CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-089129, which was filed on May 21, 2021, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

The following disclosure relates to an operating device installed on a vehicle and including an operating member operable by a driver, the operating device being configured to issue a command corresponding to an operation of the operating member by the driver to a drive system and a brake system of the vehicle.

Description of Related Art

For instance, a vehicle as disclosed in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 8-272439) has been recently developed in which one operating member such as a joystick is provided in place of conventional operating members such as an accelerator pedal and a brake pedal. In such a vehicle, both an accelerating operation and a braking operation can be performed by operating the one operating member.

SUMMARY

An operating device installed on the vehicle described above is configured such that a command for applying a drive force in a forward direction to the vehicle is issued when the joystick as the operating member is operated from a neutral position thereof in the forward direction and such that a command for decreasing the drive force and applying a braking force with an appropriate magnitude to the vehicle is issued when the joystick is located at the neutral position. In the vehicle equipped with the thus configured operating device, the braking force applied to the vehicle is not reflective of a driver's intention. Thus, there remains room for improvement in commands as to the braking force, and some modifications can enhance the utility of the operating device. Accordingly, an aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a vehicle operating device with high utility.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, an operating device installed on a vehicle and including an operating member operable by a driver is configured to issue a command corresponding to an operation of the operating member by the driver to a drive system and a brake system of the vehicle, wherein the operating device allows a first-direction operation that is an operation of the operating member from a neutral position thereof in a first direction and a second-direction operation of the operating member from the neutral position in a second direction different from the first direction, wherein, when the first-direction operation is performed in a state in which the vehicle is at a stop or the vehicle is running forward, the operating device issues, to the drive system, a command to apply a drive force in a forward direction to the vehicle, wherein, when the second-direction operation is performed in a state in which the vehicle is at a stop or the vehicle is running backward, the operating device issues, to the drive system, a command to apply a drive force in a backward direction to the vehicle, and wherein, when the second-direction operation is performed in a state in which the vehicle is running forward, the operating device issues, to the brake system, a command to apply a braking force as an opposite-direction-operation-dependent braking force to the vehicle.

In the vehicle equipped with the operating device constructed as described above, when the operating member is operated in the second direction beyond the neutral position in a state in which the vehicle is running forward by an operation of the operating member in the first direction, the braking force is applied to the vehicle. A driver's operation of one operating member enables application of both the drive force and the braking force to the vehicle. In addition, the operating device may be configured to change a magnitude of the braking force in accordance with the operation amount of the operating member. With this configuration, in a situation in which sudden braking is required, for instance, a relatively large braking force can be applied to the vehicle by a driver's operation, in other words, a relatively large braking force can be applied in accordance with a driver's intention.

Various Forms

The operating member of the operating device according to the present disclosure may have any structure as long as it can be operated in mutually different two directions from the neutral position. A joystick or the like is typically employed as the operating member. The first direction and the second direction may be mutually opposite directions with respect to the neutral position. Each of the first direction and the second direction is not limited to a linear direction but may be a direction along one circumference of a circle centered around a certain point. From the viewpoint of ease of operation, the first direction may be a direction directed toward a front side of the vehicle, and a second direction may be a direction directed toward a rear side of the vehicle.

In the operating device of the present disclosure, the state in which the vehicle is running forward and the state in which the vehicle is running backward may be determined based on a rotational direction of wheels, for instance. Further, each of the state in which the vehicle is running forward and the state in which the vehicle is running backward does not necessarily mean only a state in which the vehicle is actually running forward or backward. In a case where the drive system is configured such that the running state of the vehicle is switched between forward running and backward running by shifting gears of a transmission, it may be determined that the vehicle is running forward or backward based on the state of the shifted gears. In a hybrid system in which mode switching is performed for switching the running state between forward running and backward running, it may be determined that the vehicle is running forward or backward depending on whether a forward running mode is selected or a backward running mode is selected.

