| JPS58202115A | 1983-11-25 | |||
| US4065961A | 1978-01-03 | |||
| US4398174A | 1983-08-09 | |||
| JPS5229264A | 1977-03-04 |
| 1. | A fuel saving guidance system of a vehicle comprising: an input converter A2 for converting a fuel injection amount of a fuel injector into an electrical digital signal; a load detector A3 for detecting a load from the electrical signal of the input converter A2; an enginerotationnumber measuring part A4 for measuring the number of rotations of an engine according to the electrical signal of the input converter A2; an instantaneous start/acceleration determiner A5 for determining an instantaneous start/acceleration according to the load detected in the load detector A3; a display controller A6 for visually indicating a load using the load detected by the load detector A3 and the number of rotations of the engine measured by the engine rotationnumber measuring part A4; a display part A8 for visually warning a driver of a load state by sequentially turning on lightemitting diodes; an alarm controller A7 for controlling an alarm according to a determination of the instantaneous start/acceleration determiner A5; an alarm part A9 for aurally warning a driver of a load state by generating an alarm sound according to an output signal of the alarm controller A7; and a switch input part A10 for initializing a control system, turning on/off the alarm and setting internal parameters. |
| 2. | The fuel saving guidance system of a vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the display part A8 sets light emitting diodes to emit different colors so that the load, fuel consumption amount and fuel consumption rate are simultaneously displayed, and an inadequate partialload, an overload, and the boundary between the most efficient fuel consumption rate and overconsumption are represented by yellow, red and yellow color, respectively. |
| 3. | A method of controlling a fuel saving guidance system comprising: steps Bl and B2 of initializing a control system and automatically setting an alarm and internal reference data according to a switch input after an operation of a start switch; steps B3 and B4 of determining a stabilization of an engine start after the engine starts; step B5 of measuring a load and the number of rotations of the engine from a signal of a fuel injector; step B6 of determining an overload state by comparing the data measured at the above measuring step with the reference data converted from an overload occurring in an instantaneous start/acceleration state according to the type of vehicle; and steps B7, B8 and B9 of warning a driver of an overload state by sequentially turning on lightemitting diodes and generating an alarm sound, if the result in the determining step is determined to be abnormal. |
| 4. | The method of controlling a fuel saving guidance system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the overload state is further determined by a data converted from the load obtained for a predetermined period of time. |
exhaust gas, maintaining the performance of a vehicle and preventing accidents caused by instantaneous start/acceleration.
BACKGROUND ART Generally, a fuel consumption rate of a vehicle is the lowest in an adequate load range and high in low and high load ranges. Accordingly, driving in an adequate load range leads to an economical driving. However, a related art vehicle is not provided with a device for indicating a fuel consumption amount or a load. Even though a similar function is provided, it has not been possible to efficiently provide an audio-visual indication to a driver. Thus, in a related art vehicle, driving in an adequate load range was not possible.
Moreover, it is known that in case of instantaneous start, instantaneous acceleration and driving in an inadequately low load range, fuel consumption amount is increased more than 30% as compared with an ordinary driving condition.
In a state of instantaneous start/acceleration due to bad habits of the driver, a related art vehicle which is not provided with an appropriate compensation means has problems of increase of fuel consumption, increase of engine exhaust emission and shortening of vehicle's
lifetime.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a fuel saving guidance system of a vehicle and a control method thereof, which detects a fuel amount data of a fuel injector, converts it into a load data and informs a driver of the load data, thereby guiding an economical driving.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a saving guidance system of a vehicle and a control method thereof, which performs a decision of an overload state in case of instantaneous start/acceleration and warns a driver of the state by generating an alarm sound and sequentially turning on light-emitting diodes (LEDs), thereby avoiding instantaneous start/acceleration caused by bad habits of the driver so as to reduce fuel consumption due to overload.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a saving guidance system of a vehicle and a control method thereof, which guides an adequate load driving to avoid unnecessary consumption of fuel by turning on a yellow LED and using fuel-cut function, in case of an inadequately low load range.
