JP2001128304A - Running charge system of electric vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable charging a battery mounted on a vehicle, while an electric vehicle is running, improve use efficiency of a vehicle, and easily enable long distance running. SOLUTION: A power supply line 12 is installed in a road 3, on which an electric vehicle 1 runs. A charger 11 is installed on the automobile 1, which receives power from the line 12 and charges a battery 25 on a vehicle in the running state. The power supply line 12 is laid in a trench 3A, formed along the surface of the road 3. The charger 11 is equipped with a trolley wire type contact terminal 39 sliding on the line 12, and a charging means for charging the battery 25 by using the power received through the contact terminal 39. When charging is not being conducted, the contact terminal 39 is pulled up and accommodated in the car body of the electric vehicle 1. When charging is conducted, the contact terminal 39 is made to descend in the trench 3A and abut against the power supply line 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric vehicle that runs by rotating a motor with electric power supplied from a vehicle-mounted battery, and more particularly to a trolley-type electric vehicle that receives charging power through a trolley (touch ring). Regarding the charging system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles have attracted attention due to consideration for environmental issues and the like, and the number of vehicles has been gradually increasing. At present, electric vehicles are mostly used mainly as commercial vehicles running in the city or as premises vehicles such as factories due to the problem of the traveling distance caused by the capacity and output power of the vehicle-mounted battery. When the power consumption of the on-board battery increases and charging becomes necessary, the charging port of the vehicle is connected to a dedicated charging device (when the charging device is a separate type) or a dedicated power supply device (when the charging device is a vehicle type) for several hours. , Charge.

[0003]

However, the above-mentioned electric vehicle is charged while the vehicle engine is turned off and stopped, and the electric vehicle is charged for several hours (5 to 5 hours).
(About 8 hours). During this time, it is natural that the vehicle cannot travel, so that the use efficiency of the vehicle is low. Therefore, it was necessary to devise operations such as charging at night when the vehicle was not used.
On the other hand, long-distance traveling, such as going out, has become quite difficult due to the low penetration of charging equipment and dedicated power supply devices.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem of a conventional charging system for an electric vehicle, and allows a vehicle-mounted battery to be charged while traveling (that is, while using the vehicle). It is an object of the present invention to increase the use efficiency and to make it possible to travel easily even on long distances.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, an electric vehicle traveling and charging system according to the present invention, as conceptually shown in FIG. 1, rotates a motor with electric power supplied from a vehicle battery. A power supply system installed on a road on which the electric vehicle runs, and a power supply system installed on the electric vehicle and running from the power supply system while the electric vehicle is running. A charging device that receives the electric power and charges the vehicle-mounted battery.

Preferably, as shown conceptually in FIG. 2, the power supply equipment is a rail-shaped power supply line laid in a groove formed along the road surface of the road, and the charging device is A trolley-type contact that slides on the power supply line, and charging means for charging the on-vehicle battery based on the power received by the contact.

[0007] In this case, the charging means lifts and accommodates the contact in the body of the electric vehicle when the charging is not performed, and applies the contact to the power supply line when performing the charging. It is preferable that a contact elevating means for lowering the contact into the groove so as to be in contact is provided.

[0008] For example, the charging means monitors the remaining power of the on-vehicle battery, and prompts the charging when the remaining power monitored by the monitoring means falls below the reference value. It may include a prompting means and a charge start control means for controlling the contact lift means in response to a manual operation by a driver so that the contact contacts the power supply line.

At this time, the charging means notifies the completion of the charging when the remaining charge amount monitored by the monitoring means reaches the charging completion value, and automatically moves the contactor into the vehicle body. Charge completion control means for controlling the contact elevating means so as to be pulled up and accommodated.