In the operating device of the present disclosure, the command to apply, to the vehicle, a drive force in the forward direction (hereinafter referred to as “forward drive force” where appropriate) based on the first-direction operation does not necessarily indicate directly the magnitude of the forward drive force to be applied. Similarly, the command to apply, to, the vehicle, the drive force in the backward direction (hereinafter referred to as “backward drive force” where appropriate) based on the second-direction operation does not necessarily indicate directly the magnitude of the backward drive force to be applied. Specifically, each of the command to apply the forward drive force and the command to apply the backward drive force may indicate, to the drive system, a speed at which the vehicle should run forward or backward. (The speed will be referred to as “target vehicle running speed” where appropriate.) In this instance, the drive system may determine the drive force based on the target vehicle running speed and a speed at which the vehicle is actually running (hereinafter referred to as “actual vehicle running speed” where appropriate) and may apply the determined drive force to the vehicle. The drive system may be a drive system including an engine as the drive source, a drive system including an electric motor as the drive source, or may be a drive system including both the engine and the electric motor each as the drive source (e.g., a hybrid system).

The brake system may be a hydraulic brake system, an electric brake system (configured to push friction members against a rotary body by a force of an electric motor), or the like. In a case where the drive system includes the electric motor as the drive source, the electric motor may be utilized as an electric generator to generate a regenerative braking force. In a case where the drive system is configured to apply the regenerative braking force to the vehicle, the drive system may be regarded as a part of the brake system.

In the operating device of the present disclosure, the command to apply the opposite-direction-operation-dependent braking force may be issued not only when the second-direction operation is performed in the state in which the vehicle is running forward, but also when the first-direction operation is performed in the state in which the vehicle is running backward.

The command to apply the opposite-direction-operation-dependent braking force may be a command to apply a braking force having a magnitude corresponding to an operation amount of the operating member from the neutral position. That is, the operating device of the present disclosure may issue a command to apply a relatively large magnitude of the opposite-direction-operation-dependent braking force in a case where a relatively large amount of the second-direction operation is performed in the state in which the vehicle is running forward. With this configuration, a relatively large braking force can be applied by a driver's operation in a situation in which sudden braking is required, for instance.

The operating device of the present disclosure may issue a command to apply a braking force when the operating member is located at the neutral position in a state in which the vehicle is running forward. The operating device of the present disclosure may issue a command to apply a braking force when the operating member is located at the neutral position in a state in which the vehicle is running backward. In a case where the operating device is configured such that a force, by which the operating member returns to the neutral position, is given to the operating member by a spring, a motor or the like, the braking force is automatically applied to the vehicle if the driver releases the operating member in a state in which the driver is performing the first-direction operation or the second-direction operation by gripping the operating member. This braking force will be referred to as a neutral-position-dependent braking force. The operating device of the present disclosure may be configured to issue a command to apply the neutral-position-dependent braking force whose magnitude is set such that the vehicle does not come to a sudden stop.

As for a relationship between the opposite-direction-operation-dependent braking force and the neutral-position-dependent braking force, the braking force as the opposite-direction-operation-dependent braking force may be set so as to be larger than the braking force as the neutral-position-dependent braking force. This configuration enables application of a relatively large magnitude of the opposite-direction-operation-dependent braking force to the vehicle when sudden braking or the like is required.

When the vehicle stops by application of the neutral-position-dependent braking force, the operating device of the present disclosure may issue a command to apply, to the vehicle, a braking force by which the vehicle is kept stopped. When the vehicle stops by application of the braking force as the opposite-direction-operation-dependent braking force, the operating device of the present disclosure may issue a command to apply, to the vehicle, a braking force by which the vehicle is kept stopped. Each of these braking forces will be referred to as a stop keeping braking force. With the configurations, even in a situation in which the vehicle is stopped halfway on the slope, for instance, the application of the stop keeping braking force prevents the vehicle from moving down along the slope with its wheels rotated.

