JP3641932B2 - Linked vehicle relative angle detection device and method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a connected vehicle relative angle detection device and method for detecting an angle between connected vehicles in a connected vehicle in which a main vehicle and a slave vehicle are connected.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Vehicles include a connected vehicle including a main vehicle (tow vehicle, hereinafter referred to as “tractor”) and a slave vehicle (towed vehicle, hereinafter referred to as “trailer”) connected thereto. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing such a conventional coupled vehicle. In FIG. 9, 1 is a tractor, 2 is a trailer, 3 is a coupler, and 4 and 5 are wheels.
The trailer 2 is connected to the tractor 1 by connecting a king pin (not shown) attached to the lower surface of the front part thereof to the coupler 3 of the tractor 1.
[0003]
When such a connected vehicle turns, the leading tractor 1 turns first, and then the trailer 2 turns while being pulled by the tractor. At that time, the directions of the tractor 1 and the trailer 2 are deviated. The shifted angle is the connected vehicle relative angle.
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the relative angle of the connected vehicles. The reference numerals correspond to those in FIG. 9, 30 is a tractor center line, 31 is a trailer center line, and θ is a connected vehicle relative angle. Since the tractor center line 30 indicates the direction in which the tractor 1 faces and the trailer center line 31 indicates the direction in which the trailer 2 faces, the connected vehicle relative angle θ is obtained as an angle formed by them.
[0004]
In connected vehicles, it is necessary to prevent the occurrence of jackknife or trailer wings during travel, but various studies on steering angle control and braking force control have been carried out in order to prevent them and improve steering stability. Has been made. When performing such control, it is important to accurately grasp the attitude of the connected vehicle now. The relative angle of the connected vehicle is an important factor in grasping the posture of the connected vehicle.
[0005]
Therefore, some proposals for detecting the relative angle of the connected vehicle have been made. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-29471 proposes a technique for detecting by providing a gear mechanism of a gear and a rack and a hydraulic mechanism at the coupler portion. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 6-87462 and 6-255529 propose a technique in which a coupler is provided with a turntable and a lever and a hydraulic mechanism is used for detection.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-332973 discloses a technique in which a magnetic scale is provided in an arc shape on the lower surface of a trailer, a magnetic sensor is provided on a side surface of a coupler, and detection is performed based on how much the magnetic sensor is rotated along the magnetic scale. Has been proposed.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the above-mentioned JP-A-62-29471, JP-A-6-87462, and JP-A-6-255529 have the problems that the structure is complicated, there are many parts, and the cost is high. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 8-332973 has a problem that it is easily affected when the connected vehicle is pitched or rolled.
An object of the present invention is to provide a connected vehicle relative angle detection apparatus and method that is simple in structure, low in cost, and that is not affected by pitching or rolling. Is.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problem, in the connected vehicle relative angle detection device of the present invention, the tractor constituting the connected vehicle is installed in parallel with a certain distance in the rearward direction, and between the trailer connected to the tractor. The first distance measuring means and the second distance measuring means for measuring the distance, and the distances measured by the first distance measuring means and the second distance measuring means, respectively, and the fixed distance. An arithmetic means for calculating the vehicle relative angle is provided.
[0008]
In the connected vehicle relative angle detection method of the present invention, the first distance measuring means and the second distance measuring means installed on the tractor constituting the connected vehicle in parallel to the rear and spaced apart by a certain distance. The distance between the trailer connected to the tractor is measured, and the connected vehicle relative angle is calculated based on the distance measured by the first distance measuring means and the second distance measuring means and the fixed distance. I decided to ask.
[0009]
(Summary of actions to be resolved)
The distance between the tractor and the trailer is measured by a distance measuring means installed in parallel at a fixed distance, and connected by calculating a trigonometric function based on the difference between the two distances obtained by the measurement and the fixed distance. Obtain the vehicle relative angle. If the tractor and trailer roll or pitch, the distance measured by the distance measuring means will change by the same value. Will not come out.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a connected vehicle to which the present invention is applied. Reference numerals correspond to those in FIG. 9, 6 is a linear displacement sensor, and 7 is a calculation means. The linear motion type displacement sensor 6 is a kind of distance measuring means, and is installed on the tractor 1 side so that the contact tip is in contact with the wall surface of the trailer 2 facing the tractor 1. The computing means 7 is, for example, a controller configured as a computer. The distance signal detected by the linear displacement sensor 6 is sent to the calculation means 7, where calculation for obtaining the connected vehicle relative angle is performed.
In this embodiment, as a means for measuring the distance between the tractor 1 and the trailer 2, a linear motion type displacement sensor that mechanically contacts the trailer 2 and measures the distance is shown. Different types of distance measuring means may be used.
