阅读说明：本技术 车辆用发动机起动装置 (Engine starting device for vehicle ) 是由 大泽俊章 青木映里奈 于 2019-06-10 设计创作，主要内容包括：提供一种车辆用发动机起动装置,其无需设置检测曲柄轴的转速的专用传感器,能够通过简单构造防止反冲。电机阶段判断部(801)基于向ACG起动电机(48)的各相流动的电流的流向而将该ACG起动电机(48)的角度范围作为电机阶段来判断。若作为ACG起动电机(48)而采用三相交流电机,则基于在U、V、W各相流动的电流的流向的组合来判断电机阶段。反转检测部(802)基于电机阶段的变化来检测曲柄轴(40)的旋转方向从正转转为反转的情况。点火禁止部(803)仅在发动机正转时在通常的点火定时实施发动机点火,当由所述反转检测部(802)检测到反转时禁止发动机点火。(Provided is an engine starting device for a vehicle, which can prevent a backlash by a simple structure without providing a dedicated sensor for detecting the rotation speed of a crankshaft. A motor phase determination unit (801) determines the angular range of the ACG starter motor (48) as a motor phase on the basis of the flow direction of the current flowing through each phase of the ACG starter motor (48). When a three-phase AC motor is used as an ACG starter motor (48), the motor phase is determined based on the combination of the flow directions of currents flowing in the respective phases at U, V, W. A reverse rotation detection unit (802) detects that the rotation direction of the crankshaft (40) has changed from normal rotation to reverse rotation on the basis of the change in the motor phase. An ignition prohibition unit (803) performs engine ignition at a normal ignition timing only when the engine is rotating forward, and prohibits engine ignition when the reverse rotation detection unit (802) detects reverse rotation.)

1. An engine starting device for a vehicle, comprising:

a generator/starter (48) coupled to a crankshaft of the engine and rotating in synchronization therewith;

a pedal start unit (75) for starting the engine by pedal operation; and

a mechanism (44) for igniting an engine, the vehicle engine starting device being characterized by comprising:

a means (801) for determining a stage representing a rotation angle of the generator/starter (48);

a mechanism (802) that detects reverse rotation of the engine based on the change in the phase; and

a mechanism (803) that prohibits the ignition when reverse rotation of the engine is detected.

2. The vehicular engine starting apparatus according to claim 1,

the generator-starter (48) is a three-phase brushless motor,

a means (801) for determining the phase determines the motor phase based on a combination of detection values of U, V, W phases.

3. The vehicular engine starting apparatus according to claim 2,

a rotor sensor is mounted on the generator-starter (48),

the means (801) for determining the stage determines the direction of the current of each phase of the generator/starter (48) from the state of the output of the rotor sensor.

4. An engine starting device for a vehicle, comprising:

a generator/starter (48) coupled to a crankshaft of the engine and rotating in synchronization therewith;

a pedal start unit (75) for starting the engine by pedal operation; and

a mechanism (44) for igniting an engine, the vehicle engine starting device being characterized by comprising:

a means (801) for determining a motor phase representing a rotation angle of the generator/starter (48);

a mechanism that determines whether the crankshaft is within a prescribed angular range near a compression top dead center based on the motor phase; and

and an ignition prohibiting mechanism (803) that prohibits ignition of the engine based on the rotation speed of the generator-starter (48) when the crankshaft is within a predetermined angle range.

5. The vehicular engine starting apparatus according to claim 4,

the rotational speed is an instantaneous rotational speed.

6. The vehicular engine starting apparatus according to claim 4 or 5,

the prescribed angular range near compression top dead center is before compression top dead center.

7. The vehicular engine starting apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 6,

the predetermined angle range is before the ignition timing, and the ignition prohibition means (803) prohibits the ignition of the engine based on the passage time of the angle range and the ignition delay time (Δ d) from the ignition timing to the pressure rise.

8. The vehicular engine starting apparatus according to claim 7,

the ignition delay time (Δ d) is constant.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a starter of a vehicle engine suitable for use in a vehicle having a kick start unit for kick starting the engine, and more particularly to a vehicle engine starter for preventing kickback when the engine is kick started.

Background

When the engine is pedal started, in a vehicle having a generator-starter (e.g., a scooter), the instantaneous engine speed when the crankshaft reaches a position near the compression top dead center is low, and if ignition is performed at this time, the crankshaft may be reversely rotated. This phenomenon is generally called "kick back" (kickback) and sometimes occurs due to the simultaneous presence of various conditions.

