The present invention relates to an ABS hydraulic unit for performing an antilock brake control of a hydraulic brake.
Conventionally, there has been known an ABS hydraulic unit for performing an antilock brake control of a hydraulic brake (see JP-A-2002-370635, for example). In this type of ABS hydraulic unit, pumps, valves and the like are assembled into a block in which a pipe passage through which a brake fluid for a hydraulic circuit flows is formed. Accordingly, a control circuit board for controlling these pumps, valves and the like is arranged in a state where the control circuit board covers the valves and the like so as to sandwich the valves and the like between the control circuit board and the block, and is electrically connected to these valves.
However, in the above-mentioned ABS hydraulic unit pertaining to the related art, when a part larger than a valve such as a motor, for example, is arranged on a mounting surface of the block on which the control circuit board is mounted, it is necessary to arrange the control circuit board away from the block by an amount of a height of the part. Further, for example, when a connector is connected in the in-plane direction of the control circuit board, a gap for the connecter to be connected to get access to a connecter on a control circuit board side is necessary and hence, it is necessary to arrange the control circuit board away from the block by an amount of the gap. Accordingly, the ABS hydraulic unit is large-sized so that a manufacturing cost of the ABS hydraulic unit is pushed up.
It is an object of the invention to provide a miniaturized ABS hydraulic unit which can overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks that the related art has at a low cost.
The invention is directed to an ABS hydraulic unit for performing an antilock brake control of a hydraulic brake, the ABS hydraulic unit including: a pump and a valve mounted in a hydraulic circuit for making the hydraulic brake perform braking; a motor for operating the pump; a block into which the pump and the valve are assembled and in which a pipe passage where a brake liquid of the hydraulic circuit flows is formed; and a control circuit board for controlling the motor and the valve, wherein the control circuit board is arranged in an extending manner toward a direction that the motor and the valve are assembled into the block.
In the ABS hydraulic unit having such a constitution, the valve may be arranged between the motor and the control circuit board. The ABS hydraulic unit may further include a housing which covers the motor and the valve, wherein a portion of the housing which covers the valve may be formed with a thickness smaller than a thickness of a portion of the housing which covers the motor in a direction extending toward the block. The motor may be configured to be operated by the pump by way of a planetary gear mechanism. The control circuit board may be electrically connected to at least one of the motor and the valve through a flexible wire. A surface of the block on a side opposite to a connection surface where the pipe passage is connected to an external device may be formed of an inclined surface such that the inclined surface is disposed in an inclined manner with respect to the connection surface. The block includes a second hydraulic circuit different from the hydraulic circuit, and a second valve mounted in the second hydraulic circuit is assembled such that the motor is positioned between the control circuit board and the second valve.
According to the invention, it is possible to realize a miniaturized ABS hydraulic unit at a low cost.
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention are explained with reference to drawings.
The hydraulic circuit 1 is filled with a brake fluid, and is connected to a master cylinder 2 at a connection end A thereof. A brake lever 3 is mounted on the master cylinder 2, and the master cylinder 2 is connected to a reservoir 4. Due to such a constitution, when a rider manipulates the brake lever 3 so as to make a brake of the front wheel perform braking, the master cylinder 2 discharges a brake fluid accumulated in the reservoir 4 to the hydraulic circuit 1.
On the other hand, the hydraulic circuit 1 is connected to a wheel cylinder 5 at a connection end B thereof. The wheel cylinder 5 is mounted in a brake caliper 6 of the front wheel. The brake caliper 6 is operated along with the increase of a fluid pressure in the wheel cylinder 5 and applies a braking force to the front wheel.
The hydraulic circuit 1 connected between the master cylinder 2 and the wheel cylinder 5 includes: a motor 11; a pump 12; an inlet valve (valve) 13; an outlet valve (valve) 14; and an accumulator 15.