[0011]
FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the linear displacement sensor 6. Reference numerals correspond to those in FIG. 1, 10 is a linear motion displacement sensor main body, 11 is an inner rod, 12 is a contact ball, 13 and 14 are mounting brackets, 15 is a mounting base, 16 is a support base, and 17 is a contact. Ball units, 18-1 and 18-2 are screw holes, 19 are screws, and 20 is wiring.
A mounting base 15 is fixed on the support base 16, and the direct acting displacement sensor main body 10 is mounted on the mounting base 15 by mounting brackets 13 and 14 and screws 19. The screw 19 is screwed into the screw holes 18-1 and 18-2.
[0012]
The inner rod 11 can be projected and retracted linearly in the direction of the arrow with respect to the direct acting displacement sensor main body 10, and a contact ball unit 17 including a contact ball 12 is provided at the tip thereof. The contact ball 12 is always brought into contact with the wall surface of the trailer 2, and the distance between the contact ball 12 and the trailer 2 is detected by detecting the displacement of the inner rod 11.
As will be described later with reference to FIG. 4, the direct acting displacement sensor main body 10 basically has a potentiometer structure, and wiring 20 is provided for this purpose. A displacement signal of the inner rod 11 is obtained from the wiring 20, and the relative angle of the connected vehicle is calculated based on the signal.
[0013]
FIG. 2 is a side view and a plan view of the linear motion type displacement sensor 6. Reference numerals correspond to those in FIGS. FIG. 2A is a diagram of the direct acting displacement sensor 6 viewed from the side. The support base 16 is attached to the rear portion of the tractor 1 and facing the wall surface of the trailer 2. The contact ball 12 is always in press contact with the wall surface of the trailer 2. When the inner rod 11 is pushed by the trailer 2, the inner rod 11 is retracted into the linear motion type displacement sensor main body 10, and protrudes when the trailer 2 is moved far away.
[0014]
FIG. 2B is a view of the direct acting displacement sensor as viewed from above. Since two linear motion type displacement sensors are provided in parallel, two are shown. In order to distinguish the two, subscripts A and B are attached to each symbol.
The direct acting displacement sensors 6A and 6B are provided in parallel toward the rear of the tractor 1. L is the distance between the inner rods 11A and 11B, that is, the distance between the inner rods, and S _A and S _B are the projecting strokes of the inner rods 11A and 11B.
If the combination vehicle is straight, as shown, contact ball 12A, the wall surface of the trailer 2 12B are in contact is at right angles to the inner rod 11A, 11B, both the projecting stroke S _A, S _B is the same. From the signal lines 20A and 20B, detection signals of the protruding strokes S _A and S _B are extracted.
[0015]
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a principle structure of the direct acting displacement sensor main body 10. The reference numerals correspond to those in FIG. 3, 21, 22, 23 are terminals, 24 is a resistor, 25 is a brush, and 26 is a spring. The spring 26 is a spring that repels the inner rod 11 in the protruding direction, and is compressed when the inner rod 11 is pressed against the wall surface of the trailer.
A voltage is applied to both ends of the resistor 24 via the terminals 21 and 22, and the brush 25 attached to the inner rod 11 slides on the resistor 24. The resistor 24 and the brush 25 form a kind of potentiometer, and a voltage signal corresponding to the displacement of the inner rod 11 is obtained from the terminal 23.
[0016]
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an operation state of the direct acting displacement sensor of the present invention. The reference numerals correspond to those in FIG. 10, and 6A and 6B are direct-acting displacement sensors provided in parallel. As shown in the drawing, when the tractor 1 turns to the right with respect to the trailer 2, the inner rod of the right-hand direct displacement sensor 6A is pushed and retracted, and the inner rod of the left-hand direct displacement sensor 6B protrudes. That is, a difference appears in the protruding stroke of the inner rod. Based on this difference, the connected vehicle relative angle θ is detected. The principle will be described with reference to FIG.
[0017]
FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the principle of detection of the connected vehicle relative angle θ in the present invention. FIG. 6A is a diagram of a portion of the direct acting displacement sensor. P and R are contact points between the inner rods 11A and 11B and the wall surface of the trailer 2, and Q is a leg of a perpendicular line dropped from the point P to the inner rod 11B. The distance between PQ is equal to the distance L between inner rods in FIG.
If the tractor 1 is turning to the right, the projecting stroke S _A of the right inner rod 11A protruding stroke S _B of the small, and the left side of the inner rod 11B becomes larger. If the difference between the two strokes is D, then D = S _B −S _A.
