JP5554436B1 - Engine starter - Google Patents

Abstract

An engine starter having a long service life by reducing wear of a ring gear is provided.
When starting the engine 30 during inertial rotation of the engine 30, the pinion gear 14 and the ring gear 11 are engaged at a rotation angle other than a predetermined rotation angle of the engine 30. A control means 10 for controlling the meshing between the pinion gear 14 and the ring gear 11 is provided.
[Selection] Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to an engine starter that starts an engine mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile, and in particular, performs an engine idle stop when a predetermined idle stop condition is satisfied, and then restarts the engine when a restart condition is satisfied. The present invention relates to an engine starter applied to an automatic idle stop system.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for the purpose of improving automobile fuel consumption and reducing environmental load, an automatic idle stop system has been developed that automatically performs idle stop when a predetermined condition is satisfied. However, it takes time until the rotation of the engine is completely stopped by the frictional force after the fuel supply is stopped, and the conventional idle stop system cannot restart the engine during this period. Therefore, in order to solve this problem, for example, in the engine start control device, it is determined that the engine speed has decreased to a speed at which the rotation drive mechanism can be engaged with the engine. There has been proposed an engine start control device in which a rotation drive mechanism is engaged with an engine to drive the engine when determined by means (see Patent Document 1).

  Conventionally, a starter that can individually operate a motor that rotationally drives the pinion gear and an actuator that meshes the pinion gear with a ring gear connected to the crankshaft of the engine has been provided. When an engine restart request is generated during the engine speed drop period in which the engine speed decreases and the engine speed is within a predetermined speed range, after the pinion gear is engaged with the ring gear by the actuator, Alternatively, an automatic engine stop / start control device has been proposed in which a pinion gear is rotated by a motor in the middle of the meshing to start cranking by a starter and restart the engine (see Patent Document 2).

JP 2003-65191 A JP2011-99455A

  In the conventional engine start control device disclosed in Patent Document 1, the engine is restarted earlier than when the engine is completely stopped and then the pinion gear and the ring gear are engaged and restarted. It can be carried out. However, no consideration has been given to the rotation angle of the crankshaft of the engine when the meshing of the pinion gear and the ring gear is completed when the engine is restarted.

  As is well known, the rotation angle of the crankshaft when the engine is completely stopped is likely to be a predetermined rotation angle due to the load state of the piston, and every time the engine is restarted after the engine is completely stopped, The pinion gear often meshes with a specific part of the ring gear. Therefore, according to the conventional engine starting device disclosed in Patent Document 1, when the engine is restarted before the engine is completely stopped, the engagement of the pinion gear and the ring gear is completed. Since the rotation angle is not taken into account, when the engine is restarted after a complete stop of the engine, the ring gear often meshes with a specific part of the ring gear, and the specific part of the ring gear may be engaged with another part. As compared with the above, there is a problem that the wear is intense and abnormal noise is generated when the ring gear is driven and cranked by the pinion gear, and the life of the ring gear is shortened. In addition, every time the engine is restarted after the engine is completely stopped, the ring gear meshes with a specific part of the ring gear that is heavily worn. There was a fear of giving.

  In the conventional engine automatic stop / start control device disclosed in Patent Document 2, the engine can be restarted earlier than waiting until the engine is completely stopped. Since the rotation angle of the crankshaft when completing the engagement of the ring gear is not taken into consideration, there is a problem similar to the case of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems in the conventional apparatus, and the rotation angle of the engine when the pinion gear and the ring gear are engaged when the engine is restarted. In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide an engine starter having a longer life.

An engine starter according to the present invention comprises:
An engine starter for starting an engine mounted on a vehicle,
A starter motor mounted on the vehicle;
A pinion gear that meshes with a ring gear coupled to the crankshaft of the engine and transmits the rotation of the starter motor to the engine via the ring gear;
Control means for controlling the meshing between the ring gear and the pinion gear;
With
Wherein, when performing starting of the engine during inertial rotation of the engine, in the rotation angle other than the predetermined rotational angle of the engine so as to perform the engagement between the ring gear and the pinion gear Configured ,
The predetermined rotation angle of the engine is the rotation angle of the engine when the engine is completely stopped.
It is characterized by this.

