Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Indication or control of braking – acceleration – or deceleration
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-14
2001-07-03
Cuchlinski, Jr., William A. (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
Indication or control of braking, acceleration, or deceleration
C701S033000, C701S057000, C340S507000, C340S870030, C340S438000, C307S402000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06256569
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to actuator controllers for motor vehicles, and more particularly, to the actuator controllers adapted to braking controllers for carrying out ABS control for preventing wheel lock during braking operation and behavior stabilizing control for stabilizing vehicular behavior by a braking force produced regardless of driver's braking operation.
A known braking controller comprises a brake circuit for ensuring communication of a master cylinder with wheel cylinders; a fluid-pressure controlling valve arranged with the brake circuit for enabling achievement of three pressure states: an increased-pressure state that the brake circuit is in communication, a decreased-pressure state that the wheel cylinder communicates with a drain circuit, and a preserved-pressure state that the wheel cylinder is closed with respect to the brake circuit and the drain circuit; a reservoir arranged with the drain circuit for enabling accumulation of a brake-fluid pressure; a circulation circuit for ensuring communication of the drain circuit with the brake circuit in a position upstream of the fluid-pressure controlling valve; a pump arranged with the circulation circuit for returning to the brake circuit brake fluid accumulated in the reservoir; and a control unit for operating the fluid-pressure controlling valve and the pump, wherein in order to obtain ABS control for preventing wheel lock during braking operation, the control unit actuates the fluid-pressure controlling valve in accordance with information input from sensors to at least decrease and preserve a wheel-cylinder pressure, and operates the pump to circulate to the brake circuit brake fluid within the reservoir.
With such known device, the control unit includes a control part arranged in a cabin and including a CPU, and a drive part connected thereto and arranged, e.g. in an engine room for forming a signal for driving actuators. With this structure, wires at least as many as the actuators are needed between the control part and the drive part. When taking account of wiring for a feedback signal and fail-safe signal, the number of wires and connectors needed is substantially twice as many as that of actuators. Moreover, it is necessary to prepare wires and connectors for connecting the sensors and the control part. Due to increased number of wires and connectors, wiring and connecting work is time-consuming, resulting in bad assembling efficiency. Moreover, for wiring between the inside of the cabin and the outside thereof, a hole should be formed through a vehicle body, which needs an expensive sealing. Moreover, since this hole constitutes a noise entrance passage, the measures should be taken for prevention of noise entrance, increasing manufacturing cost.
JP-A 8-11692 proposes an art for solving such inconvenience. This reference shows a braking controller for carrying out ABS control for preventing wheel lock during braking operation, which comprises an actuator unit including a valve for decreasing, preserving and increasing a fluid pressure within a wheel cylinder, a reservoir for accumulating brake fluid drained from the wheel cylinder, a pump for circulating to a brake circuit brake fluid within the reservoir and a motor for driving the pump, and a control unit integrated with one side of the actuator unit and including a control part for carrying out a preprogrammed processing of signals input from sensors and a drive part for forming a drive signal for driving the valve and the motor in accordance with the results of processing of the control part.
With the braking controller as disclosed in JP-A 8-11692, the control unit and the actuator unit are previously internally connected to each other, so that apparatus to be externally connected to the control unit are sensors and a power supply only, resulting in largely reduced number of wires and connectors arranged outside the control unit.
Recently, a braking controller is proposed which carries out behavior stabilizing control for stabilizing vehicular behavior, when falling in a unstable state, e.g. oversteer and understeer, by a predetermined braking force produced in a predetermined wheel in accordance therewith. This device has a larger number of selector valves than the device for carrying out ABS control, and includes a pump with large capacity or pumps arranged in series to obtain sufficient and highly responsive brake-fluid pressure. That is, not only the number of actuators is increased, but the capacity of the motor is increased.
When applying the art proposed in JP-A 8-11692 to the braking controller for carrying out behavior stabilizing control, the sizes of the actuator unit and the control unit are both enlarged, i.e. the overall size of the device is enlarged, lowering the degree of freedom of mounting with respect to the vehicle. Moreover, an increase in number of actuators and capacity of the motor causes an increase in heat produced in both the actuator unit and drive part for driving the actuators, resulting in difficult achievement of protection of electric apparatus such as CPU which constitute the control part from heat. Moreover, when constructing the control part and the drive part in one unit, the overall structure of the device should be reduced to mount the control unit to one side of the actuator unit, resulting in difficult assembling work and lowered degree of freedom of the design due to increased design restriction.
Further, in order to carry out behavior stabilizing control, it is necessary to arrange a yaw-rate sensor for sensing a yaw rate of a vehicle and an acceleration sensor for sensing an acceleration of the vehicle. Such sensors are preferably integrated with an electronic control unit in view of assembling work with respect to the vehicle. In the device of JP-A 8-11692, the control unit and the actuator unit are disposed in an engine room which is undesirable in view of not only heat environment, but sensing of a yaw rate due to a distance from the center of the vehicle. Furthermore, the control unit undergoes vibrations of the motor, which forms undesirable environment in view of sensing of an acceleration of the vehicle. Thus, the yaw-rate sensor and the acceleration sensor should be arranged separately from the control unit, forming a disadvantage in view of assembling work.
Still further, the number of valves or actuators in the braking controller varies in accordance with the difference in the specifications of a vehicle, e.g. control method such as three-channel or four-channel control. This requires a change of a structure of the drive part of the actuator unit in accordance with the specifications of a vehicle. As a consequence, with the art proposed in JP-A 8-11692 wherein the control part and the drive part are integrated with the electronic control unit, the device should be manufactured in changing its structure in accordance with the specifications of a vehicle, having lowered adaptability.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide actuator controllers for motor vehicles which allow a reduction in parts, achievement of a thermally protected structure, and improvement in adaptability, mountability and assembling efficiency with reduced manufacturing cost. Another object of the present invention is to provide the actuator controllers which allow improvement in information transmittablity, reliability, anti-noise performance and sensing performance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An aspect of the present invention lies in providing a system for a motor vehicle, comprising:
an actuator unit;
a first control unit, said first control unit carrying out a preprogrammed processing of an input signal, said first control unit being disposed in a first position of the motor vehicle;
a second control unit connected to and integrated with said actuator unit, said second control unit being disposed in a second position of the motor vehicle distant from said first position, said second control unit forming a drive signal in accordance with a processing
Cuchlinski Jr. William A.
Foley & Lardner
To Tuan C
Unisia Jecs Corporation
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