Roll-over suppressing control apparatus and method for a vehicle

• US 20050222729A1
• Filed: 03/21/2005
• Published: 10/06/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi FUSO Truck & Bus Corporation (Daimler Truck Holding AG)
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi FUSO Truck & Bus Corporation (Daimler Truck Holding AG)
• Inventors: Sakata, Kunio
• Granted Patent: US 7,571,043 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/38
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/184 with wheel brakes
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2030/043 about the roll axis
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2720/18 Roll
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2720/403 between front and rear axle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/04 related to roll-over prevention
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/09 Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/11 Pitch movement
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/112 Roll movement
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/114 Yaw movement

Abstract

A roll-over suppressing control apparatus for a vehicle is disclosed which can carry out roll-over suppressing control appropriately in response to the type of turning. Upon turning of the vehicle, if a parameter corresponding to the rolling behavior of the vehicle becomes higher than a control start criterion value set in advance, then roll-over suppressing control of suppressing rolling of the vehicle is started. Then, if the parameter becomes lower than a control end criterion value set in advance, then the roll-over suppressing control is ended. As the control end criterion value, a steady turning control end criterion value is used when the turning of the vehicle is steady turning, but when the turning of the vehicle is non-steady turning such as lane change turning, a non-steady turning control end criterion value set to a value lower than that of the steady turning control end criterion value is used.

Claims

1. A roll-over suppressing control apparatus for a vehicle, comprising:

roll behavior information detection means for detecting roll behavior information of said vehicle;

roll suppression means for suppressing rolling of said vehicle;

roll-over suppressing control means for rendering said roll suppression means operative to start roll-over suppressing control of suppressing rolling of said vehicle when a parameter corresponding to the rolling behavior of said vehicle based on the roll behavior information detected by said roll behavior information detection means upon turning of said vehicle becomes higher than a control start criterion value set in advance and ending the roll-over suppressing control when the parameter becomes lower than a control end criterion value set in advance; and

turning type determination means for determining whether the turning of said vehicle is steady turning or non-steady turning represented by a lane change;

a steady turning control end criterion value for being used where it is determined by said turning type determination means that the turning of said vehicle is the steady turning and a non-steady turning control end criterion value for being used where it is determined by said turning type determination means that the turning of said vehicle is the non-steady turning being provided as the control end criterion value;

the non-steady turning control end criterion value being set to a value lower than that of the steady turning control end criterion value.

2. The roll-over suppressing control apparatus for a vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein said roll behavior information detection means is a roll rate sensor for detecting the roll rate of said vehicle and the parameter is the roll rate, and the control end criterion value is set as a roll rate threshold value.

3. The roll-over suppressing control apparatus for a vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein said roll suppression means includes a braking mechanism capable of braking a wheel of said vehicle, and said roll-over suppressing control means applies braking to said wheel through said braking mechanism to slow down the vehicle speed to suppress rolling of said vehicle.

4. The roll-over suppressing control apparatus for a vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein said roll suppression means includes engine output control means capable of suppressing the output power of an engine of said vehicle, and said roll-over suppressing control means suppresses the output power of said engine through said engine output control means to slow down the vehicle speed to suppress rolling of said vehicle.

5. The roll-over suppressing control apparatus for a vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein said roll suppression means includes a braking mechanism capable of braking a wheel of said vehicle and engine output control means capable of suppressing the output power of an engine of said vehicle, and said roll-over suppressing control means applies braking to said wheel through said braking mechanism and said engine output control means to slow down the vehicle speed to suppress rolling of said vehicle.

6. The roll-over suppressing control apparatus for a vehicle as claimed in claim 3, wherein said braking mechanism is capable of braking left and right wheels of said vehicle separately from each other, and when the control start condition is satisfied, said roll-over suppressing control means controls said braking mechanism so as to apply the braking force to the turning outer wheel or wheels.

7. The roll-over suppressing control apparatus for a vehicle as claimed in claim 5, wherein said braking mechanism is capable of braking left and right wheels of said vehicle separately from each other, and when the control start condition is satisfied, said roll-over suppressing control means controls said braking mechanism so as to apply the braking force to the turning outer wheel or wheels.

8. The roll-over suppressing control apparatus for a vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein, if said vehicle during turning is steered in the opposite direction to the turning direction, then said turning type determination means determines that the turning of said vehicle is the non-steady turning represented by a lane change.

9. A roll-over suppressing control method for a vehicle, comprising the steps of:

detecting roll behavior information of said vehicle when said vehicle travels;

determining based on the roll behavior information detected upon turning of said vehicle whether or not a parameter corresponding to the rolling behavior of said vehicle becomes higher than a control start criterion value set in advance;

rendering, when the parameter corresponding to the rolling behavior of said vehicle becomes higher than the control start criterion value set in advance, roll suppression means operative to start roll-over suppressing control of suppressing rolling of said vehicle;

determining, during the roll-over suppressing control, whether the turning of said vehicle is steady turning or non-steady turning represented by a lane change; and

ending the roll-over suppressing control when the parameter corresponding to the rolling behavior of said vehicle becomes lower than a control end criterion value set in advance, a steady turning control end criterion value being used as the control end criterion value where it is determined that the turning of said vehicle is the steady turning whereas a non-steady turning control end criterion value set to a value lower than that of the steady turning control end criterion value is used as the control end criterion value where it is determined that the turning of said vehicle is the non-steady turning.

10. The roll-over suppressing control method for a vehicle as claimed in claim 9, wherein the roll behavior information and the parameter are a roll rate, and the control end criterion value is set as a roll rate threshold value.

11. The roll-over suppressing control method for a vehicle as claimed in claim 9, wherein the roll-over suppressing control is performed by applying braking to a wheel of said vehicle through a braking mechanism, which is capable of braking the wheel, to slow down the vehicle speed to suppress rolling of said vehicle.

12. The roll-over suppressing control method for a vehicle as claimed in claim 11, wherein said braking mechanism is capable of braking left and right wheels of said vehicle separately from each other, and in the roll-over suppressing control, when the control start condition is satisfied, said braking mechanism is controlled so as to apply the braking force to the turning outer wheel or wheels.

13. The roll-over suppressing control method for a vehicle as claimed in claim 9, wherein the roll-over suppressing control is performed by suppressing the output power of an engine of said vehicle to slow down the vehicle speed to suppress rolling of said vehicle.

14. The roll-over suppressing control method for a vehicle as claimed in claim 9, wherein, in the determination of the type of turning of said vehicle, if said vehicle during turning is steered in the opposite direction to the turning direction, then it is determined that the turning of said vehicle is the non-steady turning represented by a lane change.