SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ADJUSTING A VEHICLE DOOR RELATIVE TO A VEHICLE BODY

Abstract

A system for adjusting a vehicle door relative to a vehicle body including an adjusting device, a control device for controlling the adjusting device. The control device is configured to receive an operating command and control the adjusting device based on receiving the operating command, and a sensor device for detecting an object. The control device is configured to evaluate for the purpose of collision protection monitoring whether an operating command is received in a near area relative to the vehicle door via an operating device. For collision protection monitoring, the control device is configured to use a first recognition area in a first operating mode upon receiving an operating command via an operating device in the near area, and in a second operating mode to use a second recognition area different from the first recognition area when an operating command is not received in the near area.

Claims

1. A method of adjusting a vehicle door relative to a vehicle body, the method comprising: receiving, by a control device, an operating command from a control device to adjust the vehicle door; controlling, by the control device, an electromotive adjusting device to adjust the vehicle door based on the operating command; evaluating, by the control device, whether the operating command is received from a near area; detecting an object by a sensor device; detecting, by a sensor, an object disposed either in a first recognition area or a second recognition area; and operating, by the control device, either in a first operating mode or a second operating mode, wherein the operating step includes operating in the first operating mode in response to receiving the operating command from the near area, and operating in the second operating mode in response to receiving the operating command from another area different than the near area, and wherein the operating step includes recognizing, by the control device operating in the first operating mode, the object disposed in the first recognition area a collision obstacle, or recognizing, by the control device operating in the second operating mode, the object disposed the second recognition area as the collision obstacle.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: altering the first recognition area as the vehicle door is adjusted.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: stopping the adjustment of the vehicle door in response to recognizing the collision obstacle.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: projecting a projection extending along a predetermined spatial direction from the object.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0035] The idea underlying the invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the Figures, in which:

[0036] FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a vehicle with a vehicle door arranged on a vehicle body;

[0037] FIG. 2 shows a schematic rear view of the vehicle;

[0038] FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of the vehicle, representing a recognition area of a sensor device for recognizing a collision obstacle;

[0039] FIG. 4 shows a schematic top view of the vehicle, comprising a near area in the region of the vehicle door;

[0040] FIG. 5 shows another schematic view of the vehicle, comprising a recognition area for the purpose of collision protection monitoring;

[0041] FIG. 6 shows a schematic view of the vehicle, with a partly open vehicle door and an adapted recognition area;

[0042] FIG. 7 shows a schematic view of a vehicle, with another embodiment of a sensor device; and

[0043] FIG. 8 shows a schematic view of a vehicle, representing a limited adjustment path of the vehicle door, which is determined in dependence on a projection of a collision obstacle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.

[0045] A system for adjusting a vehicle door may provide for collision protection monitoring in the event of an automatic adjustment of the vehicle door. Within the scope of such a collision protection monitoring, it will be determined whether on opening, for example, the vehicle door possibly collides with an object, in order to control the adjusting movement of the vehicle door in dependence on such a collision risk. A collision protection monitoring will preferably be carried out in such a way that the presence of an object in an adjustment path of the vehicle door is detected already at an early stage before the vehicle door touches the object, in order to thereby exclude any danger to the object and damage to the vehicle door.

[0046] However, it should be avoided as far as possible that objects are falsely recognized as obstacles. For example, when a user acts on a handle or tip switch on a tailgate to thereby open the tailgate, the user is present in the adjustment path of the tailgate, which can falsely be recognized as an obstacle by a collision protection monitoring system and can lead to an opening operation being prevented. This is to be avoided as far as possible.

[0047] In an adjustment system known from DE 10 2012 014 243 B4 for the automatic movement of a vehicle wing, in particular a tailgate, an evaluation and control unit is provided, which is configured to perform a prioritization of operating points in order to assign a higher priority for the operation of the vehicle wing to a first operating point as compared to a second operating point.

[0048] From EP 1 407 106 B2 a method for opening and closing a part rotatably or tiltably mounted on a vehicle is known, and on adjustment of the part by means of an adjusting motor, parameters representative of an adjustment force of the part are detected and evaluated for an obstacle detection.

[0049] FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a vehicle 1 which includes a vehicle door 11 pivotally arranged relative to a vehicle body 10 in the form of a tailgate arranged at the rear of the vehicle 1.

[0050] In the system shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle door 11 can be adjusted relative to the vehicle body 10 via an electromotive adjusting device 2, for example in the form of a spindle drive or the like, in order to bring the vehicle door 11 from a closed position into an open position along an opening direction O or, vice versa, to close the vehicle door 11 against the opening direction O out of an open position.

[0051] A control device 4 serves for controlling the adjusting device 2.