According to the engine starting device according to the present invention, control means for controlling the engagement of the ring gear and pinion gear, when performing starting of the engine during inertial rotation of the engine, the rotation angle other than the predetermined angle of rotation of the engine It is configured to perform the engagement between the pin Niongia and re Ngugia in a predetermined rotation angle of the engine, because the engine is configured to be a rotation angle of the engine at the time of halting When the engine is restarted, the pinion gear is less likely to mesh with a specific part of the ring gear, wear of a specific part of the ring gear is reduced, and the life of the ring gear is extended, which in turn extends the life of the engine starter. It becomes possible.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the engine starting apparatus by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the starter of the engine starting apparatus by Embodiment 1 of this invention. 6 is a graph showing changes in the engine speed during inertial rotation in the engine starter according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention; It is a schematic diagram explaining the relationship between the rotation angle of the crankshaft and the engine complete stop position in the engine complete stop state after the end of inertial rotation of the engine. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of engine restart in the engine starter according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. 5 is a flowchart showing details of engine restart control in the engine starter according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention; It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the engine restart control in the engine starting apparatus by Embodiment 2 of this invention.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
Hereinafter, an engine starter according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings according to each embodiment. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an engine starter according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a starter of the engine starter according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The structure of the starter 100 is shown in detail. 1 and 2, an engine starter 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention is mounted on a starter 100, a ring gear 11 connected to a crankshaft 31 of an engine 30, a relay 12, and a vehicle. A battery 16 as a power source and a starter control means 10 are provided.

  The starter 100 includes a starter motor 13 and a pinion gear 14 that is mounted so as to be movable in the axial direction via a one-way clutch 132 that is mounted on a spline shaft formed integrally with the rotor shaft 131 of the starter motor 13. The solenoid 22 integrally fixed to the starter motor 13, the plunger 21 that is attracted by the electromagnetic force and moves to the left in the figure when the solenoid 22 is energized, and the plunger 21 moves to the left in the figure. A lever 23 that is driven by the plunger 21 when moving and pushes the ring gear 14 to the right in the figure via the one-way clutch 132, and a switch 15 that is pressed and closed by the plunger 21 when the plunger 21 moves to the left in the figure. It has. The plunger 21 is always urged in the right direction in the figure by a plunger spring (not shown). When the solenoid 22 is de-energized, the plunger 21 is pressed by the plunger spring and moves in the right direction in the figure. Return to position. The solenoid 22, the plunger 21, and the lever 23 constitute a pinion gear moving unit 20.

  The one-way clutch 132 idles when the rotational speed of the pinion gear 14 is higher than the rotational speed of the starter motor 13, and transmits the rotational torque to the pinion gear 14 otherwise. The relay 12 operates based on a command from the starter control means 10 and energizes the solenoid 22 by energizing the solenoid 22 from the battery 16 or energizes the solenoid 22 from the battery 16 to interrupt the energization of the solenoid 22. Extinguish.

  In the engine starter 1 configured as described above, the starter control means 10 turns on the relay 12 provided between the battery 16 and the solenoid 22 as described above, thereby turning off the battery 16. Energization of the solenoid 22 is performed. As a result, the plunger 21 is attracted by the solenoid 22 and moves to the left in the figure. Due to the movement of the plunger 21, the other end of the lever 23 whose one end is engaged with the plunger 21 is moved by pressing the pinion gear 14 to the right in the drawing via the one-way clutch 132, and the pinion gear 14 is moved to the ring gear. Engage with 11. Further, the switch 15 is closed by the movement of the plunger 21, and the starter motor 13 is energized from the battery 16 and rotates. As a result, the pinion gear 14 is driven and rotated by the starter motor 13 via the spline shaft, transmits the driving force of the starter motor 13 to the engine via the ring gear 11, and restarts the engine.

  After the start of the engine is completed, the starter control means 10 turns off the relay 12 and stops energization of the solenoid 22. Thereby, the plunger 21 moves in the direction (right direction in the figure) for releasing the engagement between the pinion gear 14 and the ring gear 11 by the pressing force of the plunger spring. The movement of the plunger 21 causes the lever 23 to rotate in the clockwise direction in the figure around the support shaft, and the pinion gear 14 is moved in the left direction in the figure via the one-way clutch 132. As a result, the meshing between the pinion gear 14 and the ring gear 11 is released. Further, as described above, when the plunger 21 moves to the right of the part, the switch 15 is turned off and the energization to the starter motor 13 is stopped.

  The engine 30 is provided with a crank angle sensor (not shown) that outputs a pulse signal corresponding to the rotation angle of the engine, and the pulse signal output from the crank angle sensor is input to the starter control means 10. . The period of the pulse signal output from the crank angle sensor corresponds to the time required for the crankshaft 31 of the engine 30 to rotate by a predetermined angle. Therefore, the starter control means 10 can calculate the rotational speed of the engine (synonymous with the rotational speed of the crankshaft) based on the period of the pulse signal output from the crank angle sensor. In the present application, the rotational speeds of the ring gear 11 and the pinion gear 14 are all unified to the rotational speed converted to the rotational speed of the crankshaft 31.

