Accelerator pedal control system for automotive vehicle

Claim 2

An accelerator pedal control system for an automotive vehicle for controlling the opening rate of a throttle valve according to the stroke of an accelerator pedal, characterized by (a) means (14) for storing a plurality of different predetermined control characteristics representative of relationship between throttle valve opening rate and accelerator pedal stroke; (b) means (10) for selecting a desired control characteric from the stored different control characteristics; (c) means (11) for detecting the stroke of the accelerator pedal; (d) means (14) for determining throttle valve opening rates corresponding to the detected accelerator pedal stroke S on the basis of the stored control characteristic selected by said selecting means; and (e) means (16,17,22,24) for driving the throttle valve to the determined throttle valve opening rate for each detected accelerator pedal stroke.

Claim 3

An accelerator pedal control system for an auto- motive vehicle as set forth in claim 1, characterized by means (20) for manually modifying the different control characteristics indicative of relationship between throttle valve opening rate and accelerator pedal stroke, each throttle valve opening rate being preset for each accelerator pedal stroke in each control characteristic, the modified control characteristics being stored in said storing means.

Claim 4

An accelerator pedal control system for an automotive vehicle as set forth in claim 1, characterized by means (19) for displaying the predetermined control characteristic selected through said selecting means.

Claim 5

An accelerator pedal control system for an automotive vehicle as set forth in claim 1, characterized in that said storing means and said determining means are a microcomputer (14).

Claim 6

An accelerator pedal control system for an automotive vehicle as set forth in claim 1, characterized in that said detecting means is a potentiometer (11).

Claim 7

An accelerator pedal control system for an automotive vehicle as set forth in claim 1, characterized in that said driving means comprises: (a) a servomotor (17) for actuating the throttle valve; (b) a throttle potentiometer (18) for detecting the revolution angle of the throttle valve; (c) an digital-to-analog converter (15) for converting the digital signal indicative of a target throttle valve opening rate determined by said determining means into an analog signal corresponding thereto; and (d) a servomotor driver circuit (16) for feedback-controlling said servomotor to the target throttle valve opening rate in response to the converted analog signal indicative of target throttle valve opening rate and the feedbacked signal indicative of throttle valve revolution angle detected by said throttle potentiometer.

Claim 8

An accelerator pedal control system for an automotive vehicle as set forth in claim 1, characterized in that said driving means comprises: (a) a stepmotor .(24) for actuating the throttle valve; (b) a throttle potentiometer for-detecting the revolution angle of the throttle valve; and (c) a stepmotor driver circuit (22) for actuating said stepmotor to the target throttle valve opening rate in response to the signal indicative of the target throttle valve opening rate determined by said determining means and the feedbacked signal indicative of throttle valve revolution angle detected by said throttle potentiometer.

Claim 9

An accelerator pedal control system for an automotive vehicle as set forth in claim 2, characterized in that said different control characteristic modifying means are a plurality of potentiometers (20a,20b...).

