INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-048636 filed on Mar. 19, 2020. The content of the application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a shift operation determination apparatus and a shift apparatus.

Description of the Related Art

In the related art, as a shift apparatus of a vehicle, a lever-shaped shift apparatus using a shift lever and a dial-shaped shift apparatus using a shift knob have been known. Such a shift apparatus has a P (parking) range selected during parking of the vehicle, and a plurality of shift ranges including an R (reverse), an N (neutral), and a D (drive), and a driver selects the shift range by operating the shift lever and the shift knob. Specifically, the respective shift ranges of P, R, N, D, and S are arranged side by side in the operation range of the operation member such as the shift lever or the shift knob, and the shift range is selected corresponding to a position of the operation member according to the operation of moving the operation member.

In such a shift apparatus, a condition may be provided for the operation of switching from the P range to another shift range so that the vehicle cannot move against the intention of the driver. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-47074 discloses an example in which a brake pedal is depressed when the dial-shaped shift operation member is rotated from the P range in the shift apparatus.

As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-47074, when there is a condition for the operation of switching from the P range to another shift range, if the driver mistakenly select the P range, an operation satisfying the condition is required. For example, a case is assumed in which when the driver moves the shift operation member with the intention of switching the shift range to the R range, the shift operation member unintentionally moves to the position of the P range. In such a case, the driver should operate the brake pedal and the like so as to satisfy the condition, and feels like being forced to perform complicated operations, which may cause a psychological burden.

The present invention is to reduce a burden on the driver when the driver unintentionally selects the shift range for parking in the operation of switching the shift range of the vehicle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An aspect of the present invention is to provide a shift operation determination apparatus including: an operation member rotatably attached to the vehicle; an operation detection section configured to detect a position of the operation member in a rotation direction; a lock mechanism configured to regulate a rotation of the operation member; a braking operation detection section configured to detect a braking operation of the vehicle; a shift determination section configured to determine any one of a plurality of shift ranges including a first range for parking and a second range different from the first range, based on the position of the operation member; and a lock control section configured to cause the lock mechanism to regulate the rotation of the operation member from a first position corresponding to the first range to a second position corresponding to the second range when the braking operation is not detected, wherein the lock control section is capable of releasing a regulation of the rotation of the operation member from the first position to the second position within a predetermined time after the operation member rotates from the second position to the first position.

In another aspect of the present invention the lock control section releases the regulation of the rotation of the operation member when the braking operation is detected, within the predetermined time after the operation member rotates from the second position to the first position.

In another aspect of the present invention, the lock control section causes the lock mechanism to regulate the rotation of the operation member when the operation member moves to the second position side of the first position in an absence of the braking operation, and the lock control section releases the regulation of the rotation of the operation member when the braking operation is detected in the state where the operation member moves to the second position side of the first position, within the predetermined time after the operation member rotates from the second position to the first position.

In another aspect of the present invention, the lock control section releases the regulation by the lock mechanism on condition that both the release of the operation of rotating the operation member and the braking operation are performed, when the rotation of the operation member is regulated by the lock mechanism due to movement of the operation member to the second position side of the first position in the absence of the braking operation, and the lock control section releases the regulation of the rotation of the operation member when the braking operation is detected in the state where the operation member moves to the second position side of the first position, within the predetermined time after the operation member rotates from the second position to the first position.

In another aspect of the present invention, the shift operation determination apparatus further includes an acceleration operation detection section configured to detect an operation on an accelerator operation section of the vehicle, wherein the lock control section causes the lock mechanism to regulate the rotation of the operation member until the operation on the accelerator operation section is released when the operation is performed on the accelerator operation section for the predetermined time after the operation member rotates from the second position to the first position.

In another aspect of the present invention, the shift operation determination apparatus further includes an obstacle detection section configured to detect an obstacle around the vehicle, wherein the lock control section causes the lock mechanism to regulate the rotation of the operation member while the obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection section for the predetermined time after the operation member rotates from the second position to the first position.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a shift apparatus including: a shift operation determination apparatus configured to determine a shift range of a vehicle according to an operation; and a shift control section configured to switch the shift range of the vehicle based on a determination result of the shift operation determination apparatus, the shift operation determination apparatus including: an operation member rotatably attached to the vehicle; an operation detection section configured to detect a position of the operation member in a rotation direction; a lock mechanism configured to regulate a rotation of the operation member; a braking operation detection section configured to detect a braking operation of the vehicle; a shift determination section configured to determine any one of a plurality of shift ranges including a first range for parking and a second range different from the first range, based on the position of the operation member; and a lock control section configured to cause the lock mechanism to regulate the rotation of the operation member from a first position corresponding to the first range to a second position corresponding to the second range when the braking operation is not detected, the lock control section being capable of releasing a regulation of the rotation of the operation member from the first position to the second position within a predetermined time after the operation member rotates from the second position to the first position.

According to the aspects of the present invention, it is possible to release a regulation of an operation of switching a shift range for parking to another shift range within a predetermined time after the shift range for parking is selected. Therefore, the burden of the operation of changing the shift range can be reduced, and the operability of a driver can be improved. For example, when the driver unintentionally selects the shift range for parking, it is possible to easily switch to the originally intended shift range.