Patent document 1 discloses a technology of an ignition control device for an engine, which prohibits output of an ignition command when a time between a predetermined crank angle signal for outputting the ignition command to an ignition device of the engine and a crank angle signal outputted immediately before the predetermined crank angle signal is equal to or longer than a predetermined value, wherein a threshold value to be compared with an engine speed immediately before the output of the ignition command is set based on the engine speed near a bottom dead center which is a starting point of a decrease in the engine speed.

According to patent document 1, whether or not a kickback has occurred can be determined based on the determination that accurately reflects the degree of decrease in the engine speed, and therefore whether or not a kickback has occurred can be determined with high accuracy, and as a result, the occurrence of a kickback can be more effectively prevented.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent No. 51488530

Disclosure of Invention

In patent document 1, the ignition control is not performed when the crankshaft rotation speed near the bottom dead center of the crankshaft is equal to or less than a predetermined value. However, whether or not the backlash actually occurs requires measurement of the crankshaft speed in the vicinity of the compression top dead center, and it is desirable to take necessary measures.

In addition, patent document 1 has a structure in which the rotational speed of the crankshaft is measured by a sensor, and thus a dedicated sensor for detecting the rotational speed of the crankshaft has to be provided. Therefore, the structure is complicated, and the following problems are present: this leads to an increase in the number of assembly steps and an increase in the weight of the vehicle, which in turn leads to an increase in cost.

On the other hand, when fuel gas of the engine is ignited to generate combustion pressure, the fuel gas becomes resistance against starting torque of the engine. Therefore, if the combustion pressure is generated before the crank angle exceeds the compression Top Dead Center (TDC), there is a possibility that the starting torque of the engine cannot resist the combustion pressure and a kickback occurs. Therefore, it is desirable to perform engine ignition at a timing at which the crank angle exceeds TDC before the combustion pressure is generated.

Here, according to the test results of the inventors and the like, it was recognized that: the combustion pressure of the engine did not rise immediately after the ignition of the fuel gas by the ignition coil, but started to rise after a certain delay time, and it was found that the delay time represented a substantially constant value.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described technical problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an engine starting device for a vehicle, which can prevent backlash with a simple structure without providing a dedicated sensor for detecting the rotation speed of a crankshaft.

In order to solve the above-described technical problem, a 2 nd object of the present invention is to provide an engine starting device for a vehicle, which sets an inherent ignition timing for preventing kickback, in consideration of a situation where a combustion pressure of an engine starts to rise after a certain delay time from ignition of the engine.

In order to achieve the above object, an engine starting device according to the present invention includes: a generator/starter coupled to a crankshaft of the engine to rotate in synchronization therewith; a pedal starting part for starting the engine by pedal; and a mechanism for igniting the engine, characterized by further comprising the following mechanism.

(1) Comprising: a mechanism for judging a stage representing a rotation angle of the generator/starter; a mechanism that detects reverse rotation of the engine based on a change in the phase; and a mechanism that prohibits ignition of the engine when reverse rotation of the engine is detected.

(2) The generator/starter is a three-phase brushless motor, and the means for detecting the reverse rotation of the engine determines the phase based on the detection values of the U, V, W phases.

(3) A rotor sensor is attached to the generator/starter, and the flow of current in each phase of the generator/starter is determined based on the state of the output of the rotor sensor.

(4) Comprising: a mechanism for determining whether the crankshaft is within a prescribed angle range near a compression top dead center based on the motor phase; and an ignition prohibiting mechanism (803) for prohibiting ignition of the engine based on the rotation speed of the generator/starter when the crankshaft is within the predetermined angle range.

(5) The rotational speed is taken as the instantaneous rotational speed.

(6) The predetermined angular range near compression top dead center is set as before compression top dead center.

(7) The predetermined angular range is before the ignition timing, and the ignition prohibiting means prohibits the ignition of the engine based on a passage time of the angular range and an ignition delay time from the ignition timing to a pressure rise.

(8) The ignition delay time acts as a constant.

Effects of the invention

According to the present invention, the following effects can be achieved.

(1) An engine starting device of the present invention includes: a generator/starter coupled to a crankshaft of the engine to rotate in synchronization therewith; a pedal starting part for starting the engine by pedal; and a mechanism for igniting the engine, further comprising: a mechanism for judging a stage representing a rotation angle of the generator/starter; a mechanism that detects reverse rotation of the engine based on a change in the phase; and a mechanism that prohibits ignition of the engine when reverse rotation of the engine is detected. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to detect the reverse rotation of the crankshaft without separately providing a dedicated sensor for detecting the angle of the crankshaft, and thus it is possible to recognize a situation in which the possibility of occurrence of the backlash is high, and thus the backlash can be prevented with a simple and inexpensive configuration.