The inlet valve 13 is an electromagnetic valve provided with a solenoid. The inlet valve 13 is connected to the connection end A through a first pipe 21, and is also connected to the connection end B and the outlet valve 14 through a second pipe 22. The second pipe 22 is bifurcated in the middle thereof and hence, the second pipe 22 is connected to the inlet valve 13, the connection end B, and the outlet valve 14. The inlet valve 13 is connected to the first pipe 21 and the second pipe 22 by way of a filter respectively. A check valve is connected to the inlet valve 13 in parallel between two filters. The check valve does not allow the flow of a brake fluid from the first pipe 21 into the second pipe 22 but allows the flow of a brake fluid from the second pipe 22 into the first pipe 21 even when the inlet valve 13 is closed. The inlet valve 13 is provided for controlling the flow of a brake fluid from the first pipe 21 to the second pipe 22 due to opening or closing of the inlet valve 13.
The outlet valve 14 is an electromagnetic valve provided with a solenoid. The outlet valve 14 is connected to the inlet valve 13 and the connection end B through the second pipe 22, and is connected to the accumulator 15 through a third pipe 23. The outlet valve 14 is connected to the second pipe 22 by way of a filter. The outlet valve 14 is provided for controlling the flow of a brake fluid from the second pipe 22 into the third pipe 23 due to opening or closing of the outlet valve 14.
The accumulator 15 is connected to the outlet valve 14 through the third pipe 23, and is connected to a suction side of the pump 12 through a fourth pipe 24. The accumulator 15 is connected to the fourth pipe 24 by way of a check valve 17. Due to the provision of the check valve 17, when a fluid pressure of a brake fluid exceeds a predetermined pressure, it is always the case that the brake fluid can flow from the accumulator 15 into the fourth pipe 24 but cannot flow from the fourth pipe 24 into the accumulator 15. The accumulator 15 is provided for accumulating a brake fluid which flows into the accumulator 15 from the third pipe 23, and discharges an accumulated brake fluid into the fourth pipe 24.
The pump 12 is connected to the accumulator 15 through the fourth pipe 24, and is connected to the first pipe 21 through a fifth pipe 25. The pump 12 is connected to the fourth pipe 24 by way of a filter, and is connected to the fifth pipe 25 by way of a throttle. The pump 12 is operated when the motor 11 which is a DC motor is driven, and sucks a brake fluid from the fourth pipe 24 disposed at a suction side, and discharges the brake fluid sucked into the fifth pipe 25 disposed at a discharge side.
The ECU 40 controls the driving of the motor 11, an opening state or a closing state of the inlet valve 13, an opening state or a closing state of the outlet valve 14 and the like based on a rotational speed signal which the ECU 40 receives from a speed sensor 41f which detects a rotational speed of the front wheel and outputs a rotational speed signal corresponding to the detected rotational speed, and a rotational speed signal which the ECU 40 receives from a speed sensor 41r which detects a rotational speed of the rear wheel and outputs a rotational speed signal corresponding to the detected rotational speed.
In a usual braking state, the ECU 40 stops the driving of the motor 11 so that the inlet valve 13 is held in an open state and the outlet valve 14 is held in a closed state. Due to such an operation, when a rider manipulates the brake lever 3 so that a pressure of a brake fluid is increased by the master cylinder 2 (see
At the time of performing braking where a braking force is generated by the brake caliper 6, the ECU 40 repeatedly determines whether or not the front wheel is in a locked state, that is, whether or not the front wheel excessively slips on a road surface based on rotational speed signals acquired from the speed sensors 41f, 41r. When the ECU 40 determines that the front wheel is in a locked state, the ECU 40 closes the inlet valve 13, opens the outlet valve 14, and operates the pump 12 by driving the motor 11 thus performing a control so as to lower a fluid pressure of a brake fluid transmitted to the wheel cylinder 5 by opening or closing the inlet valve 13 and the outlet valve 14. Due to such an operation, the ECU 40 controls a braking force of the brake caliper 6 by an antilock brake control thus releasing a locked state of the front wheel.