Claim 10

An accelerator pedal control system for an automotive vehicle for controlling the opening rate of a throttle valve according to the stroke of an accelerator pedal, characterized by: (a) a plurality of control mode selector switches (10) for selecting a desired control characteristic representative of relationship between throttle valve opening rate and accelerator pedal stroke and outputting a selected control mode command signal; (b) a pedal potentiometer (11) for detecting the stroke of the accelerator pedal and outputting analog signals corresponding thereto; (c) an analog-to-digital converter (13) responsive to said pedal potentiometer for converting the analog signal indicative of pedal stroke into a digital signal corresponding thereto; (d) a microcomputer (14) responsive to said control mode selector switches and said analog-to-digital converter for storing a plurality of different predetermined control characteristics representative of relationship between throttle valve opening rate and accelerator pedal stroke, selecting a desired control characteristic from the stored different control characteristics in response to the selector control mode command signal, receiving the digital pedal stroke signal from said analog-to-digital converter, retrieving a predetermined target throttle valve opening rate corresponding to the received pedal stroke from the selected control characteristic in table look-up method, and outputting a digital signal indicative the retrieved target throttle valve opening rate; (e) a digital-to-analog converter (15) responsive to said microcomputer for converting the digital signal indicative of the target throttle valve opening rate into an/analog signal corresponding thereto and outputting the analog target opening rate signal; (f) a servomotor (17) mechanically connected to the throttle valve for actuating the throttle valve; (g) a throttle valve potentiometer mechanically connected to the throttle valve for detecting the revolution angle of the throttle valve and outputting a feedback signal indicative of throttle valve revolution angle; (h) a servomotor driver circuit (16) responsive to said digital-to-analog converter and said throttle valve potentiometer for feedback-controlling and said servomotor to the target throttle valve opening rate in response to the converted analog signal indicative of target throttle valve opening rate and the feedbacked signal indicative of throttle valve revolution angle detected by said throttle valve potentiometer; and (i) a selected mode display (19) responsive to said microcomputer for displaying the selected control characteristic pictorially or numerically.

Claim 11

An accelerator pedal control system for an automotive vehicle for controlling the opening rate of a throttle valve according to the stroke of an accelerator pedal, characterized by: (a) a plurality of control mode selector switches (10) for selecting a desired control characteristic representative of relationship between throttle valve opening rate and accelerator pedal stroke and outputting a selected control mode command signal; (b) a pedal potentiometer (11) for detecting the stroke of the accelerator pedal and outputting analog signals corresponding thereto; (c) an analog-to-digital converter (13) responsive to said pedal potentiometer for converting the analog signal indicative of pedal stroke into a digital signal corresponding thereto; (d) a microcomputer (14) responsive to said control mode selector switches and said analog-to-digital converter for storing a plurality of different predetermined control characteristics representative of relationship between throttle valve opening rate and accelerator pedal stroke, selecting a desired control characteristic from the stored different control characteristics in response to the selector control mode command signal, receiving the digital pedal stroke signal from said analog-to-digital converter, retrieving a predetermined target throttle valve opening rate corresponding to the received pedal stroke from the selected control characteristic in table look-up method, and outputting a digital signal indicative the retrieved target throttle valve opening rate; (e) a digital-to-analog converter (15) responsive to said microcomputer for converting the digital signal indicative of the target throttle valve opening rate into an/analog signal corresponding thereto and outputting the analog target opening rate signal; (f) a servomotor (17) mechanically connected to the throttle valve for actuating the throttle valve; (g) a throttle valve potentiometer mechanically connected to the throttle valve for detecting the revolution angle of the throttle valve and outputting a feedback signal indicative of throttle valve revolution angle; (h) a servomotor driver circuit (16) responsive to said digital-to-analog converter and said throttle valve potentiometer for feedback-controlling and said servomotor to the target throttle valve opening rate in response to the converted analog signal indicative of target throttle valve opening rate and the feedbacked signal indicative of throttle valve revolution angle detected by said throttle valve potentiometer; and (i) a selected mode display (19) responsive to said microcomputer for displaying the selected control characteristic pictorially or numerically.

