US 12,071,112 B2
Electric-brake control apparatus
Kazuhiro Nishiwaki, Tokyo (JP); and Ryo Shinohara, Tokyo (JP)
Assigned to Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Tokyo (JP)
Filed by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Tokyo (JP)
Filed on Jul. 1, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/365,540.
Claims priority of application No. 2020-149563 (JP), filed on Sep. 7, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0073045 A1, Mar. 10, 2022
Int. Cl. B60T 13/74 (2006.01); B60T 7/04 (2006.01); B60T 8/172 (2006.01); B60T 8/32 (2006.01)
CPC B60T 13/741 (2013.01) [B60T 7/042 (2013.01); B60T 8/172 (2013.01); B60T 8/3255 (2013.01)] 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An electric-brake controller for controlling an electric brake in which a brake pad is pressed to a brake disk by converting rotary motion of a motor into linear motion, the electric-brake controller comprising:
a position calculator that calculates a position of the brake pad;
an electric-brake control amount calculator that performs switching between braking and non-braking in accordance with an input signal and calculates a brake control amount with braking and a plurality of clearance control amounts with non-braking for the electric brake; and
a motor controller that controls the motor, based on the brake control amount with braking and the clearance control amount with non-braking,
wherein the braking comprises a first state in which the input signal indicates that the brake pad is to be pressed to the brake disk,
wherein the non-braking comprises a second state in which the input signal indicates that the brake pad is not to be pressed to the brake disk,
wherein, based on determining that the braking is switched to the non-braking and without switching back from the non-braking to the braking, the electric-brake control amount calculator:
calculates a first clearance control amount, of the plurality of clearance control amounts, for securing a first portion of a predetermined clearance between the brake pad and the brake disk, based on a position of the brake pad, calculated by the position calculator at a non-braking time, and secures the first portion of the predetermined clearance by controlling the motor to move the brake pad away from the brake disk according to the first clearance control amount, the first portion is indicated by the first clearance control amount and is less than the predetermined clearance,
calculates, in response to determining that an interval of time has passed since the motor has been controlled to move the brake pad away from the brake disk according to the first clearance amount and without the non-braking being switched to the braking, a second clearance control amount, of the plurality of clearance control amounts, for securing a second portion of the predetermined clearance between the brake pad and the brake disk, and secures the second portion of the predetermined clearance by controlling the motor to move the brake pad further away from the brake disk than the first portion of the predetermined clearance and according to the second clearance control amount, the second portion is indicated by the second clearance control amount and is both greater than the first portion and is either less than or equal to the predetermined clearance,
wherein during an interval of time since the motor has been controlled to move the brake pad away from the brake disk according to the first clearance control amount, a distance between the brake pad and the brake disk is held constant.