  The starter control means 10 may be configured by an engine ECU that performs engine control, or may be configured as an ECU that performs automatic stop and restart of the engine separately from the engine ECU. Apart from these, the ECU may be configured as an ECU dedicated to the control of the starter.

  Next, the behavior of engine inertia rotation when the idle stop condition is satisfied in the engine starter according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described. When an automatic stop condition is satisfied while the vehicle is running, for example, a condition that the vehicle speed is 15 km / h or less and the driver is stepping on the brake, the fuel supply to the engine 30 is stopped and the engine is stopped. 30 is inertial rotated.

  FIG. 3 is a graph showing changes in engine speed during inertial rotation in the engine starting device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, where the vertical axis represents engine speed [rpm] and the horizontal axis represents time. It is. As shown in FIG. 3, if the idle stop condition is satisfied and the fuel supply to the engine is stopped, the engine gradually decreases while continuing inertial rotation, and reaches 0 [rpm] at time t1, and then After repeating reverse rotation and forward rotation, it completely stops at time t2. Thus, during inertial rotation of the engine, torque fluctuations occur due to compression / expansion cycles in the piston of the engine, and the engine speed decreases while causing pulsation.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining the relationship between the rotation angle of the engine 30 and the engine complete stop position in the engine complete stop state after the end of the inertial rotation of the engine. As shown in FIG. 4, in a three-cylinder four-cycle engine having three cylinders, ie, a first cylinder # 1, a second cylinder # 2, and a third cylinder # 3, The engine 30 stops frequently at a specific engine rotation angle CA1 to CA2. In the first embodiment, the specific rotation angles CA1 to CA2 are pre-top dead center angles BTDC 70 to 100 [deg] in the cylinders # 1, # 2, and # 3. Here, the rotation angles CA1 to CA2 of the specific engine are referred to as predetermined rotation angles. This predetermined rotation angle differs depending on the type of engine 30, or even for the same type of engine, it may differ for each individual engine.

  The engine key start and restart from the idle stop are performed at this predetermined rotation angle at which the engine is stopped. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the meshing between the pinion gear and the ring gear is started at the stop angle that is the predetermined rotation angle, and the wear of the ring gear is caused at other portions of the predetermined rotation angle. It will progress faster than this part.

  On the other hand, when a restart request is generated during inertial rotation of the engine, the engine is still inertially rotated, so that the engagement of the pinion gear and the ring gear is started at a rotation angle other than the predetermined rotation angle described above. It becomes possible. Therefore, in the engine starter according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, in restarting during inertial rotation of the engine, the start of meshing between the pinion gear and the ring gear is outside the range of the predetermined rotation angle of the engine described above. It is made to control to be performed by.

  Next, a specific operation of the engine starter according to the first embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of restarting the engine in the engine starting device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG. 5, first, in step S110, the starter control means 10 determines whether or not an idle stop condition is satisfied. If it is determined in step S110 that the idle stop condition is not satisfied (NO), the series of processes is terminated and the process proceeds to the next control cycle.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S110 that the idle stop condition is satisfied (YES), the process proceeds to step S111, and the starter control means 10 performs engine stop control. Specifically, the starter control means 10 stops the fuel supply to the engine 30 and reduces the rotation speed by inertial rotation. Next, in step S112, it is determined whether or not the engine 30 is coasting. Whether or not the engine 30 is in inertial rotation is determined, for example, based on whether or not a pulse signal from the crank angle sensor is detected during a predetermined time (for example, 300 [ms]). If the signal is not detected within a predetermined time, it is determined (NO) that the engine 30 is not inertially rotating (completely stopped), the process is terminated, and the process proceeds to the next cycle.

  Although not shown, when a restart condition described later is satisfied after the engine 30 is completely stopped, the relay 12 is closed and the solenoid 22 is energized, and the starter 100 restarts the engine 30 normally. Do.

  If it is determined in step S112 that the engine 30 is in inertial rotation (YES), the process proceeds to step S113, and the starter control means 10 determines whether or not a restart condition is satisfied. If it is determined in step S113 that the restart condition is satisfied (YES), the process proceeds to step S114, and engine restart control is performed. If it is determined in step S113 that the restart condition is not satisfied (NO), the process ends, and the process proceeds to the next cycle.