As shown in
The block 50 is made of aluminum. The block 50 includes the hydraulic circuit 1 (see
The housing 42 is mounted on the housing mounting surface 51 of the block 50, and the housing 42 covers the control circuit board 43, the motor 11, the inlet valve 13 and the outlet valve 14 (see
The housing 42 is formed such that a thickness of a portion 42a of the housing 42 which covers the motor 11 (see
As shown in
The control circuit board 43 on which a CPU, a memory and the like are mounted constitutes the ECU 40, and the control circuit board 43 controls the ABS hydraulic unit 100. The control circuit board 43 has a connector portion 43a which is exposed to the outside in the inside of the connector 45 (see
As shown in
The control circuit board 43 is electrically connected to the motor 11, the inlet valve 13, and the outlet valve 14 through a film-like flexible wire 44 having flexibility. Due to such a constitution, the control circuit board 43 can control opening/closing of the inlet valve 13 and the outlet valve 14 by energizing or deenergizing the inlet valve 13 and the outlet valve 14 and can control the rotation of the motor 11.
The flexible wire 44 has one end thereof fixed to the control circuit board 43 and hence, the flexible wire 44 is electrically connected to the control circuit board 43, while the motor 11, the inlet valve 13 and the outlet valve 14 are electrically connected to the flexible wire 44 respectively in a state where connection terminals 11a, 13a, 14a are inserted into and are engaged with the flexible wire 44.
As shown in
The planetary gear mechanism 30 is connected between the motor 11 and the eccentric shaft 18, and includes an inner gear 31, a planetary carrier 32, a sun gear 33, and planetary gears 34.
A rotation stopper is formed on the inner gear 31 and hence, the inner gear 31 is fixed to the block 50 in the inside of the hole 51a so that the inner gear 31 cannot be rotated. The inner gear 31 is formed in a ring shape, and a plurality of teeth are formed on and along an inner peripheral surface of the inner gear 31.
The planetary carrier 32 is formed in a disk shape, and is arranged in the inside of the inner gear 31. In the inside of the planetary carrier 32, three planetary gears 34 are mounted in a rotatable manner. The planetary gears 34 constantly mesh with the teeth formed on and along the inner peripheral surface of the inner gear 31.
On the planetary carrier 32, the sun gear 33 is arranged at the center of three planetary gears 34. In a state where the sun gear 33 is assembled into the planetary carrier 32, the sun gear 33 is brought into a state where the sun gear 33 constantly meshes with three planetary gears 34.
A hole is formed in the planetary carrier 32 in the vicinity of the axis of the planetary carrier 32, an output shaft 11c of the motor 11 extends in the inside of the planetary carrier 32 by passing through such a hole, and the sun gear 33 is assembled to the output shaft 11c of the motor 11. The sun gear 33 is fixedly mounted on the output shaft 11c such that the sun gear 33 is not rotatable relative to the output shaft 11c. That is, the sun gear 33 and the output shaft 11c are configured to be rotated integrally.
A hole is formed in the planetary carrier 32 in the vicinity of the axis of the planetary carrier 32 on an eccentric shaft 18 side, and the eccentric shaft 18 is assembled and fixed to the hole. Due to such a constitution, the eccentric shaft 18 which is assembled to the hole is configured to be rotated integrally with the planetary carrier 32.