[0018]
FIG. 6B shows the triangle PQR extracted. In FIG. 5, as is readily apparent when consideration is given to elementary geometry related to the triangle, the connected vehicle relative angle θ is equal to the angle P in FIG. Since the triangle PQR is a right triangle with the angle Q being a right angle, the connected vehicle relative angle θ (= angle P) is obtained by the following equation. tan θ = D / L
The distance L between the inner rods is a value known at the stage when the direct acting displacement sensor 6 is installed, and the stroke difference D is obtained from detection signals from the direct acting displacement sensors 6A and 6B. Therefore, θ is obtained by the above equation.
[0019]
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the time of rolling of the coupled vehicle to which the present invention is applied. The reference numerals correspond to those in FIG. 5, and dotted lines 2-1 and 2-2 are trailers in the case of rolling. FIG. 7A shows a case where the trailer 2 is rolling to the left, and FIG. 7B shows a case where the trailer 2 is rolling to the right.
When rolling, the contact balls at the tips of the direct acting displacement sensors 6A and 6B only slide in the roll direction, and there is no difference in the protruding stroke. In other words, the connected vehicle relative angle detection device of the present invention is not affected even by rolling.
[0020]
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the pitching of the coupled vehicle to which the present invention is applied. As shown in the figure, when pitching occurs such that the upper part of the tractor 1 and the upper part of the trailer 2 approach each other, the direct-acting displacement sensors 6A and 6B are pressed against the wall surface of the trailer 2 to the same extent and compressed. On the other hand, when pitching occurs such that the upper part of the tractor 1 and the upper part of the trailer 2 are separated, the direct acting displacement sensors 6A and 6B extend to the same extent.
[0021]
That is, at the time of pitching, both are compressed or expanded in the same way, so that there is no stroke difference. Therefore, the connected vehicle relative angle detection device of the present invention is not affected even by pitching.
In the above-described embodiment, as the means for measuring the distance between the tractor and the trailer, the linear motion type displacement sensor that mechanically contacts and measures the trailer is used, but a different type of distance measuring means (for example, A distance measuring means using a laser) can also be used.
[0022]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, in the connected vehicle relative angle detection device and method of the present invention, the distance between the tractor and the trailer is measured by the distance measuring means installed in parallel at a constant distance, and the two obtained by the measurement are used. Based on the difference in distance and the fixed distance, the relative angle of the connected vehicle is obtained by calculating a trigonometric function.
Therefore, when the tractor and trailer roll or pitch, the distance measured by the distance measuring means changes by the same value. Will not be affected. In addition, the means for measuring the distance between the tractor and the trailer is less expensive than that using a gear mechanism or the like.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a connected vehicle to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a side view and a plan view of a linear motion type displacement sensor. FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a linear motion type displacement sensor. The figure which shows the principle structure of a sensor main-body part [FIG. 5] The figure which shows the operation | movement condition of the linear displacement type displacement sensor of this invention [FIG. 6] The figure explaining the detection principle of the connection vehicle relative angle in this invention The figure which shows the time of rolling of the connection vehicle to which this invention was given. [FIG. 8] The figure which shows the time of pitching of the connection vehicle to which this invention was applied. [FIG. 9] The figure which shows the conventional connection vehicle. Figure showing angle [Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Tractor, 2, 2-1, 2-2 ... Trailer, 3 ... Coupler, 4, 5 ... Wheel, 6, 6A, 6B ... Direct acting displacement sensor, 7 ... Calculation means 10, 10A, 10B ... Direct Dynamic displacement sensor main body, 11, 11A, 11B ... inner rod, 12, 12A, 12B ... contact ball, 13, 13A, 13B, 14, 14A, 14B ... mounting bracket, 13-1 ... screw hole, 15, 15A , 15B: Mounting base, 16, 16A, 16B ... Supporting base, 17 ... Contact ball unit, 18-1, 18-2 ... Screw hole, 19 ... Screw, 20, 20A, 20B ... Wiring, 21, 22, 23 ... Terminal, 24 ... Resistance, 25 ... Brush, 26 ... Spring, 30 ... Tractor centerline, 31 ... Trailer centerline, L ... Distance between inner rods, D ... Stroke difference, [theta] ... Relative vehicle relative angle

Claims (2)

A first distance measuring means and a second distance measuring means, which are installed on a tractor constituting the connected vehicle in parallel with a certain distance in the rearward direction, and measure a distance between the trailer connected to the tractor; ,
A connected vehicle comprising: a distance measured by each of the first distance measuring means and the second distance measuring means; and a calculating means for calculating a connected vehicle relative angle based on the fixed distance. Relative angle detection device. The distance between the trailer connected to the tractor is measured by the first distance measuring means and the second distance measuring means which are installed on the tractor constituting the connected vehicle at a predetermined distance parallel to the rear. And
A connected vehicle relative angle detection method, comprising: calculating a connected vehicle relative angle based on the distance measured by the first distance measuring means and the second distance measuring means and the fixed distance.

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