HUMAN-POWERED VEHICLE CONTROL DEVICE

• US 20190308690A1
• Filed: 04/05/2019
• Published: 10/10/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Shimano Inc
• Original Assignee: Shimano Inc
• Inventors: Terashima, Keiji, Satou, Taketoshi
• Granted Patent: US 11,124,268 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B62J 45/4152 for sensing longitudinal inclination of the cycle
• CPC Class Codes: B62M 25/08 with electrical or fluid transmitting systems
• CPC Class Codes: B62M 6/50 characterised by detectors or sensors, or arrangement thereof
• CPC Class Codes: B62M 6/55 power-driven at crank shafts parts
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/72 Electric energy management in electromobility

Abstract

A human-powered vehicle control device includes a controller that controls a motor assisting propulsion of a human-powered vehicle. The controller controls the motor in a first control state in which an assist force produced by the motor becomes less than or equal to a first predetermined value in a case in which an inclination angle related to the human-powered vehicle is greater than or equal to a first predetermined angle and a request for operating a transmission provided on the human-powered vehicle is received.

Claims

1. A human-powered vehicle control device comprising:

a controller that controls a motor assisting propulsion of a human-powered vehicle,

wherein the controller controls the motor in a first control state in which an assist force produced by the motor becomes less than or equal to a first predetermined value in a case in which an inclination angle related to the human-powered vehicle is greater than or equal to a first predetermined angle and a request for operating a transmission provided on the human-powered vehicle is received.

2. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 1,

wherein the controller is configured to control the motor in the first control state so that the assist force produced by the motor is in a first predetermined range that is greater than 0 Nm.

3. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 2,

wherein the controller controls the motor in the first control state in at least one of a state in which the motor is assisting the human-powered vehicle and a state in which the human-powered vehicle is traveling.

4. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 2,

wherein the first predetermined range is greater than 0 Nm and less than or equal to 25 Nm.

5. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 1, further comprising an inclination detection unit that detects the inclination angle related to the human-powered vehicle.

6. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 5,

wherein the inclination detection unit includes an inclination sensor that is attachable to the human-powered vehicle.

7. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 5,

wherein the inclination detection unit detects the inclination angle related to the human-powered vehicle based on position information of the human-powered vehicle and map information.

8. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 1,

wherein the request for operating the transmission provided on the human-powered vehicle includes a request for decreasing a first rotation ratio of a rotation speed of a drive wheel to a rotation speed of a crank of the human-powered vehicle.

9. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 1,

wherein the controller is configured to control the motor in a second control state in which the assist force produced by the motor to a human driving force becomes a first assist ratio.

10. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 9,

wherein in a case in which the motor is controlled in the first control state and a first predetermined condition is satisfied, the controller changes a control state of the motor to the second control state.

11. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 10,

wherein the first predetermined condition is satisfied in a case in which a rotation angle of a crank of the human-powered vehicle is included in a predetermined angular range.

12. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 11,

wherein the predetermined angular range excludes a top dead center and a bottom dead center of the crank.

13. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 10,

wherein the first predetermined condition is related to time.

14. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 10,

wherein the first predetermined condition is satisfied in a case in which operation of the transmission is completed.

15. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 1,

wherein the controller operates the transmission in accordance with the request for operating the transmission in a case in which the assist force produced by the motor is less than or equal to the first predetermined value.

16. A human-powered vehicle control device comprising:

a controller that controls a motor assisting propulsion of a human-powered vehicle,

wherein in at least one of a state in which the motor is assisting the human-powered vehicle and a state in which the human-powered vehicle is traveling, the controller controls the motor so that an assist force produced by the motor is in a first predetermined range that is greater than 0 Nm and less than or equal to 25 Nm in a case in which a request for operating a transmission provided on the human-powered vehicle is received.

17. A human-powered vehicle control device comprising:

a controller that controls a motor assisting propulsion of a human-powered vehicle,

wherein the controller controls the motor to increase an assist force produced by the motor in a case in which a request for increasing a rotation ratio of a rotation speed of a drive wheel to a rotation speed of a crank of the human-powered vehicle is received.

18. A human-powered vehicle control device comprising:

a controller that controls a motor assisting propulsion of a human-powered vehicle,

wherein in at least one of a state in which the motor is assisting propulsion of the human-powered vehicle, a state in which the human-powered vehicle is traveling, and a state in which an acceleration of the human-powered vehicle is greater than or equal to predetermined acceleration, the controller controls the motor in a first control state that increases an assist force produced by the motor in a case in which an inclination angle related to the human-powered vehicle is less than a first predetermined angle and a request for increasing a rotation ratio of a rotation speed of a drive wheel to a rotation speed of a crank of the human-powered vehicle is received.

19. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 18,

wherein the state in which the human-powered vehicle is traveling includes a state in which the motor is not assisting propulsion of the human-powered vehicle.

20. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 18,

wherein the controller is configured to control the motor in a second control state so that the assist force produced by the motor to human driving force becomes a first assist ratio.

21. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 20,

wherein the controller controls the motor in the third control state so that the assist force produced by the motor to the human driving force becomes a second assist ratio that is larger than the first assist ratio.

22. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 20,

wherein the controller controls the motor in the first control state to generate a first assist force by adding a predetermined assist force to an assist force obtaining a second assist ratio that is larger than the first assist ratio with respect to the human driving force.

23. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 20,

wherein the controller controls the motor in the first control state to generate a first assist force by adding a predetermined assist force to the first assist ratio with respect to the human driving force.

24. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 22,

wherein the predetermined assist force is changed in accordance with at least one of the rotation ratio and a change amount of the rotation ratio.

25. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 24,

wherein the predetermined assist force increases as the change amount of the rotation ratio increases.

26. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 20,

wherein the controller changes a control state of the motor to the second control state in a case in which a second predetermined condition is satisfied after changing the control state of the motor to the first control state.

27. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 26,

wherein the second predetermined condition includes one of a rotation speed of a crank of the human-powered vehicle and a rotation angle of the crank.

28. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 27,

wherein the second predetermined condition is satisfied in a case in which the rotation speed of the crank becomes greater than or equal to 55 rpm.

29. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 18,

wherein the controller prohibits control of the motor in the first control state in a case in which the rotation speed of the crank of the human-powered vehicle is greater than or equal to a predetermined value.

30. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 18,

wherein the controller starts controlling the motor in the first control state immediately before changing the rotation ratio, when changing the rotation ratio, or immediately after changing the rotation ratio.

31. The human-powered vehicle control device according to claim 18,

wherein the controller increases the assist force in a stepped manner in the first control state at timings including at least two of immediately before changing the rotation ratio, when changing the rotation ratio, and immediately after changing the rotation ratio.