(2) In the present invention, the generator-starter is a three-phase brushless motor, and the means for detecting the reverse rotation of the engine determines based on the detection value (H/L) of U, V, W phases in the rotor sensor. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to recognize a situation in which the possibility of occurrence of backlash is high by monitoring only a change in the phase without additionally providing a dedicated sensor for detecting the angle of the crankshaft.

(3) In the present invention, a rotor sensor is mounted on a motor/starter, and the flow direction of current of each phase of the generator/starter is determined based on the state of the output of the rotor sensor. Therefore, according to the present invention, the flow of current flowing to each phase of the three-phase brushless motor can be easily detected.

(4) The present invention has: a mechanism for determining whether the crankshaft is within a prescribed angle range near a compression top dead center based on the motor phase; and an ignition prohibiting mechanism (803) for prohibiting ignition of the engine based on the rotation speed of the generator/starter when the crankshaft is within the predetermined angle range. Therefore, according to the present invention, the permission or prohibition of the engine ignition can be determined based on the speed of the crankshaft in the vicinity of the compression top dead center, and the ignition can be performed at an appropriate timing according to the state of the engine, so that it can be expected to prevent the so-called kickback.

(5) In the present invention, the number of revolutions is an instantaneous number of revolutions, and therefore, whether or not ignition is performed can be determined based on the instantaneous number of revolutions, and prevention of backlash can be expected even more.

(6) In the present invention, since the predetermined angle range near the compression top dead center is set to be before the compression top dead center, the number of revolutions in the angle range in which the recoil is likely to occur even when the engine is ignited in the normal rotation can be accurately measured, and based on the measurement result, the occurrence of the recoil due to the ignition of the engine in the normal rotation can be expected to be effectively prevented.

(7) In the present invention, the predetermined angular range is before the ignition timing, and the ignition prohibiting means prohibits the ignition of the engine based on the passage time of the angular range and the ignition delay time from the ignition timing to the pressure rise. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is easier to grasp the situation in which kickback is likely to occur.

(8) In the present invention, since the ignition delay time is set to be constant, calculation processing corresponding to the ignition delay time is not required.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a side view of a motorcycle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side sectional view of the engine.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the engine.

Fig. 4 is a schematic block diagram of an idling stop control system of the engine.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart of the idling stop permission determination control.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart of the idle stop control.

Fig. 7 is a front view of the combination meter.

Fig. 8 is a functional block diagram of the kickback prevention unit (80B).

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing a method of determining a phase based on a phase current.

Fig. 10 is a diagram showing a relationship between a combination of phase currents and phases.

Fig. 11 is a timing chart of the ignition control.

Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing the sequence of ignition control.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a side view of a motorcycle having a kickback prevention device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 2 is a sectional view of an engine mounted on the motorcycle.

The body frame has a main frame 3 extending obliquely downward from a head pipe 2, a pair of left and right pivot plates 4, 4 vertically extending downward from a rear end of the main frame 3, a pair of left and right rear frames 5, 5 extending obliquely upward from a rear portion of the main frame 3, and sub-frames 6, 6 extending between the main frame 3 and the rear frames 5, 5. A handle 7 is rotatably attached to the head pipe 2 so as to be able to turn the front fork 8, and a front wheel 9 is pivotally supported at the lower end of the front fork 8.

A swing arm 11 is pivotally supported at a front end by a pivot shaft 10 and is vertically swingably connected to the pivot plate 4, and a rear wheel 12 is pivotally supported at a rear end of the swing arm 11. A rear shock absorber 13 is interposed between the swing arm 11 and the upper rear frame 5. A storage box 14 is attached to the front portions of the pair of right and left rear frames 5, a fuel tank 15 is supported from the storage box 14 to the rear portions of the rear frames 5, and a seat 16 is openably and closably attached to the storage box 15 and the fuel tank 15.

The engine 20 is suspended by being supported by an engine hanger 17 and a pivot plate 4 which are provided to protrude downward from the rear portion of the center of the main frame 3. The engine 20 is a single-cylinder four-stroke air-cooled engine and has a centrifugal clutch 51.

The engine 20 is mounted on the vehicle body frame with the cylinder disposed substantially horizontally forward in a horizontal posture with the crankshaft 40 directed in the left-right direction. That is, the cylinder block 22, the cylinder head 23, and the cylinder head cover 24 are overlapped and projected forward from the crankcase 21.

A counter shaft 73 as an output shaft projects leftward from the transmission chamber at the rear portion of the crankcase 21, a transmission sprocket 26 is fitted to an end portion thereof, a transmission chain 28 is wound between the counter shaft and a driven sprocket 27 fitted to an axle of the rear wheel 12, and power of the engine 20 is transmitted from the rear wheel 12 (see fig. 2).

