JPH1130139A - Automatic stop-starting device for engine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce wear of a pinion and a ring gear so as to improve durability of a starter by applying a current to a pinion mesh control solenoid to mesh the pinion with the ring gear during automatic stop of an engine in a device for automatically stopping the engine. SOLUTION: In an automatic stop state of an engine 1 automatically stopped when a specified condition is materialized, when a rotation sensor 4 senses engine speed being zero, a current is applied to a pinion mesh control solenoid 13. At this time, voltage applied to a solenoid 13 is gradually increased to mesh a pinion slowly with a ring gear. When an engine starting condition is materialized afterwards, a current is applied to a starter motor 14 to start the engine 1, and when a rotation sensor 4 for detecting the rotating speed of the engine 1 detects rotating speed that can be judged as the completion of start of the engine 1, current application to the pinion mesh control solenoid 13 and starter motor 14 is stopped.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic engine stop / start apparatus, and more particularly to a system for automatically stopping and automatically starting an engine when a predetermined condition is satisfied in an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional technique, generally, when a vehicle travels in an urban area, the vehicle may stop at an intersection or the like. In such a case, idling of the engine consumes fuel. Will increase. For this reason, when certain conditions such as stop of the vehicle are satisfied, the engine is stopped to temporarily reduce the fuel consumption during stop, and when predetermined conditions are satisfied during the stop, the engine is stopped. There is an automatic stop / start device for the engine that automatically starts the engine again. Such a device is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-60539.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional system for restarting the engine, the automatic stop and automatic start of the engine are repeated while the vehicle is running, so that the pinion of the starter and the ring gear of the engine are severely worn. However, there is a problem that durability is poor.

There is also a problem that the noise generated when the pinion meshes with the ring gear at the time of automatic start is uncomfortable to the driver.

An object of the present invention is to provide an optimum automatic start control of an automobile which automatically stops and starts an engine.
It is an object of the present invention to improve the durability of a starter and an engine, reduce noise at the time of automatic start, and improve comfort.

[0006]

A sensor for detecting engine rotation is provided in an automobile, an automatic stop / start device detects that the engine has stopped, a signal is sent from the sensor to a controller, and the signal is received. The controller energizes the pinion meshing control solenoid by sending an ON signal to the pinion meshing control solenoid of the starter via a relay from the controller, meshes the pinion with the ring gear while the engine is stopped, When the condition for automatic start is satisfied, a signal is output from the controller to energize the engine start motor, and the engine is started automatically.

[0007] With the above configuration, optimal automatic start control of an automobile that automatically stops and starts the engine is provided, the durability of the starter and the engine is improved, and noise at the time of automatic start is reduced. And the comfort can be improved.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a configuration of the automatic engine stop / start device. A disk gear 3 is attached to a crankshaft 2 of a power transmission unit of the engine 1, and a rotation sensor 4 is provided as means for detecting the number of rotations of the engine 1 from the rotation of the disk gear 3. Reference numeral 5 denotes a clutch pedal, and clutch switches 6, 7 as clutch detecting means for detecting whether or not the clutch pedal 5 is depressed are shift levers for gear change, and means for detecting a neutral position of a gear. Neutral switch 8 is provided.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a controller, an input port 101 for receiving an output signal from the rotation sensor 4, the clutch switch 6, and the neutral switch 8,
Upon receiving the signal from the input port 101, the memory (ROM) 10
2 according to the control program stored in the memory (RA
A central processing unit (CPU) 104 is connected to the M) 103 and performs data processing, and an output port 105 for transmitting an output signal of the CPU 104 to the outside.

When the CPU 104 determines that the restart condition of the engine 1 is satisfied, an output signal is sent from the output port 105 to the relays 11 and 12 and the relay 11 is turned on to thereby start the pinion of the starter. When the solenoid 13 for meshing control is energized and the relay 12 is turned on, the motor 14 for starter is energized and the engine 1 is started.

FIG. 2 schematically shows the starting conditions in such an engine starting device. Engine automatic stop state (S
In 1), when the rotation sensor 4 detects that the engine speed has become 0 (S2), the solenoid 13 for pinion meshing control is energized (S3). At this time,
The voltage applied to the solenoid 13 is gradually increased (S4), and the pinion is gently engaged with the ring gear (S4).
5).

Thereafter, the engine start condition is satisfied (S6).
Then, the starter motor 14 is energized (S7), and the number of revolutions of the engine 1 is determined by the revolution sensor 4 as the number of revolutions at which the start of the engine 1 can be determined, for example, 60 rpm.
When the rotation of 0r / min or more is detected (S8), it is determined that the engine 1 has started and the solenoid 1 for the starter is started.
3. Stop the power supply to the starter motor 14 (S9).
Then, the engine start is completed (S10).

Note that the present starting condition is also effective when other starting conditions are added.

[0014]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide optimal automatic start control of an automobile which automatically stops and starts an engine, and gently meshes a pinion with a ring gear to thereby provide the pinion and the ring gear. Reduce the wear of
It is possible to improve the durability of the starter and the engine, reduce noise at the time of automatic start, and improve comfort.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an automatic engine start device.

FIG. 2 shows the flow of automatic engine stop and automatic start.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Engine, 2 ... Crankshaft, 3 ... Disc gear, 4 ... Rotation sensor, 5 ... Clutch pedal, 6 ... Clutch switch, 7 ... Shift lever, 8 ... Neutral switch, 1
0: controller, 11, 13: relay, 12: solenoid for starter, 14: motor for starter, 101: input port, 102: memory (ROM), 103: memory (RAM), 104: central processing unit (CPU) , 1
05: output port, S1: engine stopped automatically, S2: engine speed is 0, S3: starter solenoid is energized, S4: starter solenoid voltage is gradually increased S5: a state in which the pinion of the starter pops out; S6, a state in which the engine start condition is satisfied; S7, a state in which energization of the starter motor is started; S9: A state in which power supply to the starter solenoid and the motor is stopped, and S10: A state in which the engine has been started.

Claims (2)

[Claims] When a predetermined stop condition is satisfied, the controller automatically stops the engine of the vehicle, and at the driver's will, for example, a predetermined start condition, such as depressing a clutch or depressing an accelerator pedal. An engine automatic stop / start device for automatically starting the engine when the condition is satisfied, a sensor capable of sensing engine rotation is provided;
When the engine is stopped by the starter and the sensor detects the stop of the engine rotation, a signal is sent from the sensor to the controller, the solenoid for the pinion meshing control of the starter is energized, and the pinion meshes with the ring gear.
Then, when an automatic start condition is satisfied, a signal is output from the controller to energize the starter motor, and the engine is started automatically, thereby automatically starting the engine. 2. The engine automatic engine according to claim 1, wherein, when power is supplied to the solenoid for controlling the pinion engagement of the starter while the engine is stopped by the automatic stop, the voltage applied to the solenoid is gradually increased. Stop / start device.