On the other hand, as an example, the power supply line is laid in a groove formed along a road surface of a dedicated road for performing the charging. In this case, when the charging device receives power from the power supply line while traveling on the dedicated road, an automatic driving system that automatically drives the vehicle along the power supply line can be provided.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An electric vehicle traveling and charging system according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 3 shows an outline of a part of the electric vehicle 1 and the power supply equipment 2 in which the traveling charging system is implemented, as viewed from the lateral direction. FIG. 4 shows the electric vehicle 1 as viewed from above. Here is an overview.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG.
The traveling charging system includes a vehicle-mounted charging device 11 mounted on the electric vehicle 1 and a power supply line 12 laid on a charging road 3 as infrastructure-side equipment (power is supplied by this line and a power supply device (not shown)). And an automatic driving system 13 (see FIG. 4) for the electric vehicle 1 and a vehicle installed on the road 3. The dedicated road 3 may be, for example, one lane of an expressway or a general road, or may be maintained as a dedicated road along these roads. In the former case, vehicles other than the electric vehicle can travel on the road.

As shown in FIG. 4, the electric vehicle 1 includes a charging port 21, a junction box 22, a charging controller 23, another junction box 24, and a vehicle battery 25 as a charging device 11. In addition, an inverter 26 and a drive motor 27 that constitute a drive device are connected to the vehicle-mounted battery 25 via a junction box 24. Drive motor 2
The rotation shaft 7 is connected to rear wheels 30L and 30R via a transaxle 28 and a drive shaft 29.

The charging port 21 is provided at the front of the vehicle, and separate from the so-called "running charging" of the present invention, in which the vehicle is charged while traveling, a power supply device (such as a power supply station) dedicated to stopping the vehicle as in the prior art. Can be charged by connecting the coupler. This charging port 21
Receives, for example, a single-phase AC 200 V power supply, and sends the power supply to the charge controller 23 via the junction box 22.

The charging controller 23 is configured such that, for example, the charging system is a conductive system and the control system is a two-stage constant current automatic charging system. The charging controller 23 is connected to the vehicle-mounted battery 25 via another junction box 24, and can appropriately convert the input AC power to DC power to charge the vehicle-mounted battery 25.

The on-vehicle battery 25 is, for example, a sealed lead battery having a capacity of 60 AH / h, a voltage of 12 V, and a total voltage of 240 V. The output power of the vehicle-mounted battery 25 is sent to the inverter 26 via the junction box 24, and the rotation of the drive motor 27 is controlled by the inverter 26. The inverter 26 is, for example, an IG
It is configured as a BT inverter. The motor 27 is, for example, a permanent magnet type synchronous motor. The rotation of the motor 27 is transmitted to the rear wheels 30L and 30R via the transaxle 28 and the drive shaft 29, and travels.

The charging device 11 has, in addition to the configuration described above,
A controller 36 connected to the vehicle-mounted battery 25 via the junction box 24;
6. The lifting mechanism 37 controlled by the
, And a guide pin 38 and a contact terminal 39 connected to each other. The controller 36 further includes a manual switch 40
, And a detection signal from a detector 41 that detects the capacity of the battery 25.

The controller 36 is configured as a computer having a CPU. The controller 36 receives the above-mentioned switch signal and detection signal, performs the processing shown in FIG. 5 described later, and raises and lowers the guide pins 38 and the contact terminals 39 by the lifting mechanism 37. Control behavior.

The elevating mechanism 37 is composed of, for example, a DC motor capable of rotating forward and backward. As shown in FIG. 3, a guide pin 38 and a contact terminal 39 are provided on a rotating shaft of the motor via a mounting jig 42 so as to be substantially parallel to each other. For this reason, when the motor as the elevating mechanism 37 is at a predetermined rotation position, as shown by a dotted line in FIG. In this case, the electric vehicle 1 is not in the state of traveling charging described above, and the guide pins 38 and the contact terminals 39 are pulled up and accommodated in the vehicle body.

On the other hand, when the motor as the elevating mechanism 37 is rotated by a predetermined amount in a predetermined direction in accordance with a command from the controller 36, the guide pins 38 and the contact terminals 39 are fixed as shown in solid lines in FIG. It is placed in a stationary state substantially upright on the road surface via the tool 42. This upright state is the above-described elevation control state during traveling charging, and the tip of the contact terminal 39 contacts the power supply line 12 to function as a contact wheel (trolley) for receiving charging power. .