An intake pipe 30 extends upward from the upper surface of the cylinder head 23 disposed substantially horizontally forward, and the intake pipe 30 is connected to an air cleaner 32 attached to the main frame 3 via a throttle body 31 integrally provided with a fuel injection valve 95. An exhaust pipe 33 extending downward from the lower surface of the cylinder head 23 is bent and extends rearward, and is connected to an exhaust pipe 34 disposed on the right side of the vehicle body rearward of the crankcase 21.

Referring to fig. 3, in engine 20, crankshaft 40 is rotatably supported by crankcase 21 via a pair of left and right main bearings 41, and reciprocating motion of piston 42 slidably fitted in a bore of cylinder block 22 is converted into rotational motion of crankshaft 40 via connecting rod 43. A combustion chamber 23a formed between the top surface of the piston 42 and the top surface of the cylinder head 23 faces the electrode at the tip of the ignition plug 44 embedded in the top wall of the cylinder head 23.

At a left shaft side portion extending leftward from the left main bearing 41 of the crankshaft 40, a drive sprocket 45, a driven gear 46, and an ACG starter motor 48 as a starter/generator functioning as a starter motor and a generator are provided in this order from the main bearing 41 side toward the left. A timing chain 38 is wound around a portion between a drive sprocket 45 integrally coupled to a crankshaft 40 and a cam sprocket 36 integrally fitted to a camshaft 35 of a valve system rotatably supported by a cylinder head 23, the camshaft 35 is rotationally driven at 1/2 rpm of the crankshaft 40, and an intake rocker arm 38i and an exhaust rocker arm 38e, which are linked to and oscillate with an intake cam 35i and an exhaust cam 35e of the camshaft 35, respectively, are driven to open and close the intake valve 39i and the exhaust valve 39e at predetermined timings to perform intake and exhaust of the engine 20.

A driven gear 46 axially supported rotatably by crankshaft 40 via a needle bearing is coupled to an outer rotor 48r of an ACG starter motor 48 integrally coupled to crankshaft 40 via a one-way clutch 47. The inner stator 48s of the ACG starter motor 48 is fixedly supported by the generator cover 49.

On the other hand, a centrifugal clutch 51 for vehicle transmission is provided at the right end portion of a right axial side portion extending rightward from the right main bearing 41 of the crankshaft 40, and a cylindrical member 56 is rotatably supported between the centrifugal clutch 51 and the main bearing 41.

The centrifugal clutch 51 includes a transmission disc 52 that rotates integrally with the crankshaft 40, and a bowl-shaped clutch outer 53 that is positioned outside the transmission disc 52 and rotates integrally with a cylindrical member 56, wherein clutch shoes 54 made of three centrifugal weights are supported on three support shafts 52a fixed to the transmission disc 52 so as to be able to swing, respectively, and each clutch shoe 54 having a lining made of a friction material on an outer surface is arranged so that the center of gravity of the clutch shoe 54 is positioned behind the position of the support shaft 52a in the rotational direction of the crankshaft 5, rotates together with the rotation of the crankshaft 40, swings radially outward against a clutch spring (not shown) by a centrifugal force, and when a predetermined rotation speed is exceeded, the clutch shoe 54 contacts the clutch outer 53 and connects the centrifugal clutch 51 by a friction force.

A drive gear 57 is integrally formed at the left end of the cylindrical member 56. Therefore, the rotation of the crankshaft 40 is not transmitted to the downstream tubular member 56 and thereafter in the blocked state of the centrifugal clutch 51 until the predetermined rotation speed is exceeded, but when the rotation speed exceeds the predetermined rotation speed, the centrifugal clutch 51 is connected and transmitted to the tubular member 56 and the drive gear 57.

The driven gear 58 meshing with the drive gear 57 is rotatably supported by a main shaft 71 of the constant mesh gear type multistage transmission 70, and the driven gear 58 is drivingly connected to a clutch outer 61 of a transmission clutch 60 provided at a right end portion of the main shaft 71 projecting rightward from the crankcase 21 via a damper.

The transmission clutch 60 is a friction type multi-plate clutch having a plurality of clutch plates that are frictionally engaged or disengaged by a release mechanism operated by a driver, and when the plurality of clutch plates are frictionally engaged by a spring force, torque of the clutch outer 61 is transmitted to the clutch inner 62 integrally coupled to the main shaft 71, the transmission clutch 60 is in a connected state, and when the frictional engagement of the plurality of clutch plates is disengaged, the transmission of torque from the clutch outer 61 to the clutch inner 62 is interrupted, and the transmission clutch 60 is in a disconnected state.