[0052] Signals can be detected via a sensor device 3 in order to carry out a collision protection monitoring in a recognition area E on the vehicle door 11 and, when the vehicle door 11 is adjusted, to prevent the vehicle door 11 from getting in contact with an object in the adjustment path of the vehicle door 11 so as to exclude a danger to the object and a damage at the vehicle door 11.

[0053] As can be taken from the rear view of the vehicle 1 as shown in FIG. 2, the sensor device 3 can be arranged for example on the inside of a window pane 110 of the vehicle door 11 and for example be located approximately centrally in the region of a foot 112 of a wiper 111 of the vehicle door 11.

[0054] It is also conceivable to integrate the sensor device 3 into the foot 112 of the wiper 111.

[0055] An operation of the vehicle door 11 for example for opening purposes can be effected by different operating devices 113, 114, 115.

[0056] A user for example can touch a handle or tip switch 113 of the vehicle door 11 so as to generate an operating command and bring the vehicle door 11 for example from a closed position into an open position, and the operation of the handle or tip switch 113 generates an operating command and the adjusting device 2 is actuated via the control device 4 for the electromotive, automatic adjustment of the vehicle door 11.

[0057] Alternatively, a user can generate an operating command via a remote control 114, which leads to an adjustment of the vehicle door 11, for example to an opening of the vehicle door 11.

[0058] Again as an alternative, a user can carry out a gesture, for example in the form of a kicking gesture, which can be recognized via a gesture recognition device 115 and leads to an adjustment of the vehicle door 11, for example to an opening.

[0059] A gesture detection for example can also be carried out via the sensor device 3, which serves for collision protection monitoring.

[0060] With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, an operating command generally can be triggered by a user U in different spatial areas of a vehicle.

[0061] For example, a user U can be present in a near area N directly at the vehicle door 11 in order to act on the handle or tip switch 113 or carry out a gesture on the gesture recognition device 115, as this can be taken from FIG. 4. A user U in the near area N likewise can operate a remote control 114.

[0062] However, a user U also can be present in a distant area F outside the near area N, when for example triggering an operating command for adjusting the vehicle door 11 via a remote control 114. In this case, the user U thus is not present in close proximity to the vehicle door 11, but is away from the vehicle door 11. The user U for example is also present in such a distant area F when he is present in the vehicle interior space and effects an adjustment of the vehicle door 11 by a suitable actuating device in the vehicle interior space.

[0063] Depending on whether the user U is present in the near area N or outside the near area N when operating the vehicle door 11, a collision protection monitoring for adjusting the vehicle door can be effected in different ways.

[0064] As shown in FIG. 3, the sensor device 3, which for example is realized by a radar sensor, an ultrasonic sensor or a TOF camera device, is designed to generate sensor signals such as for the spatial localization of objects O1, O2 in a recognition area E. The recognition area E here (in the sectional plane shown in FIG. 3, which is defined by the vehicle longitudinal direction and the vehicle vertical direction) extends over an angle α between detection boundaries A1, A2. By measuring the distance, the sensor device 3 can determine where a respective object O1, O2 is located in the recognition area E.

[0065] For example, when opening the vehicle door 11, a user U performing an operation of the vehicle door 11 from the near area N should not be recognized as a collision obstacle in order to prevent that due to the presence of the user U an adjustment of the vehicle door 11 is prevented. This proceeds from the fact that the user U must be present in the near area N in order to for example act on the handle or tip switch 113 or to carry out a gesture in the region of the gesture recognition device 115. The user U, however, usually will automatically step out of the near area N when the vehicle door 11 opens in response to such an operation.

[0066] To prevent that the presence of the user U prevents an opening of the vehicle door 11, a collision protection monitoring is carried out in different ways depending on the spatial origin of an operating command.

[0067] For the purpose of collision protection monitoring, the control device 4 uses a first recognition area Z1, which corresponds to a sub-section of the recognition area E and is defined by a boundary G, when an operating command is triggered by a user U in the near area N, for example in that the operating command is received via the handle or tip switch 113, a remote control 114 in the near area N, or the gesture recognition device 115. In such a first operating mode, collision protection monitoring thus is carried out only in an area above the vehicle door 11, but not in an area in which a user U is present at the vehicle door 11.

[0068] On the other hand, when an operating command is not received in the near area N, but from the distant area F, the control device 4 in a second operating mode uses a second recognition area E for the purpose of collision protection monitoring, so that in the second operating mode a recognition is carried out in the area Z2 and thus in the entire detection range of the sensor device 3 in addition to a recognition in the area Z 1.

[0069] Thus, in the first operating mode an object O1 in the area Z1 is recognized as a collision obstacle, whereas an object O2 outside the area Z1 is not recognized as a collision obstacle. In the second operating mode, on the other hand, both objects O1, O2 are recognized as collision obstacles.

