JP2000295703A - Braking energy regenerating apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a braking energy regenerating apparatus which regenerates kinetic energy of a vehicle in the state that an accelerator is released during vehicle running, applies it as electric energy to a battery for exclusive use of motor-operated brakes, and can operate the motor-operated brakes installed in wheels by using the electric energy when the brakes are operated. SOLUTION: A brake apparatus is equipped with motor-operated brakes IFR, IFL, IRR, IRL in the front and the rear wheels, which brakes are controlled by at least two independent systems. Batteries 4, 5 for exclusive use of motor- operated brakes for operating the motor-operated brakes are installed in the brake system. Generators 7, 8 are installed in at least one wheel in each brake system. When the state that an accelerator is opened is detected during running, the batteries 4, 5 for exclusive use of the motor-operated brakes are charged by electric power generated with the generators 7, 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a braking energy capable of converting kinetic energy of a vehicle into electric energy, storing the electric energy in a battery dedicated for braking, and operating an electric brake by supplying power from the battery. More specifically, the present invention relates to a regenerative device, and more specifically, regenerates kinetic energy of a vehicle in a state where an accelerator pedal is released during running of the vehicle as electric energy to an electric brake dedicated battery, and uses the electric energy when the brake is operated. The present invention relates to a braking energy regenerating device capable of operating an electric brake provided on wheels.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electric brake is known in which an electric motor is operated by an electric signal without using a medium such as a brake fluid and a brake member (hereinafter, brake pad) is pressed against a member to be braked (hereinafter, brake rotor) to generate a braking force. An example of such an electric brake is disclosed in
Japanese Patent Publication No. 504876 is known. This electric brake is configured such that the rotational force of the electric motor is reduced via a speed reduction device, the rotational motion is converted into a linear motion, and a brake pad is moved toward a brake rotor to operate the brake.

In the case of an electric brake, the reliability of power supply from a battery becomes important in order to ensure reliable operation of the brake device. And the durability of the battery is reduced, and the reliability of power supply is reduced. From such a background, recently, an electric brake configured to minimize the load on a battery when performing a brake operation has been proposed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 9-118211).
No.). However, the electric brake as described above consumes more electric energy than conventional hydraulic brakes, and has the problem of deteriorating fuel efficiency. This is a major factor in the development of automobiles to further improve fuel efficiency. It is an obstacle.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a brake device having an electric brake on wheels, which is provided with a battery exclusively for the electric brake in order to effectively use the kinetic energy of the vehicle and to improve the fuel efficiency of the vehicle. It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems by providing a braking energy regenerating device capable of charging an electric brake-dedicated battery with electricity generated by a generator provided on wheels when an accelerator release state is detected. The present invention provides an electric brake on each wheel, the front wheels of the vehicle, the rear wheels are configured as one brake system, or the wheels arranged on the same side of the vehicle are configured as one brake system, Alternatively, at least one of the brake systems independent of each other, such as a configuration in which the wheels arranged on the diagonal lines of the vehicle are configured as one brake system, a generator is provided on at least one wheel of each brake system, and the accelerator is released during traveling. When the state is detected, the electricity generated by the generator is charged to the electric brake dedicated battery arranged for each brake system. When the vehicle speed is higher than the predetermined speed, the charging operation for the battery is stopped,
Prevents excessive current from flowing to the battery. Further, when an abnormality occurs in the brake-dedicated electric system, the brake operation can be compensated by the power supply from the vehicle-mounted battery which has been conventionally mounted, thereby improving the reliability of the brake operation.

