Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60K—ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OF TRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PLURAL DIVERSE PRIME-MOVERS IN VEHICLES; AUXILIARY DRIVES FOR VEHICLES; INSTRUMENTATION OR DASHBOARDS FOR VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH COOLING, AIR INTAKE, GAS EXHAUST OR FUEL SUPPLY OF PROPULSION UNITS IN VEHICLES
  • B60K26/00—Arrangements or mounting of propulsion unit control devices in vehicles
  • B60K26/02—Arrangements or mounting of propulsion unit control devices in vehicles of initiating means or elements
  • B60K26/021—Arrangements or mounting of propulsion unit control devices in vehicles of initiating means or elements with means for providing feel, e.g. by changing pedal force characteristics
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60K—ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OF TRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PLURAL DIVERSE PRIME-MOVERS IN VEHICLES; AUXILIARY DRIVES FOR VEHICLES; INSTRUMENTATION OR DASHBOARDS FOR VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH COOLING, AIR INTAKE, GAS EXHAUST OR FUEL SUPPLY OF PROPULSION UNITS IN VEHICLES
  • B60K26/00—Arrangements or mounting of propulsion unit control devices in vehicles
  • B60K26/02—Arrangements or mounting of propulsion unit control devices in vehicles of initiating means or elements
  • B60K26/021—Arrangements or mounting of propulsion unit control devices in vehicles of initiating means or elements with means for providing feel, e.g. by changing pedal force characteristics
  • B60K2026/023—Arrangements or mounting of propulsion unit control devices in vehicles of initiating means or elements with means for providing feel, e.g. by changing pedal force characteristics with electrical means to generate counter force or torque