  Next, details of the engine restart control in step S114 in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing details of engine restart control in the engine starter according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG. 6, first, in step S <b> 210, it is determined whether the starter 100 is necessary for restarting the engine 30. When the rotational speed NE of the engine 30 is sufficiently high, the engine 30 can be restarted by restarting fuel injection without using the starter 100. Therefore, in step S210, it is determined whether or not the rotational speed NE of the engine 30 is equal to or lower than a first predetermined rotational speed N1 (for example, 900 [rpm]) at which the engine can be restarted only by restarting fuel injection. Thus, it is determined whether the starter 100 is necessary for restarting the engine 30.

  If it is determined in step S210 that the rotational speed NE of the engine 30 is greater than the first predetermined rotational speed N1 (NO), the process proceeds to step S211 and the engine is restarted only by restarting fuel injection. . If it is determined in step S210 that the engine speed NE of the engine 30 is equal to or less than the first predetermined engine speed N1 (YES), the process proceeds to step S212. In step S212, it is determined whether or not the rotational speed NE of the engine 30 is within the allowable rotational speed range between the pinion gear 14 and the ring gear 11.

  When the rotational speed NE of the engine 30 is still high or when it is largely reversed, if the ring gear 14 and the pinion gear 11 are engaged with each other, there may be a case where a large noise or wear of each gear occurs. Therefore, in step S212, the rotational speed NE of the engine 30 is equal to or higher than a second predetermined rotational speed N2 (for example, −150 [rpm]) that is the lower limit of the allowable rotational speed of the pinion gear 14 and the ring gear 11. Further, it is determined whether or not the rotation speed is equal to or lower than a third predetermined rotation speed N3 (for example, 400 [rpm]) that is an upper limit of the meshing allowable rotation speed. Since there is a time delay T1 from the start of meshing between the ring gear 11 and the pinion gear 14 until the meshing is completed, the second predetermined rotational speed N2 and the third predetermined rotational speed N3 It is set in consideration.

  If it is determined in step S212 that the rotational speed NE of the engine 30 is outside the meshing allowable rotational speed range (NE <N2 or N3 <NE) (NO), the process is terminated and the next cycle is started. Proceed with On the other hand, if it is determined in step S212 that the rotational speed NE of the engine 30 is within the meshing allowable rotational speed range (N2 ≦ NE ≦ N3) (YES), the process proceeds to step S213.

  In step S213, it is determined whether or not the rotation angle CA of the engine 30 is within the predetermined rotation angle range. Here, the predetermined rotation angle range of the engine is a rotation angle CA1 to CA2 (for example, BTDC 70 to 100 [deg]) at which the engine 30 stops frequently after inertial rotation as described above. It is determined whether or not CA is within the predetermined rotation angle CA1 to CA2.

  In general, an automobile engine has one cycle of four strokes at 720 [deg] rotation, and due to its symmetry, three places are equally spaced in the case of a three-cylinder engine, and are equally spaced in the case of a four-cylinder engine. Stop at two places. In the three-cylinder engine which is the object of the first embodiment, there are three stop angles as shown in FIG. 4, but for the sake of simplicity, in the following description, the BTDC (top dead center) of the cylinder in the compression stroke will be described. Front angle) Consider a 240 [deg] period. That is, for example, when the stop angle is BTDC 80 [deg], 320 [deg], 560 [deg] as shown in FIG. 4 with reference to the first cylinder # 1, the engine indicating the engine stop angle is shown. The predetermined rotation angle is expressed as BTDC 80 [deg] with reference to the cylinder in the compression stroke.

  In step S213, specifically, when the rotation angle of the engine 30, that is, the crank angle CA is C1 or less, or C2 or more (YES), the engagement of the ring gear 11 and the pinion gear 14 is outside the stop angle. That is, it is determined that the rotation is performed at a position other than the predetermined rotation angle, and the process proceeds to step S214. Next, in step S213, when the crank angle CA, which is the rotation angle of the engine 30, is larger than C1 and smaller than C2 (NO), the engagement between the ring gear 11 and the pinion gear 14 is the predetermined rotation angle of the engine. Is determined to be performed at a stop angle, and the process is terminated and the process proceeds to the next cycle.

  In step S214, the stator control means 10 turns on the relay 12 to start energization of the solenoid 22, meshes the pinion gear 14 and the ring gear 11, proceeds to step S215, energizes the starter motor 13, and cranks. To restart the engine.