Another object of the present invention is to provide
a saving guidance system of a vehicle and a control method thereof, which is provided with a control algorithm for warning a driver of load data, instantaneous start/acceleration and fuel over-consumption by detecting an exact fuel amount from the fuel injection time in a vehicle, converting the detected fuel amount into a load data, measuring the number of rotations of an engine, performing a decision of partial-load range and overload range, and selecting a proper display part and setting an alarm according to the decision.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The invention will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like elements wherein: Fig. 1 is a block diagram for explaining a saving guidance system of a vehicle in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a flow chart showing the process of a saving guidance system of a vehicle in accordance with the present invention; and Fig. 3 shows a structure of a display part in a saving guidance system of a vehicle in accordance with the present invention.
*Description on symbols for key parts in the drawings*
A1: fuel injection signal A2: input converter A3: load detector A4: engine-rotation-number measuring part A5: instantaneous start/acceleration determiner A6: display controller A7: alarm controller A8: display part A9: alarm part A10: switch input part BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above objects, a saving guidance system of a vehicle in accordance with the present invention comprises: an input converter for converting a signal of a fuel injector in a vehicle to be received by a control system; a load detector for detecting a load from the signal of the fuel injector; an engine-rotation-number measuring part for measuring the number of rotations of an engine from the signal of the fuel injector ; an instantaneous start/acceleration determiner for determining instantaneous start/acceleration and over-consumption of fuel according to the detected load and the measured number
of rotations of the engine; an alarm controller for controlling an alarm according to the determination of the instantaneous start/acceleration determiner; an alarm part for aurally warning a driver of a load state by generating an alarm sound according to an output signal from the alarm controller; a display part for visually warning a driver of a load state by sequentially turning on LEDs according to the load detected by the load detector; a switch input part for initializing the control system, setting internal parameters and setting an alarm.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method of controlling a fuel saving guidance system comprises the steps of: initializing a control system according to a switch input after an operation of a start switch, and automatically setting an alarm and internal reference data; measuring a load from a signal of a fuel injector; comparing the load data measured at the above measuring step with the reference data converted from an overload occurring in an instantaneous start/acceleration state; maintaining inspection of a load state if a result in the comparing step is determined to be normal and warning a driver of an overload state by sequentially turning on LEDs and generating an alarm sound if a result in the comparing step is determined to be abnormal.
The present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 is a block diagram for explaining a saving guidance system of a vehicle in accordance with the present invention, Fig. 2 is a flow chart showing the process of a saving guidance system of a vehicle in accordance with the present invention, and Fig. 3 shows a structure of a display part in a saving guidance system of a vehicle in accordance with the present invention.
Referring to Fig. 1, A2 denotes an input converter for measuring the fuel injection amount, converting the fuel injection amount into an electrical digital signal and inputting the signal to a load detector A3 and to an engine-rotation-number measuring part A4. The load detector A3 detects a load from the electrical signal measured in the input convertor A2. The engine-rotation-number measuring part A4 measures the number of rotations of the engine from the electrical signal measured in the input convertor A2.
The input converter A2 can be input from a diagnostic connector and other wires installed in a vehicle.
A5 denotes an instantaneous start/acceleration determiner for determining an instantaneous start/acceleration according to a signal of the load
detector A3 and the engine-rotation-number measuring part A4. A6 denotes a display controller for visually indicating a load using detected load. A7 denotes an alarm controller for controlling an alarm according to the determination in the instantaneous start/acceleration determiner A5.
A8 denotes a display part for visually indicating an output from the display controller A6 using LEDs. A9 denotes an alarm part for aurally warning a driver of a load state by generating an alarm sound according to an output from the alarm controller. A10 denotes a switch input part for initializing the control system and setting alarm and reference according to a switch input.
The display part A8 consists of a plurality of LEDs and performs sequential lighting according to the output signal from the display controller A6 to display green, yellow or red color depending on a load, by which a driver visually checks an instantaneous start/acceleration.
