Motor vehicle having a front door and a rear door

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a motor vehicle having at least one vehicle side, on which a front door and a rear door are provided, and to a method for operating an electric motor in a respective rear door of the at least one vehicle side. The disclosure relates to a motor vehicle having at least one vehicle side, on which a front door and a rear door are provided, wherein an electric motor configured to provide a motorized door function is provided in the rear door and wherein a control device configured to operate the motor which is connected to the motor via electrical conductor elements for transferring a motor current is provided. According to the disclosure, the control device is arranged in the front door and is configured to also control at least one door function of the front door.

Claims

1. A motor vehicle having at least one vehicle side, on each of which a front door and a rear door are provided, wherein in the rear door an electric motor configured to provide a motorized door function is provided and wherein to operate said motor a control unit is provided, which is connected to the motor via electrical conductor elements configured to transfer a motor current, the control unit being arranged in the front door and configured to also control at least one door function of the front door; wherein the control unit is configured to adjust a switching rate by which the control unit switches the motor current, as a function of a currently selected receiving frequency of a radio receiver of the motor vehicle.

2. The motor vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control unit comprises power electronics configured to switch the motor current of the motor, and an evaluation device of the control unit is configured, based on a temporal profile of the motor current, to determine at least one of a rotational position, a rotational speed and travel of the motor.

3. The motor vehicle as claimed in claim 2, wherein the evaluation device is configured to identify and count waves in the temporal profile, and in response determine at least one of the rotational position, the rotational speed and the travel.

4. The motor vehicle as claimed in claim 2, wherein the at least one door function of the front door also provides an electric motor and the evaluation device is configured, based on a temporal profile of a motor current of the motor of the front door, to determine at least one of the rotational position, rotational speed and travel of said motor.

5. The motor vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the motorized door function of the rear door is an electric window lifting function.

6. The motor vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein in the rear door at least one switch configured to switch the motor is provided and registering an operator action executed on the switch comprises electrically interconnecting the at least one switch to the control unit via at least one wire.

7. The motor vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to control more door functions in the front door than in the rear door.

8. The motor vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein outside the front door and the rear door of each vehicle side, a central control unit configured to control lock of lock motors of each front door and each rear door is provided.

9. A door control arrangement for a motor vehicle with at least one vehicle side having a first and a second door, the door control arrangement comprising: an electric motor configured to provide a motorized door function in the second door, a control device configured to operate the motor: connected to the motor via electrical conductor elements configured to transfer a motor current, and configured to be provided in the first door, and to control at least one door function of the first door; wherein the control device is configured to adjust a switching rate by which the control device switches the motor current, as a function of a currently selected receiving frequency of a radio receiver of the motor vehicle.

10. The door control arrangement as claimed in claim 9, wherein the first door is a front door and the second door is a rear door of the motor vehicle.

11. The door control arrangement as claimed in claim 9, wherein the second door is a front door and the first door is a rear door of the motor vehicle.

12. A method for operating an electric motor in a respective rear door of at least one vehicle side of a motor vehicle, wherein on the at least one vehicle side one control unit is provided in a front door of the vehicle side, which controls at least one door function of the front door, the control unit controlling a motor current of the motor in the rear door via electrical conductor elements; wherein the control unit is configured to adjust a switching rate by which the control unit switches the motor current, as a function of a currently selected receiving frequency of a radio receiver of the motor vehicle.

Description

(1) An exemplary embodiment of the invention is described in the following. To this end, in the figures:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of an embodiment of the motor vehicle according to the invention; and

(3) FIG. 2 shows a schematic circuit diagram of the motor vehicle of FIG. 1.

(4) The exemplary embodiment explained below is a preferred embodiment of the invention. In the exemplary embodiment, the components of the embodiment described represent individual features of the invention to be considered independently of each other, which also develop the invention independently of each other and thus are also to be regarded, either individually or in a combination other than the one shown, as an integral part of the invention. Furthermore, the embodiment described may also be supplemented by further features of the invention from among those that have already been described.

(5) In the figures, functionally identical elements are provided with the same reference numerals in each case.

(6) FIG. 1 shows a motor vehicle 10, which may be an automobile, in particular a passenger vehicle. The motor vehicle 10 can have a front door 12 and a rear door 13 on one vehicle side 11 in the known manner. The rear door 13 can have a window panel 14, which is arranged such that it can be slid or moved in a window frame 15. In the rear door 13 an electric window lifting function can be provided as a motorized door function 16. For this purpose, an electric motor 17 (M), for example a DC motor, can be provided. To switch the motor 17, a control element 18 with at least one switch 19 can be provided in the rear door 13. A door lock 20 of the rear door 13 can have at least one lock motor 21, to be able to lock and unlock the door lock 20 electrically. The door lock 20 can therefore be a component of a central locking system of the motor vehicle 10. A switch for a child safety lock 22 of the door lock 20 may be provided.

(7) The front door 12 can have a window panel 23, which is arranged such that it can be slid or moved in a window frame 24. An electric window lifting function for the window panel 23 can be provided as a motorized door function 25. For this purpose the front door 12 can provide an electric motor 26 and a control element 27 with at least one switch 28 for switching the motor 26. A current rotational position and/or rotational speed of the motor 26 can be detected by a sensor 29. An external door mirror 30 of the front door 12 can have electric motors 31 for rotating a mirror of the external door mirror 30. It is also possible to adjust a bending angle between two mirrors. The electrically adjustable external door mirror 30 represents a further door function of the front door 12, controlled by the control unit 32.