The eccentric shaft 18 has one end thereof supported on the planetary gear mechanism 30, and a rotary shaft portion 18a of the eccentric shaft 18 which rotates coaxially with the motor 11 is supported on the block 50 by way of a bearing 19. On the other end of the eccentric shaft 18, a ball bearing 20 is mounted around an eccentric portion 18b of the eccentric shaft 18 which is a shaft disposed eccentric from the rotary shaft of the motor 11 and hence, the eccentric shaft 18 can smoothly transmit a piston action to the pump 12. The eccentric shaft 18 is rotated and transmits a piston action to the pump 12 so that the pump 12 can discharge a brake fluid to the fifth pipe 25 (see
Due to the above mentioned constitution, in the planetary gear mechanism 30, when the sun gear 33 assembled to the output shaft 11c is rotated by a drive force of the motor 11, three planetary gears 34 which mesh with the sun gear 33 are respectively rotated in the direction opposite to the rotating direction of the sun gear 33. Since three planetary gears 34 also mesh with the inner gear 31 respectively, three planetary gears 34 are moved along the inner peripheral surface of the inner gear 31 along with the rotation of the planetary gears 34. At this stage of operation, three planetary gears 34 are moved while being rotated in the inside of the inner gear 31 in the same direction as the rotating direction of the sun gear 33. Since three planetary gears 34 are assembled into the planetary carrier 32, the planetary carrier 32 is moved while being rotated in the inside of the inner gear 31 integrally with three planetary gears 34. Due to such operations, the eccentric shaft 18 which is integrally rotated with the planetary carrier 32 is rotated in the same direction as the rotating direction of the sun gear 33. In the planetary gear mechanism 30 according to this embodiment, a speed reduction rate is set such that a rotational output is outputted from the eccentric shaft 18 with a rotational speed which is approximately ⅕ of a rotational speed of the output shaft 11c of the motor 11, and the output is outputted from the eccentric shaft 18 with a torque which is approximately 5 times larger than a torque of the output shaft 11c of the motor 11. That is, for example, when the motor 11 is rotated at 15000 rpm (rotation per minute), the output shaft 11c is rotated at 3000 rpm, while when the motor 11 is rotated at 20000 rpm, the output shaft 11c is rotated at 4000 rpm. The torque which is 10N·cm at the output shaft 11c of the motor 11 becomes 50N·cm at the eccentric shaft 18.
In this embodiment, as shown in
In this embodiment, in the ABS hydraulic unit 100, the control circuit board 43 is arranged so as to extend in the z direction along which the motor 11, the inlet valve 13, and the outlet valve 14 are assembled into the block 50. Due to such a constitution, it is unnecessary to arrange the control circuit board 43 away from the housing mounting surface 51 so as to avoid the motor 11, the inlet valve 13, the outlet valve 14 and other parts and the like on the housing mounting surface 51, and the control circuit board 43 can be arranged adjacent to the block 50. Accordingly, the ABS hydraulic unit 100 can be miniaturized thus manufacturing the ABS hydraulic unit 100 at a low cost.
In this embodiment, the inlet valve 13 and the outlet valve 14 are arranged between the motor 11 and the control circuit board 43, and the housing 42 is formed such that a thickness of the portion 42b of the housing 42 which covers the inlet valve 13 and the outlet valve 14 is set smaller than a thickness of the portion 42b of the housing 42 which covers the motor 11 in the direction toward the block 50. Due to such a constitution, above the portion 42b which covers the inlet valve 13 and the outlet valve 14, a gap which allows a connector to be connected to get access to the connector on a control circuit board side or which allows fingers of an operator who connects a connector to be inserted into the gap when the connector is connected in the in-plane direction of the control circuit board 43 is formed. Accordingly, it is unnecessary to arrange the control circuit board 43 away from the block 50 in the x direction and hence, the ABS hydraulic unit 100 can be miniaturized.
Further, in this embodiment, the ABS hydraulic unit 100 is configured such that the motor 11 operates the pump 12 by way of the planetary gear mechanism 30. Due to such a constitution, the pump 12 can be driven by a small torque, and a miniaturized motor can be used and hence, the ABS hydraulic unit 100 can be miniaturized. In this case, with the use of the miniaturized motor, a current value used for driving the motor can be lowered. Further, since a current value is lowered, an area of a pin or the like of a connector for supplying power to the motor can be decreased and hence, the ABS hydraulic unit 100 can be further miniaturized and, at the same time, the flexible wire 44 can be used.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Although the invention has been explained based on the embodiments heretofore, the invention is not limited to the embodiments. For example, in the first embodiment, the ABS hydraulic unit 100 of one channel is configured to perform an ABS control only with respect to the front wheel. However, the invention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, the ABS hydraulic unit 100 may be configured to perform an ABS control only with respect to a rear wheel by being connected to a master cylinder of a brake pedal and a wheel cylinder of the rear wheel.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2014-102053 | May 2014 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2015/061812 | 4/17/2015 | WO | 00 |