ABNORMALITY DETECTION APPARATUS

• US 20090179777A1
• Filed: 01/07/2009
• Published: 07/16/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/11/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: ISHIKAWA, Tomoyasu
• Application Number:
  US12/349,659
• Publication Number:
  US 20090179777A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/939
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 15/042 by monitoring a single specific parameter not covered by groups G01M15/06 - G01M15/12
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0816 Indicating performance data, e.g. occurrence of a malfunction

Abstract

An abnormality detection apparatus has: an abnormality detection portion that detects at least one of an abnormality of a vehicle and an abnormality of an in-vehicle device based on an output of the in-vehicle device that indicates a state of a vehicle; an environmental drive condition information obtaining portion that obtains information regarding an environmental drive condition that affects the output of the in-vehicle device; and an abnormality detection criteria changing portion that changes an abnormality detection criteria used by the abnormality detecting portion based on the environmental drive condition information obtained by the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion.

Claims

1. An abnormality detection apparatus for a vehicle, comprising:

an abnormality detection portion that detects at least one of an abnormality of the vehicle and an abnormality of an in-vehicle device provided in the vehicle based on an output of the in-vehicle device that indicates a state of a vehicle;

an environmental drive condition information obtaining portion that obtains information regarding an environmental drive condition that affects the output of the in-vehicle device; and

an abnormality detection criteria changing portion that changes an abnormality detection criteria used by the abnormality detection portion based on the environmental drive condition information obtained by the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion.

2. The abnormality detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion obtains, as the environmental drive condition information, at least one of weather information, road classification information, and road surface information.

3. The abnormality detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion obtains the environmental drive condition information through a remote vehicle communication system.

4. The abnormality detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion obtains the environmental drive condition information through a mobile communication device.

5. The abnormality detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the abnormality detection criteria changing portion changes, as the abnormality detection criteria, at least one of timing of the abnormality detection, a target of the abnormality detection, and a threshold for the abnormality detection.

6. The abnormality detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the in-vehicle device is an engine coolant temperature sensor that detects the temperature of engine coolant after start of an engine of the vehicle;

the abnormality detection portion detects, at a predetermined detection time point, whether the engine coolant temperature sensor is in an abnormal state based on an output of the engine coolant temperature sensor;

the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion obtains weather information as the environmental drive condition information; and

the abnormality detection criteria changing portion changes timing of the abnormality detection based on the weather information obtained by the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion.

7. The abnormality detection apparatus according to claim 6, wherein

the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion obtains a temperature outside of the vehicle as the environmental drive condition information, and

the abnormality detection criteria changing portion retards timing of the abnormality detection if the outside temperature is lower than a predetermined threshold.

8. The abnormality detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the abnormality detection portion detects an abnormality of the temperature of a transmission lubricant based on an output of a sensor for detecting a temperature of transmission lubricant;

the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion obtains road classification information as the environmental drive condition information; and

the abnormality detection criteria changing portion changes a lubricant temperature threshold used to detect an abnormality of the temperature of the transmission lubricant based on the road classification information obtained by the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion.

9. The abnormality detection apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the abnormality detection criteria changing portion reduces the lubricant temperature threshold if the road classification information obtained by the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion indicates that a road on which the vehicle is presently running is an expressway.

10. The abnormality detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the abnormality detection portion detects an abnormality of an engine of the vehicle based on a duration for which the engine stops that is determined from an output of a sensor for detecting a speed of the engine;

the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion obtains weather information as the environmental drive condition information; and

the abnormality detection criteria changing portion changes a threshold for the engine stop duration based on the weather information.

11. The abnormality detection apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the abnormality detection criteria changing portion increases the engine stop duration threshold if the weather information obtained by the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion indicates that a road on which the vehicle is presently running is wet.

12. The abnormality detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the abnormality detection portion detects an abnormality of the engine based on the duration of engine stop that is determined from an output of a sensor for detecting a speed of the engine;

the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion obtains weather information as the environmental drive condition information; and

the abnormality detection criteria changing portion changes, based on the weather information obtained by the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion, a threshold for a descending gradient of the speed of the engine that is used to detect an abnormality of the engine.

13. The abnormality detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the abnormality determination portion detects whether the in-vehicle device or a signal line of the in-vehicle device is in an abnormal state based on at least one of the frequency of interruption of signal transmission from the in-vehicle device and the duration of interruption of signal transmission from the in-vehicle device;

the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion obtains road surface information as the environmental drive condition information; and

the abnormality detection criteria changing portion changes at least one of a threshold for the frequency of interruption of signal transmission from the in-vehicle device and a threshold for the duration of interruption of signal transmission from the in-vehicle device based on the road surface information obtained by the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion.

14. The abnormality detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion obtains road surface information as the environmental drive condition information;

the abnormality detection criteria changing portion switches the target of the abnormality detection by the abnormality detection portion between the in-vehicle device and a signal line of the in-vehicle device based on the road-surface information obtained by the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion; and

the abnormality detection portion detects an abnormality of the target of the abnormality detection based on at least one of the frequency of interruption of signal transmission from the in-vehicle device and the duration of interruption of signal transmission from the in-vehicle device.

15. The abnormality detection apparatus according to claim 14, wherein

the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion obtains road roughness information as the environmental drive condition information, and

the abnormality detection criteria changing portion switches the target of the abnormality detection by the abnormality detection portion between the in-vehicle device and a signal line of the in-vehicle device based on the road roughness information obtained by the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion.

16. The abnormality detection apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the abnormality detection criteria changing portion changes at least one of a threshold for the frequency of interruption of signal transmission from the in-vehicle device and a threshold for the duration of interruption of signal transmission from the in-vehicle device based on the road surface information obtained by the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion.

17. The abnormality detection apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a provisional abnormality detection portion that provisionally detects at least one of an abnormality of the vehicle and an abnormality of the in-vehicle device based on an output of the in-vehicle device,

wherein the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion obtains information regarding an environmental drive condition that affects the output of the in-vehicle device when the provisional abnormality detection portion has provisionally detected at least one of an abnormality of the vehicle and an abnormality of the in-vehicle device.

18. An abnormality detection apparatus for a vehicle, comprising:

a provisional abnormality detection portion that provisionally detects at least one of an abnormality of the vehicle and an abnormality of an in-vehicle device provided in the vehicle based on an output of the in-vehicle device that indicates a state of the vehicle;

an environmental drive condition information obtaining portion that obtains information regarding an environmental drive condition that affects the output of the in-vehicle device when the provisional abnormality detection portion has detected at least one of an abnormality of the vehicle and an abnormality of the in-vehicle device; and

an abnormality detection portion that detects at least one of an abnormality of the vehicle and an abnormality of the in-vehicle device based on the output of the in-vehicle device and the environmental drive condition information obtained by the environmental drive condition information obtaining portion.