(8) To control the motorized vehicle function 29 and the motors 31 of the external door mirror 30 and the evaluation of the signal of the sensor 29, the front door 12 can have a control unit 32, which can have, for example, a microcontroller and semiconductor switches (for example, transistors) for switching a motor current I1 of the motor 26.

(9) In the motor vehicle 10 it can be provided that a motor current I0 of the motor 17 of the rear door 13 is also controlled by the control device 32 of the front door. For this purpose a conductor element 33, for example a cable, can be routed from the control unit 32 to the rear door 13 and the motor 17.

(10) This indirect coupling to the motor 17 via the control unit 32, however, does not introduce a delay in the activation of the lock motors 21 of the door lock 20 of the rear door 13. Instead, a central control unit 34 is provided, which can be directly connected to the door lock 20 via conductor elements 35. A plus conductor 36 and a minus conductor 37 for supplying the motors 26, 17 can be routed to the front door 12. Likewise, a communication bus 38 only needs to be routed to the front door 12, i.e. not to the rear door 13.

(11) The control unit 32 can be wired via a respective electrical conductor element 39 to the control element 18, i.e. the switches 19. The switch for the child safety lock 22 can also be wired directly to the control unit 34 via a conductor element 39′. The conductor elements 39, 39′ can each be formed by a wire.

(12) The interconnection of some elements is illustrated once again in FIG. 2. The central control unit 34 can be located or arranged outside each vehicle door in a vehicle shell 40. Also shown are the rear door 13 and the front door 12. The component of the front door 12 shown is the control unit 32.

(13) The components of the rear door 13 shown are the motor 17, the control element 18, the switch for the child safety lock 22 and a switch lighting 41 for the switches 19 of the control element 18. Electrical power to operate the motor 17 can be transferred via the at least one electrical conductor element 33 from the control unit 32 to the motor 17. The motor current I0 can switch the control unit 32 in a known manner, for example by means of pulse-width modulation.

(14) A power circuit for the switches 19 of the control element 18, the switch lighting 41 and the child safety lock 22 can be closed, for example, via a ground potential 42 that can be formed by a frame of the motor vehicle 10.

(15) By virtue of the fact that the control unit 32 determines the temporal profile of the motor current I0, for example by measuring the current I0 and/or an electrical voltage in the conductor element 33, an evaluation device 43 in the control unit 32 can be used to detect or track the rotation of a rotor 44 of the motor 17. This allows a rotational position and/or rotational speed of the rotor 44 and/or a travel position of the motor 17 and thereby the window panel 14 to be determined, without the need for feedback 45 from a sensor via a separate sensor conductor from the motor 17 to the control unit 12.

(16) The at least one conductor element 43 can comprise a wire or cable, or even a plurality of wires or cables.

(17) The door controller or control unit 32 of the front door 12 thus also controls the functionality of the rear door 13, i.e. the motorized door function 16, at the same time. It is advantageous if the motor 17 is monitored at the same time without sensors by means of the evaluation device 32. This eliminates a sensor cable from the motor 17 back to the control unit 32. Optionally, the sensor 29 of the front door can also be omitted or dispensed with, and the motor 26 in the front door also evaluated or monitored by the evaluation device 43.

(18) This results in only one control unit 32 per vehicle side 11 (right and/or left), for both the front door 12 and the rear door 13.

(19) This will reduce the number of cables used with a simultaneous reduction from two control units to one control unit 32. This means weight reduction as well as savings in the required installation space in the rear door 13, which can be used for other items.

(20) The control unit 32 can additionally adjust the switching of the current I0 in relation to the pulse-width modulation and its switching rate to a receiving frequency f of a radio receiver 45 of the motor vehicle 40, which can communicate this to the control unit 32. This means that on the conductor or the conductor element 33 between the front door 12 and the rear door 13, interference radiation 46 is only emitted at frequencies that are different to the receiving frequency f. The pulse-width modulation frequency is therefore adjusted such that it does not cause interference at the receiving frequency f set in the radio receiver 45. This saves expensive filters. The radio receiver 45 can be, for example, a radio of the motor vehicle 10.

(21) The front door 12 can also have a door lock 20′ with lock motors (labeled with M), which can be designed in the same way as for the rear door 13. The front door 12 can also have a switching element 22′ for controlling a locking mechanism from the inside. Thus, access can be blocked from the outside and also exit/access can be blocked from the inside. This means that the vehicle cannot be opened “normally” even if the window is fully closed. This function is referred to, for example, as a safety lock, deadlock or double lock.

(22) Overall, the example shows how by means of the invention a cable-optimized door architecture can be provided, in which the central locking is controlled using a separate/central control unit.

LIST OF REFERENE NUMERALS

(23) 10 motor vehicle

(24) 11 vehicle side

(25) 12 front door

(26) 13 rear door

(27) 14 window panel

(28) 15 door frame

(29) 16 motorized door function

(30) 17 motor

(31) 18 control element

(32) 19 switch

(33) 20 door lock

(34) 20′ door lock

(35) 21 lock motor

(36) 22 child safety lock

(37) 22′ switching element

(38) 23 window panel

(39) 24 door frame

(40) 25 door function

(41) 26 motor

(42) 27 control element

(43) 28 switch

(44) 29 sensor

(45) 30 external door mirror

(46) 31 motor

(47) 32 control unit

(48) 33 conductor element

(49) 34 central control unit

(50) 35 conductor element

(51) 36 positive conductor

(52) 37 negative conductor

(53) 38 communication bus

(54) 39′ conductor element

(55) 40 vehicle shell

(56) 41 switch lighting

(57) 42 ground potential

(58) 43 evaluation device

(59) 44 rotor

(60) 45 radio receiver

(61) 46 interference radiation

(62) I0 motor current

(63) I1 motor current