The multistage transmission 70 disposed behind the crankshaft 40 in the crank case 21 is a manual transmission, and includes a main shaft 71 that pivotally supports a main gear set 72 and a counter shaft 73 that pivotally supports a sub gear set 74, and when a shift drum 79 (see fig. 2) is rotated by a shift operation mechanism, a shift fork (not shown) that engages with a cam groove of the shift drum 79 appropriately moves a shift gear on a support shaft in the left-right direction, engages with an adjacent gear, and selects one gear of the main gear set 72 corresponding to a shift operation so that the engagement between the one gear and one gear of the sub gear set 74 effectively transmits power to perform a shift operation. The counter shaft 73 is an output shaft, and a drive sprocket 26 is fitted to the left end of the crank case 21.

In the vicinity of the counter shaft 73, a pedal shaft 75 is rotatably supported by the crankcase 21 in parallel with the counter shaft 73, the rotation of the pedal shaft 75 is transmitted to a gear 78 formed on the main shaft 71 via an idle gear 77 rotatably supported by the counter shaft 73 via a dog clutch 76 of the pedal shaft 75, and is transmitted to the crankshaft 40 via a transmission clutch 60, and the engine 20 can be started by a pedal operation.

Referring to fig. 2 and 3, a vehicle speed sensor 82 is attached to a rear wall 21b of the crankcase 21 that covers the rear of the sub-gear group 74, at a position rearward of the speed change driven gear 74a that rotates integrally with the left sub-shaft 73 in the sub-gear group 74. The vehicle speed sensor 82 is provided on the rear wall 21b so that the detection portion faces the gear teeth of the speed change driven gear 74 a.

Therefore, as shown in fig. 2, a connecting plate 4c (a dashed line portion in fig. 2) connecting the pair of left and right pivot plates 4, 4 is formed with a concave portion so as to avoid the vehicle speed sensor 82, and covers the vehicle speed sensor 82 in a hood shape from diagonally above and behind, thereby protecting the vehicle speed sensor 82.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram for explaining the respective functions of idling stop and kickback prevention in the motorcycle having the above-described schematic configuration, and the engine 20 is controlled by an ECU (engine control unit) 80. The ECU80 includes an idle stop control unit 80A and a kickback prevention unit 80B.

The ECU80 receives input of a vehicle speed V detected by a vehicle speed sensor 82, an engine speed NE, which is the rotational speed of the crankshaft 40 detected by an engine speed sensor 83, a throttle opening θ, which is the opening degree of a throttle valve detected by a throttle opening degree sensor 84, an oil temperature T of lubricating oil detected by an oil temperature sensor 85, a shift position SP of the multistage transmission 70 detected by a shift position sensor 86, and other detection information indicating the driving state of the engine 20.

Further, operation information of switching devices operated by the driver, such as the start switch 91 and the idling stop switch 92, is input to the ECU 80. The start switch 91 is operated when starting the engine 20. The idling stop switch 92 is turned on when the driver desires to perform idling stop, and is turned off when idling stop is not required.

The ECU80 controls the driving of the fuel injection valve 95 provided integrally with the throttle body 31, the throttle valve 96 inside the throttle body 31, the ignition plug 44, the ACG starter motor 48, and other devices.

Next, the idling stop control performed by the idling stop control unit 80A will be described with reference to the flowcharts of fig. 5 and 6.

In the Idle Stop (IS) permission determination routine shown in fig. 5, in step S1, it IS determined whether or not to enter an idle stop permission mode in which idle stop IS permitted. In the present embodiment, whether or not idling stop is permitted is determined based on the idling stop switch 92. When the idling stop switch 92 is in the off state, the process proceeds to step S5, where the idling stop permission flag F is set to "0" while the idling stop permission is set to the released state. If the idle stop switch 92 is in the on state, the process proceeds to step S2.

In step S2, it is determined whether or not the oil temperature T is 45 degrees or more, and if it is less than 45 degrees, the routine proceeds to step S5, and the idle stop permission flag F is set to "0" as the idle stop permission release state. If the oil temperature T is 45 degrees or more, the process proceeds to step S3.

In step S3, it is determined whether or not the vehicle speed V is 10km/h or more, and if it is less than 10km/h, the routine proceeds to step S5, and the idling stop permission flag F is set to "0" as the idling stop permission release state. When the vehicle speed V is 10km/h, the process proceeds to step S4, and the idling stop permission flag F is set to "1" as the idling stop permission mode.

