11 is basically held in either the fully open state or the fully closed state when the operation is stopped.

  Note that the operating position of the shutter mechanism 11 in this case corresponds to the rotational position of each movable fin 14 constituting the shutter mechanism 11. The operation amount also corresponds to the rotation amount of the movable fin 14.

  More specifically, in this embodiment, a pulse sensor 22 provided in the actuator 12 is connected to the control device 20. The control device 20 detects the operation amount of the shutter mechanism 11 based on the pulse signal Sp synchronized with the rotation of the motor 18 input from the pulse sensor 22.

  Specifically, the control device 20 of the present embodiment determines whether or not the shutter mechanism 11 being controlled has been stopped by monitoring the input pulse signal Sp (pulse interval). Then, the control device 20 compares the operation amount (X) until reaching the stop state with the reference operation amount (X0) necessary to reach the control target position (Pt) from the operation start position (Ps). (For example, from the fully open position to the fully closed position), it is configured to check whether or not the shutter mechanism 11 is in the fully open state or the fully closed state.

(Refresh control)
Next, the refresh control mode implemented in the grill shutter device 10 of the present embodiment will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C, the control device 20 according to the present embodiment is brought into a stop state before the shutter mechanism 11 reaches the control target position Pt by the operation confirmation determination as described above. When it is determined that the shutter mechanism 11 has been reached (X <X0, FIG. 3A), the shutter mechanism 11 is operated in the opposite direction to the forward operation to reach the control target position Pt (FIG. 3B, the reversing operation). ). Then, in order to reach the control target position Pt again, the shutter mechanism 11 is operated in order (FIG. 3 (c), re-order operation), and a series of refresh control is executed.

  Specifically, the control device 20 of the present embodiment once returns the shutter mechanism 11 to the operation start position Ps by the reversing operation. That is, at the time of the fully open operation in which the fully open position is the control target position Pt, the shutter mechanism 11 is returned to the fully closed position that is the operation start position Ps, and in the fully closed operation of which the fully closed position is the control target position Pt, The shutter mechanism 11 is returned to the fully open position that is the operation start position Ps. Then, after that, the shutter mechanism 11 is again operated in order to eliminate an event that causes the stoppage of the middle, such as a foreign object being caught.

  More specifically, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4, the control device 20 performs the forward operation of the shutter mechanism 11 in order to reach the control target position Pt while performing the stop state determination as needed (forward operation control). Step 101 to Step 103). If it is determined that the shutter mechanism 11 has been stopped (step 103: YES), the operation amount X from the operation start position Ps to the current position Px and the reference necessary for reaching the control target position Pt. By comparing with the operation amount X0 (see FIG. 3A), it is determined whether or not the shutter mechanism 11 has reached the control target position Pt (step 105).

  Next, when the control device 20 determines that the shutter mechanism 11 has not reached the control target position Pt by executing the control target attainment determination (step 106: NO), the control device 20 subsequently moves the shutter mechanism 11 over. After the reversal operation (step 107), the shutter mechanism 11 is sequentially operated again (step 108), and a series of refresh control is executed.

  The re-order operation control in step 108 is executed by the same processing procedure as the first order operation control shown in steps 101 to 103. The reversing operation in step 107 is also executed in the same processing procedure as the (re) forward operation control except that the operation direction of the shutter mechanism 11 is reversed.

  In addition, the control device 20 of the present embodiment executes the control target arrival determination again after executing the refresh control (step 109). When it is determined by the execution of the control target arrival determination that the shutter mechanism 11 has reached the control target position Pt (step 110: YES), the drive control of the shutter mechanism 11 has been completed normally. (Step 111).

  If it is determined in step 105 that the shutter mechanism 11 has reached the control target position Pt (step 105: YES), the control device 20 naturally controls the drive of the shutter mechanism 11. Is determined to have ended normally (step 111). If it is determined in step 109 that the shutter mechanism 11 has not reached the control target position Pt (step 110: NO), it is determined that an abnormality has occurred in the drive control of the shutter mechanism 11, The drive control ends (step 112).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) When the shutter device 11 is stopped before the shutter mechanism 11 reaches the control target position Pt (step 106: NO), the control device 20 is in a direction opposite to the forward operation for reaching the control target position Pt. After operating the shutter mechanism 11 (reverse operation control, step 107), the shutter mechanism 11 is operated again in order (re-order operation control, step 108).

  According to the above configuration, for example, it is possible to eliminate an event that causes a stoppage during the process, such as a foreign object being caught. As a result, the shutter mechanism 11 can reach the control target position Pt more reliably.

  (2) The control device 20 controls the operation of the shutter mechanism 11 with either one of the fully open position and the fully closed position as the control target position Pt. At the time of the reversal operation control, the shutter mechanism 11 is returned to the fully open position or the fully closed position that is the operation start position Ps.

According to the above configuration, it is possible to more effectively eliminate the event that caused the stoppage on the way.
In addition, you may change the said embodiment as follows.

  In the above embodiment, the air flowing from the grill opening 7 is taken into the engine room 3 formed in the vehicle body 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the intake destination of the air may not be the engine room 3 as long as it is an internal space of the vehicle body 2 that can control the flow rate of the flowing air based on the opening / closing operation of the shutter mechanism 11. That is, for example, a space in which air flowing from the grill opening 7 is introduced, such as a storage chamber of a heat exchanger such as a radiator 5 or a condenser, etc., and a vehicle in which an engine is arranged at the rear or center of the vehicle body, Alternatively, the present invention may be applied to a vehicle in which an engine is not mounted in a vehicle interior space ahead of the passenger compartment, such as an electric vehicle.