[0070] In dependence on the recognition of a collision obstacle the adjusting operation then can be controlled in such a way that the vehicle door 11 for example is not opened at all or is only opened to such an extent that the vehicle door 11 does not abut against the object O1, O2, but is stopped before.

[0071] The recognition areas Z1, Z2 may be firmly defined and may be unchangeable.

[0072] Alternatively, the recognition area Z1 can also be variable, however, in the first operating mode, for example in dependence on the position of the vehicle door 11 just taken for example on opening, as this is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The boundary G of the recognition area Z1 thus can be adapted in dependence on the adjustment position of the vehicle door 11 such that the boundary G always points perpendicularly upwards from a defined, possibly also variable location at the vehicle door 11 so that an area above the vehicle door 11 is always monitored, as is shown at the transition from FIG. 5 towards FIG. 6.

[0073] The recognition area E in the second operating mode remains unchangeable, and merely the ratio between the first recognition area Z1 and the second recognition area E (corresponding to the combination of the areas Z1, Z2) is changed.

[0074] In addition or alternatively, it can be provided to switch from the first operating mode to the second operating mode for example after a predetermined time, while the vehicle door 11 is moved. This is effected against the background that it can be assumed that a user will automatically step out of the adjustment range of the vehicle door 11 after the operation via an operating device 113, 114, 115 has been effected, so that after a certain period a complete collision protection monitoring can be performed in the entire recognition area E and thus one should switch to the second operating mode.

[0075] Again in addition or alternatively, one can also switch from the first operating mode to the second operating mode, for example when it is detected by means of a localization of a remote control 114 that a user changes his position relative to the vehicle 1, for example in that a user steps out of the near area N and thus no longer is present in proximity to the vehicle door 11.

[0076] In the examples shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 the sensor device 3 is arranged in the region of the lower edge of a window pane 110 of the vehicle door 11, as this can be taken for example from FIG. 2. However, this is by no means limiting. In principle, the sensor device 3 can be arranged at any place on the vehicle door 11, for example in the region of a spoiler 116 at an upper edge of the vehicle door 11, as this can be taken from FIG. 7. Although the detection range of the sensor device 3 is not influenced thereby, the mode of operation is not changed by another positioning of the sensor device 3.

[0077] In dependence on the recognition of an object O1, O2 as a collision obstacle, the control of the adjusting movement of the vehicle door 11 by the control device 4 will be influenced. Upon recognition of a collision obstacle, an adjusting operation of the vehicle door 11 can be prevented completely or, alternatively, an adjusting operation can be limited such that the vehicle door 11 is moved, but is approached to an obstacle only to such an extent that the vehicle door 11 does not get in contact with the obstacle.

[0078] As shown in FIG. 8, an object O3 for example can be recognized in a recognition area E of the sensor device 3 and be classified as a collision obstacle, and the sensor device 3 is designed to generate a location information for the object O3 and thus to localize the object O3. To determine an adjustment path corresponding to an adjustment angle β, which is dimensioned such that the vehicle door 11 is moved, but does not get in contact with the obstacle, a projection P is calculated for the object O3 in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 8, in which the object O3 is projected downwards along a perpendicular spatial direction Z corresponding to the direction of gravity. As a result, the object O3 localized by the sensor device 3 is projected into a blind area B beyond a detection limit A2 of the sensor device 3, and the area of the projection P is assumed as a collision area and the adjustment path is calculated such that the vehicle door 11 is not moved into the area of the projection P.

[0079] This proceeds from the fact that objects for example in the form of trees, signs or walls usually are arranged on the ground and extend (approximately) perpendicularly from the ground. Thus, there is a (not low) probability for the fact that an object O3 localized in the recognition area E extends perpendicularly downwards also into a blind area B of the sensor device 3, which should be considered correspondingly in the control of the adjusting operation of the vehicle door 11.

[0080] The idea underlying the invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described above, but can also be realized in a different way.

[0081] The vehicle door can be a tailgate, a vehicle side door, an engine hood, a cover of a storage area (for example in a pick-up truck) or the like. Such a vehicle door can be pivotally, but possibly also shiftably arranged on a vehicle body.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0082] 1 vehicle

[0083] 10 vehicle body

[0084] 11 vehicle door (tailgate)

[0085] 110 window pane

[0086] 111 wiper

[0087] 12 foot

[0088] 113 operating device (handle)

[0089] 114 operating device (remote control)

[0090] 115 operating device (gesture recognition device)

[0091] 116 spoiler

[0092] 2 adjusting device

[0093] 3 sensor device

[0094] 4 control device

[0095] α, β angle

[0096] A1, A2 detection limit

[0097] B blind area

[0098] E recognition area

[0099] F distant area

[0100] N near area

[0101] O opening direction

[0102] O1, O2, O3 object

[0103] P projection

[0104] U user

[0105] Z spatial direction

[0106] Z1, Z2 recognition area

[0107] While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the invention.