The contact terminal 39 is formed of, for example, a conductor having a predetermined length and width in a plate shape, and has a flexible end portion. Thereby, the vehicle 1 (electric vehicle) can run while being in contact with the power supply line 12. The guide pin 38 is, for example, a plate-shaped member, and is provided with a contact terminal 39 from an obstacle that may exist on the power supply line 12.
To protect you. As the guide pin 38, a rod-shaped member or a net-shaped member can be used.

On the other hand, a groove 3A having a constant depth and width is formed on the road surface along the road 3, and the rail-shaped power supply line (conductor) 12 is laid in the groove 3A. The line 12 does not necessarily have to have a rectangular plate shape in cross section, and may have a circular cross section. The power supply line 12 is supplied with, for example, single-phase 200 V AC power from a power supply device on the infrastructure side (not shown). Therefore, the contact terminal 39 of the electric vehicle 1 comes into contact with the surface of the line 12 so that the electric vehicle 1
Can receive charging power while traveling. In addition, the power supply line 12 has a configuration in which a plurality of divided lines are cascaded like a line in consideration of a voltage drop and a line length expansion and contraction due to sunlight. The entire power supply line 12 is long enough to ensure a charging time from a certain reference amount to the completion of charging for a normal vehicle-mounted battery when the electric vehicle runs at a constant speed. .

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the electric vehicle 1 and the automatic driving system 13 for the vehicle provided on the road 3 include a magnetic nail 50,... And

The magnetic nails 50,...
The groove 13A is laid on the left and right sides of the groove 13A at a predetermined distance and at predetermined intervals along the traveling direction of the road. As an example, in the left-right direction of the road, the groove 13A, that is, the power supply line 12 is positioned at the center of the magnetic nails 50, 50 located on the left and right sides. Magnetic nail 50, 50
The distance between the roads in the left-right direction depends on the generated magnetism and the line 12
Is set so as not to interfere with that of

Although not shown, the automatic driving device 51 includes a magnetic sensor for detecting the magnetic force of the magnetic nails 50,... , A distance sensor such as a laser distance meter for measuring the distance to the vehicle in front, and instructing the accelerator driving device based on these sensor information to the accelerator driving device and instructing the steering wheel driving device to travel along the magnetic nail laying direction. Controller. For this reason, when the automatic driving device 51 operates, the electric vehicle 1 can automatically travel at a constant speed (for example, 50 km / h) along the magnetic nail laying direction, that is, the traveling direction of the road 3. Since all the electric vehicles traveling on the road 3 for traveling charging are in this automatic operation mode, the driver is released from the manual operation for adjusting the traveling course to the narrow power supply line 12 during that time.

Next, an example of the control of the traveling charge executed by the controller 36 will be described with reference to FIG.

The controller 36 detects the remaining capacity of the vehicle battery 25 from the detection signal of the detector 41 (step S1), and determines whether the remaining battery capacity is equal to or greater than a reference value (step S2).

If the determination is YES, that is, if the value is equal to or greater than the reference value, then the elevating mechanism 37 is used to charge the vehicle for traveling.
It is determined whether the (motor) has been operated based on the switch signal from the manual switch 40 (step S3).
The manual switch 40 allows the driver to operate at a desired timing even before the remaining battery level becomes equal to or less than the reference value. Also used when you want to.

When the determination in step S3 is NO, even if the driver does not instruct such a driving charge for safety, the remaining battery capacity is equal to or more than the reference value, and the battery state in which the vehicle can run sufficiently even at the present time is used. It recognizes that there is, and returns the processing to step S1.

However, if the determination in step S2 is NO while the processing in steps S1 to S3 is repeated, the power consumption increases and the battery remaining amount falls below the reference value for running charging. is there. In this case, the controller 36 causes the charging prompting lamp 52 to blink to notify the driver of the fact (step S4).