[0005]

The technical solution adopted by the present invention is to provide an electric brake on each of the front and rear wheels of a vehicle, which are controlled by at least two independent systems. Each brake system is provided with an electric brake dedicated battery for operating the electric brake, and at least one wheel of each brake system is provided with a generator, and when the accelerator released state is detected during traveling, power is generated by the generator. A braking energy regenerating device characterized by being configured to charge electricity to the electric brake dedicated battery arranged in each brake system, wherein the charging is performed when the vehicle speed exceeds a predetermined threshold value. A braking energy regenerating device, wherein the electric brake is an electric brake. When there are abnormalities in the power supply system from use the battery, a brake energy recovery system which is characterized in that the brake actuation by the vehicle-mounted battery.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an electric brake according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a connection diagram of a brake rotor of the electric brake and a generator, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart for performing a charging operation. In FIG. 1, a thick line is a power supply line, and a thin line is a control signal supply line. In the figure, FR is the right front wheel, FL
Indicates a front left wheel, RR indicates a rear right wheel, RL indicates a rear left wheel, a front right wheel FR has a front right wheel electric brake 1FR, a front left wheel FL has a front left wheel electric brake 1FL, and a rear right wheel RR has a rear right wheel. A left-wheel electric brake 1RR is provided on the left rear wheel RL, and a left-rear wheel electric brake 1RL is provided on the left rear wheel RL. In this example, the wheels on the diagonal line of the vehicle, that is, the right front wheel and the left rear wheel are used as one brake system. The left front wheel and the right rear wheel are configured as one brake system, and each electric brake is connected to an electric brake driving driver 2 via a power supply line. The brake system can be configured such that the front wheels and the rear wheels of the vehicle are one brake system, or the wheels arranged on the same side of the vehicle are one brake system.

A driver 2 is connected to an on-board battery 3 for supplying power to the engine start, various lights, and other electric components, and a first and a second electric brake dedicated battery arranged for each brake system. 4 and 5 are connected. For example, the first electric brake dedicated battery 4 is configured as a dedicated battery for a brake system composed of a right front wheel and a left rear wheel, and the second electric brake dedicated battery 5 is configured as a dedicated battery for a brake system composed of a left front wheel and a right rear wheel. ing. The first and second batteries 4 and 5 are connected to a charge control electronic control device 6, and the charge control electronic control device 6 is connected to generators 7 and 8 provided on the left and right rear wheels RR and RL. In this example, the generators are provided on the left and right rear wheels, but may be provided on the left and right front wheels.
It can be provided on all wheels. In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes an electronic control unit conventionally mounted on a vehicle. This electronic control unit 10 includes a vehicle speed sensor (speed sensor) 11, a brake pedal sensor 12, an accelerator The pedal switch 13 is further connected to control devices and the like (not shown) by control signal lines.

Next, a description will be given of an example of coupling between the electric brakes 1RR, 1RL provided on the left and right rear wheels RR, RL and the generators 7, 8 with reference to FIG. The electric brake includes a caliper 20 as is well known, and the caliper 20 is provided with an electric motor, a speed reducer, a brake operating mechanism 21 including a rotation / linear conversion mechanism, a friction material (brake pad) 22 and the like. A brake rotor 23 as a member to be braked is disposed between the brake pads 22. Brake rotor 2
A gear 24 is formed on the inner periphery of the gear 3.
The gear 25 attached to the rotating shaft of the generator 26 meshes with the gear 26. As an example of the connection between the brake rotor 23 and the generator 26, the input shaft of the generator 26 can be directly connected to the rotation center 23a of the brake rotor 23 as shown in FIG. And the generator can be connected via a transmission mechanism as appropriate.

The operation of the electric brake having the above structure will be described. When the brake pedal sensor 12 detects the state of the brake pedal and inputs a signal to the electronic control unit 10, the electronic control unit 10 2 and each wheel FR, FL, RR, RL is an electric brake 1FR, 1FL, 1RR, 1R provided on each wheel.
Activate L. At this time, electric power for operating the electric brake is supplied from the first and second batteries 4 and 5 arranged in each brake system. When the accelerator pedal is released during traveling, the state is detected by the accelerator pedal switch 13 and is input to the electronic control unit 10 and the electronic control unit 6 for charge control, and the electric power generated by the generators 7 and 8 is converted into the first and the second electric power. Second
The batteries 4 and 5 are charged to regenerate kinetic energy. Further, when the charge control electronic control device 6 determines that the signal from the vehicle speed sensor 11 has exceeded the threshold value, the generated voltage is too high, so that the first and second batteries 4 and 4 are prevented from generating power. 5 is not charged. When the charge control electronic control unit 6 determines that the voltages of the first and second batteries 4 and 5 are lower than a predetermined value, it is determined that there is an abnormality (failure) and the power from the vehicle-mounted battery 3 is used. Supply electric brake 1FR, 1F
Activate L, 1RR, 1RL. When the brake pedal is released, the electronic control unit 10 controls the driver 2 based on a signal from the brake pedal sensor 12 to
FR, 1FL, 1RR, and 1RL are operated in the brake release state.