Definitions

• the invention further relates to a correspondingly formed controller and a computer program product which, when executed on a programmable controller, is to execute the method according to the invention, as well as a computer-readable medium on which such a computer program product is stored.
• Information provided when driving the vehicle For example, it may be helpful to give the driver feedback about certain driving conditions in the form of signals in order to increase the safety when driving or the comfort of the driver or to save fuel.
• These feedbacks can be provided in various ways, such as optically or acoustically.
• the accelerator pedal is equipped for this purpose with an actuator, which makes it possible to
• Accelerate the accelerator pedal with a force For example, the accelerator pedal during a signal phase with the aid of a varying force generated by the actuator can be vibrated, which can be perceived by the driver as vibrations or pulsations on his resting on the accelerator pedal foot tactile.
• the accelerator pedal during a signal phase with the aid of a varying force generated by the actuator can be vibrated, which can be perceived by the driver as vibrations or pulsations on his resting on the accelerator pedal foot tactile.
• the accelerator pedal during a signal phase with the aid of a varying force generated by the actuator can be vibrated, which can be perceived by the driver as vibrations or pulsations on his resting on the accelerator pedal foot tactile.
• the accelerator pedal during a signal phase with the aid of a varying force generated by the actuator can be vibrated, which can be perceived by the driver as vibrations or pulsations on his resting on the accelerator pedal foot tactile.
• Actuator exert a drag on the accelerator pedal, which is a depression of the For example, accelerated pedal from a certain pedal position, so as to represent a haptic perceptible variable pressure point.
• the driver can be informed by the haptic perception hints and warnings or comfort functions are provided without this would be distracted by visual or audible signals, for example, from observing the traffic.
• DE 25 55 429 describes a system for generating tactile or haptic perceptible signals in a vehicle.
• the present invention allows in their embodiments an advantageous embodiment of a haptic accelerator pedal in a motor vehicle and an advantageous driving a haptic accelerator pedal.
• weight, size and possibly costs for the accelerator pedal due to the structural design of its components can be reduced compared to conventional haptic accelerator pedals.
• the proposed haptic accelerator pedal has a pedal element and an actuator.
• the pedal element can be moved from a rest position in an actuating direction towards a maximum actuated position.
• the actuator which can interact with the pedal element via an actuator displaceable by a motor, can via the
• the motor of the actuator here is a DC motor and is coupled via a transmission with the actuator.
• haptic perceptible signals necessary to transmit high forces of, for example, 20 to 100 Newton on a pedal element of an accelerator pedal have been in conventional haptic accelerator pedals in the Usually used direct drives.
• Such motors used as a direct drive are generally either heavy and require a large size or are compact, but require to generate a high torque from a small space special magnets, for example, rare earth materials. These are expensive. Besides, they have to be high
• Amperages are driven by, for example, several amps.
• the actuating element and the pedal element are preferably designed such that the actuator via the actuating element exclusively one
• Actuator exercised on the pedal element in one direction only can be, for example, only as a pressure or alternatively only as a train, in the opposite direction, however, no power transmission is possible.
• Depressing the pedal element can exert counteracting counteracting force towards the rest position on the pedal element, however, the pedal element can not be moved out of its rest position by the actuator.
• the transmission of the actuator may be formed in two stages.
• an electrical current consumption for a DC motor with gearbox in an actuator can be substantially lower than for the conventionally used direct drives and thus the associated power loss can also remain low
• an electronics used to drive the actuator of a controller for example. be integrated in an already existing engine control unit of the motor vehicle.
• an additional control unit which is responsible only for the control of the haptic accelerator pedal, become superfluous.
• a method for controlling a haptic accelerator pedal is also proposed.
• a pedal element is acted upon during a signal phase with an opposing force generated by an actuator.
• the counterforce acts counter to an actuation direction in which the pedal element can be moved from a zero position to a maximum actuated position.
• the actuator is driven in such a way that an operative connection between the pedal element and the actuator is disconnected.
• the pedal element and the actuator can be designed and arranged such that, at least when the actuator is actuated in a certain direction, a separation of an operative connection between the actuator and the pedal element occurs, whereas when the actuator is actuated in the other direction Active connection can be made or maintained and thus a force can be transmitted from the actuator to the pedal element. It is now proposed to control the actuator such that the operative connection between the pedal element and the actuator essentially only during the actual signal phase in which the counterforce for generating the haptic perceptible signal is to be exerted on the pedal element, is produced. Outside the signal phase, the actuator should be disconnected from the pedal element and not be able to directly influence it.
• the haptic accelerator pedal can behave outside a signal phase like a conventional accelerator pedal, without a driver being able to feel haptically influences by an actuator coupled to the pedal element.
• power consumption of the actuator can be kept low, since outside the signal phases only briefly energy is needed to disconnect the actuator of the pedal element, and then the actuator can rest without further energy.
• the actuator can be controlled after a signal phase such that it assumes a rest position in the for none of the pedal element
• the actuator of the actuator can be moved following a signal phase in a position in which it does not interact with the pedal element, regardless of which position the
• Pedal element occupies.
• the actuator needs to be moved only once after completion of the signal phase in the rest position and can remain there without further energy requirements until a new signal phase should begin and the actuator should again be in operative connection with the pedal element.
• the actuator can be controlled in a preparatory phase before a signal phase such that it occupies a waiting position in which there is no active connection between the pedal element and the actuator, from which the actuator but can enter into an operative connection with the pedal element in the short term, as this would be the case from the rest position.
• the waiting position can be chosen, for example, so that the
• Actuator of the actuator is closer to the pedal element, as in the Resting position is the case and thus can be moved faster in a mechanical engagement with the pedal element.
• a controller controlling the controller can be z. B. notice that in the near future, for example, within the subsequent 200 milliseconds, a haptic perceptible signal to be generated and in preparation for the generation of this signal, the actuator already in the waiting position, then as soon as possible