Claim 12

An accelerator pedal control system for an automotive vehicle for controlling the opening rate of a throttle valve according to the stroke of an accelerator pedal, characterized by: (a) a plurality of potentiometers (20a,20b...) for modifying a plurality of control characteristics representative of relationship between throttle valve opening rate and accelerator pedal stroke for each accelerator pedal control mode, each of said modifying potentiometers being allocated to each of a plurality of accelerator pedal strokes, respectively; (b) a plurality of control mode selector switches (10) for selecting one of modified control characteristics and outputting a selected control mode command signal; (c) a pedal potentiometer (11) for detecting the stroke of the accelerator pedal and outputting analog signals corresponding thereto; (d) an analog-to-digital converter (13) responsive to said pedal potentiometer for converting the analog signal indicative of pedal stroke into a digital signal corresponding thereto; (e) a microcomputer (14) responsive to said modifying potentiometers, said control mode selector switches and said analog-to-digital converter for storing a plurality of different control characteristics modified through said modifying potentiometers, selecting a desired control characteristic from the stored different control characte- ' ristics in response to the selector control mode command signal, receiving the digital pedal stroke signal from said analog-to-digital converter, retrieving a stored throttle valve opening rate corresponding to the received pedal stroke from the selected control characteristic in table look-up method, and outputting a digital signal indicative of the retrieved target throttle valve opening rate; (f) a stepmotor (24) mechanically connected to the throttle valve for actuating the throttle valve; (g) a throttle valve potentiometer (18) mechanically connected to the throttle valve for detecting the revolution angle of the throttle valve and outputting a feedback signal indicative of throttle valve revolution angle to said microcomputer via said analog-to-digital converter; (h) a stepmotor driver circuit (22) responsive to said microcomputer for controlling said stepmotor to the target throttle valve opening rate in response to the signal from said microcomputer obtained feedback-controlling the target throttle opening rate in response to the feedback signal from said throttle valve potentiometer; and (i) a selected mode display (19) responsive to said microcomputer for displaying the selected characteristid pictorially of numerically.

Claim 13

An accelerator pedal control system for an automotive vehicle for controlling the opening rate of a throttle valve according to the stroke of an accelerator pedal, characterized by: (a) a plurality of potentiometers (20a,20b...) for modifying a plurality of control characteristics representative of relationship between throttle valve opening rate and accelerator pedal stroke for each accelerator pedal control mode, each of said modifying potentiometers being allocated to each of a plurality of accelerator pedal strokes, respectively; (b) a plurality of control mode selector switches (10) for selecting one of modified control characteristics and outputting a selected control mode command signal; (c) a pedal potentiometer (11) for detecting the stroke of the accelerator pedal and outputting analog signals corresponding thereto; (d) an analog-to-digital converter (13) responsive to said pedal potentiometer for converting the analog signal indicative of pedal stroke into a digital signal corresponding thereto; (e) a microcomputer (14) responsive to said modifying potentiometers, said control mode selector switches and said analog-to-digital converter for storing a plurality of different control characteristics modified through said modifying potentiometers, selecting a desired control characteristic from the stored different control characte- ' ristics in response to the selector control mode command signal, receiving the digital pedal stroke signal from said analog-to-digital converter, retrieving a stored throttle valve opening rate corresponding to the received pedal stroke from the selected control characteristic in table look-up method, and outputting a digital signal indicative of the retrieved target throttle valve opening rate; (f) a stepmotor (24) mechanically connected to the throttle valve for actuating the throttle valve; (g) a throttle valve potentiometer (18) mechanically connected to the throttle valve for detecting the revolution angle of the throttle valve and outputting a feedback signal indicative of throttle valve revolution angle to said microcomputer via said analog-to-digital converter; (h) a stepmotor driver circuit (22) responsive to said microcomputer for controlling said stepmotor to the target throttle valve opening rate in response to the signal from said microcomputer obtained feedback-controlling the target throttle opening rate in response to the feedback signal from said throttle valve potentiometer; and (i) a selected mode display (19) responsive to said microcomputer for displaying the selected characteristid pictorially of numerically.

Claim 16

A method of controlling the opening rate of a throttle valve according to the stroke of an accelerator pedal as set forth in claim 11, characterized by the step of manually modifying the different control characteristics indicative of relationship between throttle valve opening rate and accelerator pedal stroke, each throttle valve opening rate being preset for each accelerator pedal stroke in each control characteristic, before storing the different control characteristics.

Claim 17

A method of controlling the opening rate of a throttle valve according to the stroke of an accelerator pedal as set forth in claim 11, characterized by the step of displaying the modified and selected control characteristic.