In the present embodiment, it is determined whether the driver requests the idling stop in step S1, and it is determined whether the motorcycle is in a state to be stopped in steps S2 and S3. As a result, the idling stop is permitted only when the idling stop is desired and the idling stop switch 92 is turned on and the vehicle is stopped, and the idling stop permission flag F is set to "1".

In the idle stop control routine shown in fig. 6, it is determined from the idle stop permission flag F whether or not the idle stop permission mode is set in step S11. If the idle stop permission release state is not established (F is 0), the routine returns to step S11 without executing the idle stop, and the above-described processes are repeated. If the vehicle is in the idle stop permission mode (F ═ 1), the process proceeds to step S12.

In step S12, it is judged whether or not the vehicle speed V is less than 3km/h (including 0km/h), and if it is 3km/h or more, the program is left without executing idling stop. If the vehicle speed V is less than 3km/h, the process proceeds to step S13, and it is determined whether the engine speed NE is an idling speed. If the engine speed is not the idling speed, the routine is left without executing the idling stop. If the engine speed NE is the idling speed, the process proceeds to step S14.

In step S14, it is determined whether or not the shift position SP is neutral, that is, whether or not the shift position is changed to neutral, and if the shift position is not changed to neutral, the program is left without executing the idling stop. When the gear is changed to neutral, the process proceeds to step S15, and it is determined whether or not 0.5 seconds has elapsed since the gear was changed to neutral. The program is left before 0.5 second elapses, and when 0.5 second elapses, the program proceeds to step S16. In step S16, ignition of the ignition plug 44 and fuel injection from the fuel injection valve 95 are prohibited, and idling stop is executed.

The control from step S11 to step S16 is performed on the assumption that the idling stop permission mode is set, and if the vehicle speed V is less than 3km/h (including 0km/h) and the engine speed NE is an idling speed, it is determined that the vehicle is stopped or immediately stopped, and at this time, if the gear is changed to neutral, the idling stop is executed only after 0.5 second.

According to the present embodiment, the idling stop is entered in a very short time of 0.5 seconds without waiting for the elapse of a predetermined time such as confirmation of continuation of the signal by an intentional operation of the driver to change the gear to the neutral, whereby the idling time before the idling stop can be shortened as much as possible and fuel consumption can be suppressed.

Since the idling stop is executed after 0.5 second from the time when the gear of the multi-speed transmission is changed to neutral, the idling stop can be entered with a more natural feeling without giving a sense of incongruity to the driver than the idling stop immediately after the gear is changed to neutral.

Further, since the sense of incongruity caused by the idling stop immediately after the shift to the neutral gear is a delicate sense, the idling stop may be immediately started without waiting for 0.5 second after the shift to the neutral gear.

Further, since the idling stop is entered by an intentional operation of the driver to put in neutral, when the vehicle is started immediately after the stop, it is not necessary to change the gear to neutral, and it is possible to avoid a situation in which it takes time to restart the vehicle if the idling stop is unintentionally performed.

After the idling stop is executed in step S16, the process proceeds to step S17, and it is determined whether or not the shift position SP is changed to a shift position (in-gear) other than the neutral position. If the gear is not changed to a gear other than neutral and the neutral state is maintained, the program is left and the idle stop state is maintained.

If a decision is made at step S17 that the gear is changed to a gear other than neutral, the routine proceeds to step S18, where it is determined whether or not the throttle opening θ is in the closed state. When the throttle opening θ is in the closed state, the routine proceeds to step S19, and the engine 20 is automatically started to leave the routine.

Since centrifugal clutch 51 is already in the blocked state when idling stop is entered, engine 20 does not start even if engine 20 is automatically started immediately after the gear position SP of multi-stage transmission 70 is changed to a gear position other than neutral after idling stop. Therefore, the automatic start can be performed without trouble with a simple configuration.

The idling stop is performed by an operation intended by the driver to change the gear, and the engine 20 is automatically started by an operation intended to change the gear, so that the idling stop control can be performed according to the intention of the driver.

In the present embodiment, when the gear is changed to the shift position other than the neutral position (step S17), and it is determined in step S18 that the throttle opening θ is not in the closed state but in the open state, the routine proceeds to step S20, the idle stop permission flag F is set to "0", the idle stop permission mode is released, and the routine proceeds to step S21, the automatic start of the engine 20 is prohibited, and the routine is left.

Therefore, after the idling stop, the idling stop permission state can be canceled by preventing the start of the motorcycle 1, and the normal engine stop state other than the idling stop can be set.

In the state where the automatic start of the engine 20 is prohibited, the idling stop permission state is released, and the engine 20 can be started by a start operation by the start switch 91 or the kick pedal in a normal stop state of the engine 20 in the non-idling stop state.