• the waiting position need not be static, but can be tracked a current position of the pedal element.
• a sensor detect the current position of the pedal element and a suitable control track the arrangement of the actuator suitable for the current position of the pedal element.
• the tracking can be controlled so that during the preparation phase still no engagement between the actuator and the pedal element takes place to exclude disturbing factors on the accelerator pedal, the actuator during the preparation phase, however, always arranged so that very short, for example within a few milliseconds, an operative connection with the pedal element can be made and in this way a haptic perceptible signal can be generated quickly.
• the controller can be designed to output control signals to a drive motor contained in the actuator via suitable interfaces.
• the controller may have interfaces in order, for example, to be able to receive information about the current position of the actuator, the accelerator pedal and / or forces exerted on the accelerator pedal by suitable sensors.
• the controller may use the proposed control method as well as any
• a computer program product may have computer-readable instructions instructing the programmable controller to perform the steps of the respective method.
• the computer program product may be stored on a computer-readable medium such as a CD, a DVD, a
• Flash memory In order to be able to correctly control the force or its arrangement to be effected by the actuator, in addition to a processing of further sensor data, information stored about a response of the actuator to certain control signals can also be used in a database or in the form of characteristic curves.
• haptic accelerator pedal or a controller are described.
• a person skilled in the art will recognize that the individual features can be suitably combined or exchanged with one another, in particular by the haptic accelerator pedal or the control can be transferred to the process and vice versa, in order to further
• FIG. 1 shows a motor vehicle with a control device for carrying out a method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 2 shows a graph to illustrate a temporal
• FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of a vehicle 1 with a haptic accelerator pedal 11.
• a driver By depressing a pedal element 5, a driver can cause a motor 17 to accelerate the vehicle 1 via a cable 15 or via a line (not shown) connected to an engine control unit 37. The driver must do this the pedal element 5 in one
• Position sensor 21 can be the current position or position of the
• a spring 19 biases the pedal element 5 against the actuating direction 7 towards a rest position.
• the accelerator pedal 11 is designed as a haptic accelerator pedal.
• the accelerator pedal 11 has an actuator 13, by means of which the pedal element 5 can be moved in a desired direction counter to the actuating direction 7 or can be acted upon in this direction with force.
• the actuator 13 can excite the pedal element 5 to oscillate, for example in the form of vibrations or pulsations, or generate a variable pressure point.
• the actuator 13 can advantageously with a simple
• DC motor 23 are operated, which is coupled via an example, two-stage gear 25 with serving as an actuator 27 disc.
• the actuator 27 By actuating the motor 23, the actuator 27, as indicated by the arrow 33, be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise.
• a cam 31 On the actuating element 27, a cam 31 is provided in an eccentric region. This cam 31 can cooperate with a provided on the pedal element 5 plunger 29.
• the plunger 29 at its end directed towards the actuator 13 on a fork-shaped receptacle 35, in which the cam 31 can engage as soon as the actuator 27 has been rotated to a corresponding position.
• the actuator 13 is controlled by a controller 3, which is integrated in an engine control unit 37.
• the controller 3 detects when a haptic perceptible signal is to be transmitted to a driver via the accelerator pedal 11 in order to point him, for example, to a dangerous situation or to suggest to him the possibility of a fuel-saving driving style.
• the lower curve illustrates the time-dependent position of the pedal element 5 and of its receptacle 35 on the plunger 29.
• the pedal element 5 can move between a non-actuated rest position P min and a maximum actuated position P max .
• the control unit 3 controls the actuator 13 to go to a rest position P 0 and stay there.
• the motor 23 is energized for this purpose only briefly to rotate the actuator 27 accordingly, that is, to rotate clockwise in Figure 1, so that the cam 31 is moved to a position where it is not with the plunger 29 of the accelerator pedal 11 in Contact stands.
• the rest position P 0 is set so that the cam 31 does not cooperate with the plunger 29, no matter which position is currently adopted by the pedal element 5. That is, the pedal element 5 can be moved over its entire travel without coming into engagement with the arranged in the rest position P 0 actuator 13.
• the controller 3 controls the actuator 13 during a preparation phase t v to move to a waiting position P w .
• the actuating element 27 is brought close to the receptacle 35 of the plunger 29.
• the current position of the pedal element 5 is determined continuously by the pedal sensor 21 and the actuator 27 of the time-varying position of the pedal element 5 and the receptacle 35 permanently tracked.
• Tracking can be set so that during the Preparation phase t v although still no active connection between the
• Pedal 5 and the actuator 27 occurs, but a distance between the receptacle 35 and the actuator 27 is kept small.
• the distance to less than 5 °, preferably less than 2 °, based on an angular position, the pedal element 5 would have to move to an operative connection with the actuating element 27, be limited.
• the control unit 3 can in this case use the information supplied by the position sensor 21 about the current position of the pedal element 5 in order to selectively control the actuator 13 in order to rotate the actuating element 27 to the corresponding position, so that the cam 31 engages in the fork-shaped receptacle 35.
• one of the controller 3 to the motor 23 applied control voltage varies in time such that the force exerted by the motor 23 via the gear 25 and the actuator 27 ultimately on the plunger 29 and thus on the pedal element 5 varies in time and so the accelerator pedal in vibration added.
• the controller 3 After the end t S i of the signal phase t s , the controller 3 allows the actuator to return to its rest position P 0 .
• the pedal element 5 can by the driver who has been stimulated by the haptic perceptible signal, for example, to

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Transportation (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Auxiliary Drives, Propulsion Controls, And Safety Devices (AREA)
• Mechanical Control Devices (AREA)

Priority Applications (3)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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ID=47076194

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Cited By (2)

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Citations (6)

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• 2011
  • 2011-12-12 DE DE201110088301 patent/DE102011088301A1/de not_active Withdrawn
• 2012
  • 2012-10-19 KR KR1020147015668A patent/KR20140101766A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2012-10-19 JP JP2014546374A patent/JP6073361B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2012-10-19 WO PCT/EP2012/070722 patent/WO2013087267A1/de active Application Filing
  • 2012-10-19 EP EP12778292.8A patent/EP2790949A1/de not_active Withdrawn

Patent Citations (6)

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