JP3595302B2 - Switch device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a switch device such as a combination switch (also referred to as a column switch) mounted on a steering column of an automobile. In particular, the present invention relates to non-contact multipoint switching (multipoint detection) by using a sensor such as a hall element. The present invention relates to a switch device capable of performing the following.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art A steering column of an automobile is equipped with various switches for operating ancillary devices related to traveling. These switches include, for example, a light switch, a wiper switch, a washer switch, and the like. Since all of these switches need to be deployed under the restricted conditions of the steering column, they are generally provided collectively in the form of a combination switch (column switch).
[0003]
Since these switches usually require multipoint switching (multipoint detection), in the case of a contact type disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-265639, for example, a plurality of fixed contacts are formed on a fixed substrate. The movable contact on the operation unit side is brought into contact therewith. Further, in the case of a non-contact type disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-273492, for example, an output change of a sensor (a photo sensor, a hall element, or the like) according to the movement of an operation unit is detected in multiple stages, The switch operation position is determined.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, column switches include light switches, fog lamp switches, high beam switches, turn switches, front wiper switches, front wiper intermittent switches, rear wiper switches, washer switches, and the like. There is a distinction of function.
[0005]
For example, taking the case of a light switch as an example, as shown in FIG. 11, the switch of the function A can switch between three positions of "headlight / small / OFF" in this order, and the switch of the function B The switch can switch between four positions of “AUTO / headlight / small / OFF” in this order, and the switch of function C can switch between four positions of “headlight / small / AUTO / OFF”. It is possible in order.
[0006]
Taking the case of a wiper switch as an example, as shown in FIG. 12, the function A switch can be switched between three positions of “OFF / LO / HI” in this order, and the function B switch Can switch five positions of “MIST / OFF / INT / LO / HI” in this order, and switch of function C can switch four positions of “OFF / INT variable / LO / HI” in this order. It is possible in order.
[0007]
As described above, there are various kinds of variations for each function. In addition, since the number of variasins increases depending on the type of vehicle, the grade, and the optional equipment, there are enormous types at the shipping stage.
[0008]
In the case of a conventional contact type switch, a movable contact and a fixed contact are individually designed in order to realize these various types of switches. For example, if the wiper lever has an intermittent function, a contact board is designed for each function. Also, when there is a distinction between the presence or absence and the position of AUTO in the light switch, the movable contact and the fixed contact are individually designed for each type. Therefore, there is a problem that the manufacturing cost increases.
[0009]
On the other hand, in the case of a conventional non-contact switch using a sensor such as a Hall element, it is extremely advantageous in that it is not necessary to individually design contacts, but for example, for each function, a switch operation according to the sensor output Since the method of recognizing the position must be distinguished by software, software must be rewritten for each function, and there are many types of software. There was a problem that cost reduction could not be achieved.
[0010]
In view of the above circumstances, the present invention enables a control means that receives a sensor output and recognizes a switch operation position to determine a difference in a switch type, a function, and the like, thereby sharing software written in the control means. It is an object of the present invention to provide a switch device capable of achieving the above.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sensor for generating an output corresponding to an operation position of a switch, and a control for determining an operation position of the switch based on an output of the sensor and outputting a control signal corresponding to the determined operation position Means, a storage means is attached to the sensor, and the identification information of the switch is written in the storage means, whereby the control means reads the identification information from the storage means and determines which switch After recognizing whether the switch is such, the operation position of the switch is determined based on the output of the sensor, and a control signal corresponding to the determined operation position is output.
[0012]
In this switch device, the control unit recognizes what kind of switch the switch is (type and function of the switch) based on information (switch identification information) of the storage unit attached to the sensor. Then, based on the recognition, the operation position of the switch is determined based on the output of the sensor, and a control signal corresponding to the operation position is output. Therefore, by storing in advance in the control means software that can deal with all types in common, it is possible to determine the switch operation position according to the type and function of the switch according to the identification information sent from the sensor side. It can be carried out.
[0013]
The invention according to claim 2 is the switch device according to claim 1, wherein the identification information includes rule information for determining an operation position of a switch from an output of the sensor. The control unit reads out the identification information from the storage unit and recognizes what kind of switch the switch is, and then determines a switch operation position based on the output of the sensor and the rule information, and determines the switch operation position. A control signal corresponding to the operation position is output.
[0014]
In this switch device, the determination rule information based on the sensor output is included in the switch identification information, so that the software can easily cope with a difference in the number of detection points and a difference in the position of the detection point. be able to.
[0015]
A third aspect of the present invention is the switch device according to the first or second aspect, wherein a Hall element is provided as the sensor, and the Hall element has an A / D converter that converts an analog output of the Hall element into a digital signal. An output control unit that outputs the identification information written in the storage unit to the outside only during the first processing when the power is turned on, and outputs the output data of the A / D converter to the outside from the next processing. It is characterized by being attached.
