Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Indication or control of braking – acceleration – or deceleration
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-18
2001-12-11
Louis-Jacques, Jacques H. (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
Indication or control of braking, acceleration, or deceleration
C180S170000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06330506
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This application claims the priority of German Application No. 199 01 527.9, filed Jan. 16, 1999, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The present invention relates to a process for automatically controlling the speed of a motor vehicle.
In modern vehicles, cruise controls are increasingly used for increasing the driver's comfort and ensuring that the vehicle maintains a definable desired speed without any further intervention by the driver. In this case, the desired speed can be set, for example, on straight routes in a fuel consumption-optimized manner or as a function of speed limitations.
From German Published Patent Application DE-OS 2842023, a cruise control device is known. This device sets the desired driving speed by way of an analysis of the desired speed and the actual speed by influencing the engine power. In this case, a time-variable desired speed is provided in dynamic operating conditions, such as acceleration and deceleration, which leads the vehicle (by means of a defined acceleration or deceleration) to the desired or stored desired value.
From German Patent Document DE 196 27 727 A1, a process is also known for controlling the speed of a vehicle. Here, the vehicle speed is controlled according to a desired speed defined by the driver and the actual speed. After the control is switched off, the driver can resume the control by means of the originally stored speed. In at least one operating situation, the resumption of the original desired speed is delayed. This known solution ensures that the driver and the subsequent traffic is not irritated by unmotivated deceleration operations, which, le particularly in the case of cruise controls with a braking intervention as often implemented in the adaptive cruise control device, leads to considerable loss of comfort.
In the case of known cruise controls, it is possible that the cruise control device is temporarily switched off in a particular operating condition, preferably in the case of a deceleration or acceleration, and the vehicle moves at a significantly higher speed than was implemented during the preceding control operation. If, after the acceleration event or a possible deceleration event, the driver wants to drive the vehicle at the again newly reached speed, he must again store this speed in the cruise control device.
By means of the process according to the invention, it is ensured that a new desired speed is automatically detected by the control unit without additional programming efforts on the part of the driver and is defined as the new target value to be controlled. The actual acceleration is monitored by a comparison of the amount of the actual acceleration with the amount of a reference acceleration for detecting the termination of the event of the speed change. This has the advantage that no additional action by the driver is required. On the basis of the comparison, the control unit automatically recognizes the point in time at which the desired speed change is concluded and stores the momentary speed as the new desired speed.
As the result of the characteristics described herein, additional advantageous further developments and improvements of the process according to the invention are achieved.
The end of the speed change will be recognized when, within a definable time after letting go of an operating unit for the speed change, no new operation of the operating unit takes place. This has the advantage that there is no reaction to every possibly unintentional accelerator pedal or brake pedal movement by the driver.
Another advantage is the fact that, after the conclusion of the speed change, a definable time period is started. Only after the expiration of this definable time period (t
1
) is the momentary speed (v
mom
) detected as the new desired speed (v
des-new
). In this manner, the transient phenomenon of the constant-speed maintaining device leading to the new desired speed takes place without any bucking noticeable to the driver. The driving comfort is therefore clearly increased.
Another advantage is achieved when the momentary speed (v
mom
) is acted upon by a definable, preferably operating-point-dependent speed difference (v). This adaptively corrected speed is stored as a new desired speed (V
des-new
) because the vehicle handling is very well adapted thereby to the actual demands.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
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Crowell & Moring LLP
Dr. Ing. h.c.F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft
Louis-Jacques Jacques H.
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