  As described above, in the engine starter according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, the rotation angle of the engine when the pinion gear and the ring gear mesh with each other is different from the rotation angle of the engine when the engine is completely stopped. Control. As a result, the meshing between the pinion gear 14 and the ring gear 11 is performed at an engine rotation angle different from that of the normal restart, so that wear of the ring gear 11 can be suppressed and a long life can be achieved.

In the engine starter according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention described above, an example of a three-cylinder engine has been described. However, the present invention may be applied to an engine having a different number of cylinders. Therefore, the ring gear and the pinion gear may be controlled to engage with each other at other than the stop angle.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
There may be a delay from when the energization to the solenoid 22 is started and the pinion gear 14 moves and reaches the ring gear 11 until it actually meshes, but in Embodiment 2 of the present invention, In the meantime, the pinion gear 14 and the ring gear after the engine rotation angle CA passes through the predetermined rotation angle C1 to C2 (CA ≦ C1) so as not to be in the range of the predetermined rotation angle C1 to C2 of the engine. 11 is controlled to be engaged.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing details of engine restart control in the engine starter according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. As shown in step S313 of FIG. 7, it is determined whether or not the engine rotation angle CA has passed a predetermined rotation angle C1 to C2 (CA ≦ C1). If the result of the determination is CA ≦ C1, That is, if it is a predetermined rotation angle range (YES), the process proceeds to step S314. Steps S310, S311, S312, S314, and S315 in FIG. 7 correspond to steps S210, S211, S212, S214, and S215 in FIG. 6, respectively.

  According to the engine starting device of the second embodiment of the present invention, the engagement between the pinion gear 14 and the ring gear 11 is more reliably performed at an engine rotation angle different from that of the normal restart. Further life extension can be achieved.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
In the first embodiment described above, the range of the engine stop angle is the same due to the symmetry of the three-cylinder engine. However, in the engine starter according to the third embodiment of the present invention, the inertial rotation of the engine while the vehicle is running A later stop angle is learned, thereby determining a predetermined engine rotation angle C1-C2. At that time, the predetermined rotation angles C1 to C2 of the engine in each cylinder may be learned differently.

  According to the engine starter according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention, it is possible to cope with the case where there are variations in individual engines or variations among cylinders, and it is possible to suppress wear of the ring gear and achieve a longer life. it can.

Embodiment 4 FIG.
The meshing control according to any one of the first to third embodiments may not be performed until the ring gear is worn to some extent. In the engine starting device according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, the engine is started during inertial rotation after the engine has been started a predetermined number of times, for example, 30,000 times from the time of the new vehicle. The engagement is controlled.

  According to the engine starting device of the fourth embodiment of the present invention, the meshing is performed without prohibiting the meshing until the ring gear is worn to some extent. It is possible to achieve a longer service life by restarting.

  In the present invention, within the scope of the invention, the embodiments can be freely combined, or the embodiments can be appropriately modified or omitted. For example, the engagement of the pinion gear and the ring gear The rotation of the starter motor may be applied to a starter that can operate independently.

1 engine starter, 100 starter, 10 starter control means,
11 ring gear, 12 relay, 13 starter motor, 14 pinion gear, 15 switch, 16 battery, 20 pinion gear moving part, 21 plunger, 22 solenoid, 23 lever, 30 engine, 31 crankshaft, 131 rotor shaft, 132 one way clutch.

Claims (5)

An engine starter for starting an engine mounted on a vehicle,
A starter motor mounted on the vehicle;
A pinion gear that meshes with a ring gear coupled to the crankshaft of the engine and transmits the rotation of the starter motor to the engine via the ring gear;
Control means for controlling the meshing between the ring gear and the pinion gear;
With
Wherein, when performing starting of the engine during inertial rotation of the engine, in the rotation angle other than the predetermined rotational angle of the engine so as to perform the engagement between the ring gear and the pinion gear Configured ,
The predetermined rotation angle is an engine rotation angle when the engine is completely stopped.
An engine starter characterized by that. The control means controls the meshing so that the rotation angle of the engine from the start of contact between the pinion gear and the ring gear until the meshing is completed does not pass the predetermined rotation angle. To
The engine starter according to claim 1 . The control means controls the meshing based on a predetermined rotation angle range of the engine.
The engine starter according to claim 1 or 2 , characterized in that . The control means controls the meshing based on a learning value of an engine rotation angle when the engine is completely stopped.
The engine starting device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the engine starting device is provided. The control means controls the meshing when the engine is started during inertial rotation of the engine after the vehicle has been started a predetermined number of times from the time of the new vehicle.
The engine starting device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the engine starting device is provided.