[0016]
In this switch device, the control unit can recognize the role of the switch or the sensor based on the identification information sent from the sensor side in the first processing at the time of power ON, and from the next processing, After recognition, control based on normal sensor output can be performed. Further, since a Hall element is used as a sensor, when the Hall element is provided on the fixed side, multipoint detection can be performed only by providing a magnet on the movable side.
[0017]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0018]
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the overall configuration of a system including the switch device according to the embodiment. This system includes a control circuit 2 mainly including a microcomputer (microcomputer) 1 as control means. The microcomputer 1 has an EEPROM 3 as a memory for storing software. A signal is transmitted from the detection-side element 4 to the control circuit 2, and the control circuit 2 outputs a predetermined control signal to the drive-side element 5 based on the input signal.
[0019]
In this system, a Hall IC 6 for detecting an operation position of each switch such as a light switch and a wiper switch is provided as a detection-side element 5. A drive system 7 such as a light or a turn lamp is provided as a drive-side element 5 to be operated.
[0020]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the Hall IC 6. The Hall IC 6 stores a Hall element 11 as a sensor for generating an output corresponding to the operation position of the switch, an A / D converter 12 for digitally converting an analog output of the Hall element 11, and identification information of each switch. A storage unit 13 and an output control unit 14 for outputting the identification information written in the storage unit 13 to the outside only during the first processing when the power is turned on, and outputting the output data of the A / D converter 12 to the outside from the next processing. And are included. As the storage means 13, a non-volatile memory such as an EEPROM in which data can be written after being incorporated in the system is used.
[0021]
The Hall IC 6 is incorporated in, for example, a sensing unit of each switch, and a magnet is provided on a movable side that moves according to a switch operation. When a switch is operated, the amount of magnetic flux entering the Hall element 11 from a magnet interlocking with a switch operation unit (a lever, a knob, or the like) changes, whereby the Hall element 11 generates detection data corresponding to the switch operation position. Is to occur.
[0022]
FIG. 3 shows the processing flow of the Hall IC 6, and FIG. 4 shows the contents of the bit data output from the Hall IC 6.
[0023]
A switch number (Part No.), which will be described in detail later, is written in the storage means 13 in the Hall IC 6 provided for each switch as identification information including information such as the type and function of the switch. As shown in the flow of FIG. 3, the IC 6 transmits the switch number (Part No.) written in the storage unit 13 to the outside only in the first processing (steps 101 and 102) when the power is turned on, and performs the next processing. From (Steps S103 and S104), the detection data obtained by digitally converting the detected magnetic field is transmitted. The output control unit 14 of the Hall IC 6 is programmed to perform such an operation. Therefore, after the power is turned on, the control circuit 2 on the receiving side first receives the switch number transmitted from each Hall IC 6, and determines from the received switch number which type and function the switch has. Then, according to the result of the judgment, a control signal for a related device such as a light or a wiper is output.
[0024]
Here, as shown in FIG. 4, there are two types of bit data output from the Hall IC 6, a switch number (Part No.) and detection data, both of which are transmitted as 16-bit data. Bit number 15 is fixed to a value “0” by SYNC, and bit number 00 is fixed to a value “1” by STOP. In the case of the data of the switch number (Part No.), the value of the bit number 14 is “1”, and in the case of the detection data, the value of the bit number 14 is “0”. Therefore, the control circuit 2 on the receiving side determines that the data is the switch number (Part No.) if the value of the bit number 14 is 1, and determines the detected data if the data of the bit number 14 is 0.
[0025]
FIG. 5 shows the distribution of each bit in the switch number (Part No.) of 16-bit data. Bit numbers 14 to 11 indicate the type of the switch, bit numbers 10 and 09 indicate the function of the switch, and bit numbers 08 to 01 indicate the bits so as to indicate the detection point setting contents of the switch.
[0026]
As shown in FIG. 6, the types of switches having bit numbers 14 to 11 are light (headlight), fog (fog lamp), high beam (high beam light), turn (turn lamp), front wiper, intermittent front wiper, rear wiper, Washers are prepared, and bit data for distinguishing the washers is allocated.
[0027]
As the function of the switch for bits 10 and 09, bit data is allocated as shown in FIGS. FIG. 7 shows an example of the function division of the wiper switch, and FIG. 8 shows an example of the function division of the light switch.
[0028]
In the example of the wiper switch shown in FIG. 7, bit data is allocated according to three types of functions, “OFF / LO / HI”, “OFF / INT / LO / HI”, and “MIST / OFF / INT / LO / HI”. Have been. Further, in the example of the light switch in FIG. 8, the bit is determined according to three types of functions of “headlight / small / OFF”, “AUTO / headlight / small / OFF”, and “headlight / small / AUTO / OFF”. Data is allocated.
[0029]
The bit numbers 08 to 01 are used for setting detection points, and the combination of whether or not there is a detection point for each range of the detection data of the Hall element 11 is defined by the value of each bit number. .