Unlike the above embodiment, in the idling stop control routine, the determination of whether or not the engine speed NE is the idling speed in step S13 and the determination of whether or not the shift position SP in step S14 is the neutral position may be changed to the determination of whether or not the throttle angle θ is in the closed state without determining the shift position, and the routine may be left if the throttle angle θ is in the open state, and the routine may be advanced to step S15 if the throttle angle θ is in the closed state.

In this case, the determination of 0.5 seconds elapsed in step S15 may be changed to the determination of 3 seconds elapsed. After 3 seconds, the vehicle enters the idle stop regardless of the shift position, and during the idle stop, the jet is turned off, the headlight is turned off, and the idle stop flag is turned on.

Note that, in the idling stop control routine of the above embodiment, the determination as to whether or not the throttle angle θ is in the closed state may be added between step S13 and step S14, and the routine may be left if the throttle angle θ is in the open state, and the routine may proceed to step S15 if the throttle angle θ is in the closed state.

When the throttle angle θ is opened during idling, the starter relay is turned on to automatically start the engine, the headlight is turned off, and the standby flag is turned off.

Further, a side stand switch may be provided to enter an idling stop state when the side stand is in the standing state, and the engine may be automatically started when the side stand is in the storage state by being fallen down. The above various idle stop controls may be selectable by a selector switch.

Fig. 7 shows a combination meter 100 provided on a handlebar cover of a motorcycle.

The combination meter 100 is a simulated speedometer 101 having a large circular area in the center, and various flags are arranged around the meter. A neutral flag 102, a 1-speed flag 103, a 2-speed flag 104, and the like are disposed along the outer periphery of the analog speedometer 101 in the left half of the combination meter 100, and a 3-speed flag 105, a 4-speed flag 106, an idling stop permission flag 107 indicating the on and off states of the idling stop switch, and the like are disposed along the outer periphery of the analog speedometer 101 in the right half.

In the case of the idling stop control in which the idling stop can be entered regardless of the shift position, the idling stop permission flag 107 of the combination meter 100 of fig. 7 is turned on when the idling stop switch is in the on state, and when the idling stop is entered when the 3-speed flag 105 is turned on while the multi-stage transmission is in the 3-speed (or 4-speed) shift position, the 1-speed flag 103 and the 2-speed flag 104 are blinked.

This is because it is not appropriate to enter the idling stop when the multi-speed transmission is in 3-speed (or 4-speed) range, and the 1-speed flag 103 and the 2-speed flag 104 are blinked to attract the attention of the driver so as to downshift to 1-speed or 2-speed that is easy to secure the departure torque.

Fig. 8 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the backlash preventing unit 80B, and mainly includes a motor phase determining unit 801, a reverse rotation detecting unit 802, and an ignition prohibiting unit 803.

The motor phase determination unit 801 determines the angular range of the ACG starter motor 48 as a motor phase (mstag) based on the flow direction of the current flowing to each phase of the ACG starter motor 48. In the present embodiment, a three-phase ac motor is used as the ACG starter motor 48, and as shown in fig. 9 and 10, it is determined which of the 0 th stage and the 5 th stage the motor stage is in based on a combination of the flow directions of currents flowing through the respective phases at U, V, W.

In the present embodiment, for example, a plurality of hall elements are provided as a rotor sensor for detecting a permanent magnet attached to the rotor of the inner member of the ACG starter motor 48, and the flow of current flowing in each phase is detected as an output signal of the hall elements. For example, if the U-phase is Lo level and both the V-phase and W-phase are Hi level, the motor phase is determined to be "0". Similarly, for example, if the U-phase is Hi level and both the V-phase and the W-phase are Lo level, the motor phase is determined to be "3".

Reverse rotation detecting unit 802 detects that the rotation direction of crankshaft 40 is changed from the normal rotation to the reverse rotation based on the change in the motor phase. In the present embodiment, the motor stage changes as 0 → 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5 → 0 when rotating forward, but the flow direction of the current changes as two phases of three phases are replaced by the motor stage changes as 2 → 3 → 4 → 5 → 4 → 3 → 2, for example, when rotating backward. When the motor phase indicates a change inherent in such reverse rotation, the reverse rotation detection unit 11 determines that the rotation direction of the ACG starter motor 48, that is, the rotation direction of the engine, is changed from the normal rotation to the reverse rotation.

The ignition prohibition unit 803 performs engine ignition at a normal ignition timing only when the engine is rotating forward, and prohibits engine ignition when the reverse rotation detection unit 802 detects reverse rotation.

Fig. 11 is a timing chart showing a method of determining engine ignition based on the motor phase and the rotation speed of the ACG starter motor 48 and whether or not to execute ignition control, and fig. 12 is a flowchart showing a control procedure thereof.