Then, the controller 36 determines from the switch signal whether the driver has operated the manual switch 40 and instructed the descent drive of the elevating mechanism 37 (step S5). This determination is continued until the manual switch 40 instructs the descent drive. The driver sees the blinking of the traveling charge prompting lamp 52 or looks at a battery remaining amount monitor (not shown), enters the traveling charge road 3, and operates the manual switch 40.

The electric vehicle 1 enters the automatic driving mode by the automatic driving device 51 in response to the approach to the road 3.

When this switch operation is performed, a determination of YES is made in step S5, and the controller 36 turns on the trolley lamp 53, further turns on the charge lamp 54, and turns off the charge prompting lamp 52 (step S6, S7). It should be noted that the process of steps S6 and S7 is also performed when the determination in step S3 is YES, that is, when the driver issues an arbitrary traveling charge command. In this way, the driver can confirm that the elevating mechanism 37 is lowered and is in an upright state, and the contact terminal 39 is in contact with the power supply line 12 and is in a state of running charging.

The controller 36 further detects the remaining amount of the battery in the same manner as described above, and waits while judging whether the battery is fully charged or has been charged to a predetermined capacity value or more (steps S8 and S9). When the charging is completed, the charging lamp 54 is turned off, the automatic pulling up by the elevating mechanism 37 is commanded, and the trolley lamp 53 is turned off (steps S10 to S11). Thereafter, the controller 36 returns the processing to step S1 again, and executes the above-described elevation control for traveling charging as necessary.

The above-described elevation control is an example,
It is also possible to change to another control mode or add another control mode. For example, it may be possible to escape from the traveling charging by a manual operation of the driver. Further, during the traveling charging, the controller 36 may be capable of instructing the automatic driving device 51 to release the automatic driving mode in accordance with an instruction from the driver.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, for example, the above-mentioned road 3 can be laid as a dedicated line of an expressway. A groove 3A is formed in the center of the dedicated line 3 along the traveling direction.
A is provided with a power supply line 12. For this reason, the electric vehicle operator 1 who needs to charge the vehicle enters the dedicated lane 3 from the lane of the highway (see FIG. 6A and steps S1 to S4 in FIG. 5).

Then, the vehicle is started to move so as to match the position of the vehicle body with the magnetic nails 50 on both sides of the groove 3A to enter an automatic operation mode (FIG. 9B). For this reason, when the automatic driving mode is entered, the guide pins 38 and the contact terminals 39 housed in the vehicle body are located directly above the power supply line 12. In this state, the driver operates the manual switch 40.
Is operated, the guide pins 38 and the contact terminals 39 are gradually lowered while traveling at a constant speed, and the contact terminals 39 of the guide terminals 38 and the contact terminals 39 contact the power supply line 12 (steps S5 to S7 in FIG. 5).

As a result, AC power is transmitted from the power supply line 12 to the charging controller 23 via the contact terminal 39 and the junction box 22 (the cable therein).
Therefore, the charging controller 23 can receive the charging power as in the case of charging from the charging port 21, and can charge the vehicle-mounted battery 25 in the running state.

The fully charged electric vehicle 1 (see FIG. 6)
(C) and steps S8 to S12 in FIG. 5), the vehicle travels on the dedicated route 3 in the automatic operation mode. Then, the automatic driving mode is automatically canceled at the end of the dedicated route 3, and the vehicle returns to the normal traveling lane (see FIG. 6D).

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, in addition to the conventional configuration in which the vehicle can be charged while the vehicle is stopped, the vehicle can be charged while traveling almost normally, so that time can be saved and the vehicle can be saved. Can also increase the efficiency of use.
In addition, long-distance running becomes possible, such as when going out, and the spread of such electric vehicles can contribute to reducing the influence of exhaust gas on the environment and the human body. Further, by setting the automatic driving mode at the time of traveling charging, the burden on the driver can be reduced, and it is also effective in preventing a driving accident or the like.

The automatic driving at the time of running charging may be locally controlled in each vehicle as described above. However, sensor information of the running state of each vehicle is sent to the central control center through a power supply line. Control may be performed collectively at the center. Further, at the time of traveling charging, the vehicle may be manually driven by regulating the speed and the inter-vehicle distance, similarly to a normal road.