Hereinafter, a control program for energy regeneration will be described with reference to a flowchart of FIG. This program is started, and in step S1, it is determined whether or not the accelerator pedal switch 13 is OFF (whether or not the accelerator pedal is released). The accelerator pedal switch 13 is turned off
If it is determined to be F, the process proceeds to step S2 to start power generation, and the first and second batteries 4 and 5 are charged. Also,
During power generation, when the brake pedal is depressed and the brake pedal switch is turned on in step S3, the electric brake is operated and the brake is operated in step S4 by the power supply from the generator and the electric brake dedicated battery. In step S1, the accelerator pedal switch 1
When 3 is ON, power generation is stopped. The reason for this is that if power is generated when the accelerator pedal is depressed (when the accelerator pedal switch is ON), the load on the generator increases and energy loss occurs. In this state (when accelerating) , The power generation by the generator is stopped.

When the determination in step S3 is NO, and after step S4, the process returns to step S1 to execute the above-described program. Also, during the execution of the above control, even if the traveling speed of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined value, apart from the determination of the ON / OFF state of the accelerator pedal switch, the power generation is not performed because the generated voltage is too high. The battery for the first and second electric brakes is not charged. As described above, in the present invention, when the accelerator pedal is released during non-braking operation during traveling, the state is detected by the accelerator pedal switch, input to the charge control electronic control device via the electronic control device, and generated by the generator. The first and second batteries can be charged with the generated electricity to regenerate running energy.

[0012]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
When the accelerator released state is detected during traveling, the electric power generated by the generator is charged into the electric brake dedicated battery arranged in each brake system, so that the energy can be regenerated. In addition, at the time of vehicle acceleration, the running energy loss can be eliminated by eliminating the power generation load of the generator. Further, when the running speed of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined value, the generated voltage is too high, so that the operation of charging the battery is stopped without generating power, thereby improving the durability of the battery dedicated to the electric brake. In addition, when power is not supplied from the battery exclusively for electric brakes (when an abnormality occurs in the electric system), the brake operation can be compensated by the power supply from the on-board battery that has been conventionally mounted to enable the brake operation. Excellent effects, such as ensuring certainty, can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an electric brake according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a connection diagram of a brake rotor of an electric brake and a generator.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for performing a charging operation.

FIG. 4 is a connection diagram of a brake rotor and a generator of an electric brake as another example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 FR Right front wheel FL Left front wheel RR Right rear wheel RL Left rear wheel 1FR Right front wheel electric brake 1FL Left front wheel electric brake 1RR Right rear wheel electric brake 1RL Left rear wheel electric brake 2 Driver 3 In-vehicle battery 4, 5 Battery for exclusive use of electric brake 6 Charging Electronic control device for control 7, 8 Generator 10 Electronic control device, 11 Vehicle speed sensor (speed sensor) 12 Brake pedal sensor 13 Accelerator pedal switch 20 Caliper 21 Brake operation mechanism 22 Brake pad 23 Brake rotor 24 Gear 25 Gear 26 Generator

Claims (3)

[Claims] An electric brake is provided on each of the front and rear wheels of a vehicle, and each of the brake systems is controlled by at least two independent systems.
5 and at least one wheel of each brake system is provided with generators 7 and 8, and the electricity generated by the generators 7 and 8 is arranged in each brake system when the accelerator release state is detected during traveling. A braking energy regenerating device characterized by being configured to charge the electric brake batteries (4, 5). 2. The braking energy regenerating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the charging is not performed when the vehicle speed exceeds a predetermined threshold value. 3. The braking energy regenerating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electric brake is operated by a vehicle-mounted battery when there is an abnormality in a power supply system from a battery exclusively for the electric brake.