In step S31, the output signal of each rotor sensor is acquired. In step S32, the motor phase determination unit 801 determines the current motor phase of the ACG starter motor 48 based on the combination of the output signals of the respective rotor sensors. In step S33, it is determined whether or not the motor phase for determining which of the calculated ignition timing and the fixed ignition timing the current engine ignition timing is to be set at has been reached.

In the present embodiment, the motor phase corresponding to 50 degrees before the compression Top Dead Center (TDC) of the engine is the ignition timing determining phase, and when the motor phase is the ignition timing determining phase at time t1, the process proceeds to step S34.

In step S34, the rotation speed NE within the angular range of 50 to 40 degrees before the TDC is measured as the instantaneous rotation speed NEa. In the present embodiment, the 31 st motor stage corresponds to this angular range, and therefore the rotation speed in the 31 st motor stage is measured as the instantaneous rotation speed NEa. In step S35, the instantaneous rotation speed NEa is equal to a predetermined reference rotation speed NE_refMaking a comparison if not NEa < NE_refThe operation proceeds to a predetermined operation ignition process.

Relative toIf NEa < NE_refThen, the process proceeds to step S36 and thereafter. In step S33, when it is determined that the current motor phase is not the ignition timing determining phase, the routine proceeds to step S36 and thereafter in the same manner.

In step S36, it is determined whether the current stage is the current energization start timing for the ignition coil based on the result of the stage determination in step S32. If a decision is made at time t2 in fig. 11 that the current energization start timing is present, the routine proceeds to step S43 to start and continue energization to the ignition coil.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S36 that the current energization start stage is not present, the routine proceeds to step S37, where it is determined whether or not the current ignition stage is present for igniting the ignition coil. In the present embodiment, the ignition timing of the fixed ignition is set to 10 degrees before TDC, and when the motor phase reaches the 35 th phase corresponding to the angle at time t3, it is determined that the current ignition phase is the current ignition phase, and the process proceeds to step S38.

In step S38, the reverse rotation detection unit 802 determines whether the engine is rotating in the reverse direction based on the change in the motor phase. When the motor phase indicates a change unique to the reverse rotation, the process proceeds to step S41 to stop the present engine ignition. If it is determined that the engine does not rotate reversely, the routine proceeds to step S39, and the passing time Δ t of the TDC approaching stage (in the present embodiment, the 34 th motor stage from 10 to 20 degrees before the TDC) is measured. In step S40, the passing time Δ t of the approach phase and the kickback determination threshold Δ t are set to be equal to each other_refA comparison is made.

According to the test by the present inventors, the ignition delay time Δ d from the ignition of the engine until the fuel pressure actually starts to rise is almost constant, and it is desirable to make the crank angle exceed the TDC within the ignition delay time Δ d before the ignition pressure starts to rise in order to prevent the occurrence of the kickback. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the kickback determination threshold value Δ t is set to be smaller than the kickback determination threshold value Δ t_refThe ignition delay time Δ d is set. Then, the passing time Δ t from 10 degrees before TDC to the time when TDC reaches the ignition timing and the kickback determination threshold Δ t are compared_refMaking a comparison if Δ t < Δ t_refThen a kick-back occursSince the performance is low, the routine proceeds to step S42 to perform fixed ignition. In contrast, if Δ t ≧ Δ t_refSince the possibility of occurrence of the kickback is not low, the routine proceeds to step S41, and the current engine ignition is prohibited by the ignition prohibition unit 803.

The determination at step S40 may be made based on the engine speed. For example, when the ignition timing is 10 degrees before TDC and the ignition delay time Δ d is fixed to 2.5ms, the engine speed at which 10 degrees of TDC can be passed by 2.5ms from the ignition timing is 666.7 rpm. Therefore, the following control can be substituted: if the instantaneous engine speed 10 degrees before the TDC is less than 670rpm, ignition is prohibited, and if the instantaneous engine speed is 670rpm or more, ignition is permitted.

Description of the reference numerals

1 … motorcycle, 2 … head tube, 3 … main frame, 4 … pivot plate, 5 … rear frame, 8 … front fork, 20 … engine, 40 … crank shaft, 41 … main bearing, 42 … piston, 48 … ACG starter motor, 51 … centrifugal clutch, 80 … ECU, 80A … idling stop control part, 80B … recoil prevention part, 82 … vehicle speed sensor, 83 … engine speed sensor, 84 … throttle opening degree sensor, 85 … oil temperature sensor, 86 … gear sensor, 91 … start switch, 92 … idling stop switch, 95 … fuel injection valve, 96 … throttle valve.