The foregoing embodiments are merely exemplary and many alternatives, modifications, and variations are possible within the scope of the invention.
Referring to Fig. 3 showing the display part A8 for <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> displaying a load, reference numeral (Z denotes a load<BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> display part, oxo denotes an efficiency/state display part, @ denotes an adequate load range, @ denotes an adequate
load range in case of acceleration and 60 denotes an overload display part.
That is, the display part A8 is composed of a plurality of LEDs for indicating a fuel consumption amount and a load, and one LED emitting three colors for indicating a fuel consumption rate and an instantaneous start/acceleration. In the plurality of LEDs, the fuel amount is represented by the number of the turned on diodes, and an adequate load range, the most efficient load range and an overload range are represented by green, yellow and red color, respectively. In the one LED, the state of high fuel consumption rate and low load is represented by yellow color, an overload is represented by red color, an adequate partial-load is represented by green color and the state of instantaneous start/acceleration and fuel over-consumption is represented by red color.
In case of fuel-cut without fuel consumption, it is preferable that the load display part displays green color in the light of its operation.
The control process of operating the display part will be described.
After the operation of the start switch, switch input is performed to carry out initialization of the control system, alarm setting and reference setting (Bl and B2). In
the step of the reference setting, an overload occurring in the instantaneous start/acceleration according to the type of vehicle is preset to be a certain value. A user may adjust the reference value, but it is preferable that manufacture of the vehicle is completed in a state in which the reference value is preset.
An engine start is operated and it is determined whether the engine start is stabilized (engine stability test) for a certain period of time (B3 and B4).
If it is determined that the engine start is stabilized in step B4, the load detector A3 detects the load and the engine-rotation-number measuring part A4 measures the number of rotations of the engine from the electrical signal of the input converter A2 (B5).
The instantaneous start/acceleration determiner A5 performs a decision of overload by comparing the data measured in step B5 with the reference data converted from the overload occurring in the instantaneous start/acceleration according to the type of vehicle (B6).
In step B6, if the data measured in step B5 is determined to be abnormal, the LEDs in the display part(D shown in Fig. 3 are sequentially turned on by the display controller A6 and the alarm sound is generated by the alarm controller A7, thereby warning the driver of the overload
state (steps B7, B8 and B9).
The overload state is represented by red color in the overload display part (li).
In addition to the method of comparing the load detected from the data of the fuel injector with the reference value, a method of determining the overload state using a data converted from the load obtained for a predetermined period of time may be adopted.
Accordingly, the driver can avoid instantaneous start/acceleration involving much fuel consumption, since the LEDs in the display part warn the driver of the instantaneous start/acceleration state.
The driver may select the best driving mode, i. e., engine start, idling, acceleration, constant-speed driving and deceleration, using the display function of the display part. First, the vehicle is started with half the load of an initial engine start during a period of optimum idling.
In a period of acceleration, the speed is accelerated to the acceleration range of the load display part. In a constant-speed driving, a driving without changing the load indicated in the load display part, a driving maintaining an economic speed according to the fuel consumption amount, an acceleration within a permitted limit of load and road condition, a flexible driving adopting fuel-cut (the energy
efficiency can be improved by increasing the average load applied to the vehicle) may be performed. In acceleration/deceleration, acceleration and deceleration can be freely performed within the visually recognizable range of the load fluctuations. Accordingly, the energy efficiency can be improved and also, contaminants exhausting from the vehicle can be effectively prevented.
As described above, according to the present invention, the data from the fuel injector is detected and converted into a load to guide an economical driving in an adequate load range. Also, the instantaneous start/acceleration state is determined to be an overload to warn a driver of the overload state by turning on the LEDs and generating an alarm sound, thereby avoiding instantaneous start/acceleration and reducing the fuel consumption caused by speeding.
Moreover, in a low load range, an adequate load driving can be guided by turning on a yellow LED and unnecessary consumption of fuel can be avoided by using fuel-cut function. In particular, car accidents caused by instantaneous start/acceleration as well as contaminants exhausting from the vehicle can be suppressed.
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