[0030]
The range is divided as shown in FIG.
"1024-2047"
"2048-3071"
"3072-4095"
"4096-5119"
"5120-6143"
"6144-1167"
"7168-8191"
, And one bit of bit numbers “08 to 01” is assigned to each range. In FIG. 9, when there is a detection point, that is, the value of the bit number at the position where the switch is turned on is “1”.
[0031]
FIG. 10 shows a case of a wiper switch as an example of setting a detection point. The contents shown in FIG. 10 are rule information for determining the operation position of the switch from the detection data of the Hall element 11. For example, looking at the case of “OFF / LO / HI (Example 1)” in FIG. 10, since the value of bit number 07 = 1 and the value of bit number 06 = 1, the detection data from Hall IC 6 It indicates that the switch is determined to be LO when 1024 to 2047, and to be HI when 2048 to 3071. The same applies to other cases.
[0032]
Recognition that there are two switchings (switching) between LO and HI is performed based on the definition of the type and function in FIGS. 6 and 7 that the values of the bit numbers 14 to 09 are “110101”. Is
[0033]
In the control circuit 2, a comparison table for determining what the transmitted bit data represents is stored in the EEPROM 3 or the like in the microcomputer. In this case, common software (including all types of comparison tables) is prepared so that all types of switches can be determined, and the control circuit 2 determines the role of each switch when power is turned on (what kind of switch). Type and function), and based on the recognition, determines the switch operation position based on the detection data from each Hall IC 6 and the detection point setting rule. A corresponding control signal is output to each of the external drive systems 7.
[0034]
Therefore, even if the vehicle type, grade, or optional equipment is different, appropriate control is performed by the unified software in the microcomputer 1, so that the switch device can be standardized and the cost can be reduced. In addition, since the switch number is stored in the switch itself (strictly, the Hall IC 6), if the system is compatible (if compatible), the user can select and install a switch of any design. This also makes it possible to greatly increase the degree of freedom in design.
[0035]
In the above embodiment, it is assumed that the software in the control circuit 2 can be unified by giving each switch an identification number. However, if the software is prepared for each function, an incorrect switch can be attached. It can also be used as a self-check function.
[0036]
Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the Hall element is used as the sensor has been described. However, as long as it can generate an output corresponding to the switch operation position, another sensor such as a photo sensor may be used. Good.
[0037]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the identification information of the switch is given to each of the sensors for detecting the operation position of the switch. The switch operation position can be determined while automatically determining, and a control signal corresponding to the determined operation position can be output. Therefore, the software written in the control means can be shared, and the cost can be reduced by standardization.
[0038]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the present invention, the determination rule information based on the output of the sensor is included in the switch identification information. The software can easily cope with the difference in the point position, and the cost can be reduced by standardization.
[0039]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the A / D converter and the output control unit are provided on the sensor side in addition to the storage unit, the cost can be reduced by standardization while reducing the load on the control unit side. Further, since a Hall element is used as a sensor, when the Hall element is provided on the fixed side, multipoint detection can be performed only by providing a magnet on the movable side.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a system including a switch device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a Hall IC in the system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the contents of data processing performed by the Hall IC.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of bit data output from the Hall IC.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the distribution of bits in bit data of a switch number output from the Hall IC.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of contents related to a switch type in the bit data.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of contents related to a switch function in the bit data.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of contents relating to a switch function in the bit data.
FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of setting contents of a switch detection point in the bit data.
FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of an example of setting a switch detection point in the bit data.
FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a function example of a conventional light switch.
FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a function example of a conventional wiper switch.
[Explanation of symbols]
2 control circuit (control means)
11 Hall IC
12 A / D converter 13 Storage means 14 Output control unit

Claims (3)

A switch device comprising: a sensor that generates an output corresponding to an operation position of a switch; and a control unit that determines an operation position of the switch based on an output of the sensor and outputs a control signal corresponding to the determined operation position. ,
By attaching storage means to the sensor and writing the identification information of the switch to the storage means, the control means reads the identification information from the storage means and recognizes what kind of switch the switch is. A switch device that determines an operation position of the switch based on an output of the sensor, and outputs a control signal corresponding to the determined operation position. The switch device according to claim 1, wherein
By including rule information for determining the operation position of the switch from the output of the sensor in the identification information, the control unit reads the identification information from the storage unit and determines which switch A switch device that recognizes whether the switch is such a switch, determines a switch operation position based on the output of the sensor and the rule information, and outputs a control signal corresponding to the determined operation position. The switch device according to claim 1 or 2,
A Hall element was provided as the sensor, an A / D converter for converting an analog output of the Hall element into a digital signal, the storage means, and the first processing at the time of power-on were written in the storage means. An output control unit for outputting identification information to the outside and outputting the output data of the A / D converter to the outside from the next processing.

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