  In the above-described embodiment, the control device 20 sets one of the fully open position and the fully closed position as the control target position Pt, whereby the shutter mechanism 11 is basically held in either the fully open state or the fully closed state. It was done. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, an arbitrary operation position may be set as the control target position Pt, for example, by adjusting the rotation angle of the movable fin 14 to make the shutter mechanism 11 half open.

  In the above embodiment, when the reversing operation is controlled, the shutter mechanism 11 is returned to the fully open position or the fully closed position that is the operation start position Ps. The operating amount of the reversing operation may be arbitrarily changed.

-Furthermore, the structure which changes the operation amount of the inversion operation | movement based on the driving | running | working state of a vehicle may be sufficient.
For example, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5, when the refresh control is started (see FIG. 4, step 106: NO), it is first determined whether or not the vehicle speed V is equal to or lower than a predetermined speed V0 (step 207). If the vehicle speed V is equal to or lower than the predetermined speed V0 (step 207: YES), the shutter mechanism 11 is returned to the operation start position Ps (fully opened position or fully closed position) as in the first embodiment. Normal reversal operation control is executed (step 208, see FIG. 3B).

  On the other hand, when the vehicle speed V exceeds the predetermined speed V0 (step 207: NO), the reverse operation control is performed without reducing the operation amount of the reverse operation and returning the shutter mechanism 11 to the fully open position or the fully closed position. End (special inversion operation control, step 209). Then, after executing any reverse operation control (steps 208 and 209) according to the vehicle speed V, the re-order operation control (step 210) may be executed.

  That is, when the vehicle travels at a high speed, the operating position of the shutter mechanism 11 may be fixed due to the wind pressure. In this case, the sticking may be canceled by a small amount of the reversing operation, unlike the case where foreign matter is caught. As a result, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of delay associated with the execution of the refresh control.

  In addition, even when the atmospheric temperature (outside air temperature) Ta is lower than a predetermined temperature, the special reversal operation control with a small control amount of the reversal operation may be executed. That is, when the temperature is low, the operating position of the shutter mechanism 11 may be fixed due to freezing. In such a case, it is not always necessary to return the shutter mechanism 11 to the fully open position or the fully closed position, and it may be possible to eliminate the fixed state by applying momentum by executing the reversing operation.

  Furthermore, in the configuration in which an arbitrary operation position is set to the control target position Pt as described above, special reversal operation control that increases the operation amount of the reversal operation may be performed. Thereby, the fixed state can be more reliably eliminated.

  In the above embodiment, if it is determined that the shutter mechanism 11 has not reached the control target position Pt after execution of the refresh control (step 110: NO), an abnormality has occurred in the drive control of the shutter mechanism 11 And the drive control is terminated (step 112). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and when the shutter mechanism 11 does not reach the control target position Pt even after the execution of the refresh control, the refresh control may be repeated again. In this case, the number of re-executions may be set arbitrarily.

  In the above embodiment, the operating amount of the shutter mechanism 11 is detected based on the pulse signal Sp synchronized with the rotation of the motor 18 and the pulse interval is monitored, so that the shutter mechanism 11 being controlled is stopped. It was decided to determine whether or not. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the detection method for detecting the operation amount and the determination method for stopping operation may be arbitrarily changed. The control target arrival determination is not limited to the comparison between the operation amount X and the reference operation amount X0, and may be arbitrarily changed, for example, using a limit switch.

Next, technical ideas that can be grasped from the above embodiments will be described together with effects.
(B) The grille shutter device characterized in that the control device changes an operation amount of the reversing operation based on a vehicle speed.

(B) The grille shutter device characterized in that the control device changes an operation amount of the reversing operation based on an ambient temperature of the vehicle.
According to each of the above configurations, it is possible to effectively suppress the occurrence of delay associated with the execution of the refresh control.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle, 2 ... Vehicle body, 3 ... Engine room, 7 ... Grill opening part, 10 ... Grill shutter apparatus, 11 ... Shutter mechanism, 12 ... Actuator, 14 ... Movable fin, 18 ... Motor, 20 ... Control apparatus, 22 ... Pulse sensor, Pt ... control target position, Ps ... operation start position, Px ... current position, Sp ... pulse signal, X ... operation amount, X0 ... reference operation amount, V ... vehicle speed, V0 ... predetermined speed, Ta ... atmosphere temperature.

Claims (3)

A shutter mechanism capable of opening and closing the grill opening at the front of the vehicle body;
A control device for controlling the operation of the shutter mechanism,
When the shutter device is stopped before the shutter mechanism reaches the control target position, the control device operates the shutter mechanism in the direction opposite to the forward operation to reach the control target position, and then again. A grill shutter device for operating the shutter mechanism in order. The grill shutter device according to claim 1,
The grille shutter device characterized in that the control device changes an operation amount of a reversing operation for operating the shutter mechanism in a direction opposite to the forward operation based on a running state of a vehicle. In the grill shutter device according to claim 1 or 2,
The control device sets either the fully open position or the fully closed position as the control target position,
When the shutter mechanism is stopped before reaching the control target position, it returns to either the fully open position or the fully closed position, which is the operation start position by the reversing operation in the direction opposite to the forward operation. After that, the forward movement of the shutter mechanism again,
A grill shutter device characterized by the above.