[0043]

As described above, according to the traveling charging system for an electric vehicle according to the present invention, the vehicle-mounted battery can be charged while traveling, thereby increasing the use efficiency of the vehicle and extending the distance even over long distances. You can run easily.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a traveling charging system for an electric vehicle according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is another conceptual diagram of the traveling charging system for the electric vehicle according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a traveling charging system for an electric vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from a lateral direction of the vehicle.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of a traveling charging system for an electric vehicle according to the embodiment, as viewed from above the vehicle.

FIG. 5 is a rough flowchart illustrating an example of control related to traveling charging executed by the controller.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle traveling on a dedicated route for traveling charging.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electric vehicle (vehicle) 2 Electric power supply equipment 3 Road (exclusive road, exclusive lane) 3A Road groove 11 Charging device 12 Electric power supply line 22, 24 Junction box 23 Charger (charging means) 25 In-vehicle battery 26 Inverter 27 Driving Motor 36 controller (charging means) 37 elevating mechanism (motor; contact elevating means) 39 contact terminal (contact) 40 switch (charging means) 50 magnetic nail (automatic driving system) 51 automatic driving device (automatic driving system) 52 ~ 54 lamp (charging means)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Shinhisa Kishikawa 8-6-26 Motoyama Minamicho, Higashinada-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture Inside Toshiba Kansai Research Center Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Nobuyuki Takeda Motoyama, Higashinada-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture 8-6-26 Minamimachi, Toshiba Kansai Research Center Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Atsuto Maki 8-6-26 Motoyama Minamicho, Higashinada-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture Toshiba Kansai Research Center Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masayuki Maruyama F-term (Reference) 5H105 AA20 BA09 BB05 CC01 CC14 CC19 DD02 EE06 EE13 GG03 5H115 PC06 PG04 PI16 PI29 PO01 PO06 PO09 PO12 PU10 PV09 QN03 SF25 SF30 SJ02 TI02 TR19 TU16 TU17 TZ07 UB08 UB11

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An electric vehicle system that runs by rotating a motor with electric power supplied from a vehicle-mounted battery, comprising: a power supply facility installed on a road on which the electric vehicle runs; And a charging device for receiving the power from the power supply equipment and charging the on-board battery while the electric vehicle is running. 2. The traveling charging system according to claim 1, wherein the power supply equipment is a rail-shaped power supply line laid in a groove formed along a road surface of the road, and the charging device includes: A travel charging system for an electric vehicle, comprising: a trolley-type contact that slides on the power supply line; and a charging unit that charges the on-vehicle battery based on the power received by the contact. 3. The traveling charging system according to claim 2, wherein the charging unit lifts and accommodates the contact in a vehicle body of the electric vehicle when the charging is not performed, and the charging unit includes the contact when the charging is performed. A traveling charging system for an electric vehicle, comprising: a contact elevating means for lowering a contact into the groove so as to contact the power supply line. 4. The traveling charging system according to claim 3, wherein the charging means monitors a remaining power of the on-vehicle battery, and the remaining power monitored by the monitoring means is equal to or less than a reference value. A prompting means for prompting the charging when the charging time has been reached; andcharging start control means for controlling the contact lifting / lowering means in response to a manual operation by a driver so that the contact contacts the power supply line. Electric vehicle traveling charging system equipped. 5. The traveling charging system according to claim 4, wherein the charging unit notifies the completion of the charging when the remaining charge amount monitored by the monitoring unit reaches the charging completion value, and A travel charging system for an electric vehicle, comprising: charge completion control means for controlling the contact elevating means so that the contact is automatically pulled up and accommodated in the vehicle body. 6. The traveling charging system according to claim 2, wherein the power supply line is laid in a groove formed along a road surface of a dedicated road for performing the charging. 7. The traveling charging system according to claim 6, wherein when the charging device receives power from the power supply line while traveling on the dedicated road, the vehicle automatically drives along the power supply line. A traveling charging system for electric vehicles equipped with a driving system.