Device for carrying out control or regulation functions and a method for the control or regulation in a vehicle

• US 20030105557A1
• Filed: 10/17/2002
• Published: 06/05/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Horbelt, Michael, Owerfeldt, Andre
• Granted Patent: US 6,754,565 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/0315 using multiplexing techniques multiplexing for transmission of signals G08C15/00; multiplexing for electrical communication in general H04J

Abstract

A device for implementing control or regulating functions in a motor vehicle has at least one control unit and at least one peripheral element; the peripheral element is connected to the control unit and receives and/or sends signals, and the control or regulating functions are implemented by a triggering and/or analysis of the signals of the peripheral element. The device includes at least one control module connected between the control unit and the peripheral element, the control module being composed of an electronic unit and a flexible extension, and the peripheral element being contacted to the flexible extension. Likewise, a device and a method are described, with which the scalable control modules execute the variant-determining functionalities for regulating operating sequences in a vehicle, and the control unit provides the operating system, the computing power, and optionally also a bus interface, so that standard control devices or control devices already being used elsewhere may also be used as the control unit.

Claims

1. A control module for implementing control or regulating functions in a motor vehicle, the control or regulating functions being implemented by a triggering and/or an analysis of signals of a peripheral element, the control module being connected between a control unit and the peripheral element, and the control module being composed of an electronic unit and a flexible extension, contactable to the peripheral element,

wherein a predefined uniform interface is used between the electronic unit and the flexible extension, and various electronic units may be combined with various flexible extensions by using this interface.

2. The control module as recited in claim 1,

wherein the flexible extension is designed as a deformable film extension, in particular as a conductor film.

3. The control module as recited in claim 1,

wherein variant determining electronic components for triggering and/or analyzing the signals are mounted on the flexible extension.

4. The control module as recited in claim 1,

wherein the peripheral element, in particular a sensor, is mounted directly on the flexible extension.

5. The control module as recited in claim 1,

wherein the electronic unit is scalable and is used in certain variants, missing functions of certain variants of the electronic unit being achieved by a combination of at least two variants of the electronic unit or the control modules and/or by mounting electronic components on the flexible extension of at least one control module.

6. A device for implementing control or regulating functions in a vehicle, having a control unit as well as a peripheral element and a control unit as recited in claim 1.

7. The device for implementing control or regulating functions in a vehicle as recited in claim 6, having at least one control unit, the control unit being used to implement first control and regulating functions,

wherein the control unit is connected to at least one peripheral element which receives and/or sends signals and is provided for second control or regulating functions, which are implemented independently of the first control or regulating functions, programs and/or data for the second control or regulating functions being fed into the control unit, the device having at least one control module connected between the control unit and the peripheral element, which is designed so that it supplements electronic components and/or functions which are necessary for implementation of the second control or regulating functions and are missing or not available in the control unit and/or the peripheral element.

8. The device as recited in claim 6,

wherein the control unit is connected by an interface unit to a communication system in a vehicle, in particular to a two-wire bus system, and the control module is connected to the control unit by a bidirectional connection existing in addition to the communication system, in particular a single-wire bus connection, the control module also using the interface unit of the control unit for access of the control module to the communication system.