JP2002031671A - Method of idling stop process for vehicle, method for measuring residual capacity of storage battery loaded to vehicle, and, apparatus for these - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a practical apparatus for processing to stop idling of vehicles and an apparatus for measuring a residual capacity of a lead storage battery. SOLUTION: The residual capacity of the storage battery is defined as a criterion for stopping idling. A first level is a battery capacity necessary for restarting the automobile after stopping idling. A second level is a battery capacity which is a sum of the battery capacity necessary for restarting the automobile after stopping idling and a battery capacity to be consumed and required when idling is stopped for a specific time. An additional level is a battery capacity obtained by adding a predetermined battery capacity to the battery capacity of the second level. The level is stored in a memory means 21. A measuring means 22 for the residual capacity of the storage battery measures the residual capacity of the lead storage battery. A judging means 23 decides in which level the residual capacity measured by the measuring means 22 stands. The measuring means 22 for the residual capacity of the storage battery calculates the residual capacity with the use of preliminarily calculated data for the residual capacity calculation and with the use of a relation between measured discharge current value and terminal voltage.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for idling stop processing for a vehicle equipped with a storage battery, for determining whether to perform idling stop for stopping an internal combustion engine when the vehicle is temporarily stopped. The present invention is also suitable for application to idling stop processing of a vehicle,
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for measuring the remaining capacity of a storage battery mounted on a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to reduce environmental pollution and improve fuel efficiency of an automobile, an idling system for stopping an internal combustion engine (engine) when the automobile is temporarily stopped at an intersection to wait for a traffic light, or when the automobile is stopped in a traffic jam. Automobiles having a stop function are known. When such an idling stop is performed, it is necessary that the vehicle-mounted storage battery has a remaining capacity so that the vehicle can be restarted after the idling stop. Therefore, when idling is stopped, it is necessary to know that the storage battery has enough remaining capacity to restart the vehicle after idling is stopped.

Various methods have been attempted for measuring the remaining capacity of a storage battery. However, there is no known method for detecting the remaining capacity of a vehicle-mounted storage battery that is appropriate for determining whether to stop idling. Hereinafter, a method of measuring the remaining capacity of a storage battery known so far will be outlined.

The simplest and most reliable method for measuring the remaining capacity of a storage battery is to completely discharge the storage battery, measure the capacity, and determine the state of deterioration from the capacity. However, this method cannot be used to determine idling stop in real time. In addition, since this method requires a long time to discharge, there is a problem that the measurement time becomes long.

Next, a method for measuring the remaining capacity of the storage battery in a relatively short time without discharging the storage battery will be described.

In a lead storage battery, water is generated by discharging and sulfuric acid is generated by charging. Therefore, when discharged, the specific gravity of the aqueous sulfuric acid solution is reduced, and upon charging, the specific gravity of the aqueous sulfuric acid solution is restored. There is known a method of estimating the remaining capacity by using this phenomenon with the specific gravity of the electrolyte as an index. However, the concentration distribution of the electrolyte contained in the lead-acid battery often becomes non-uniform, so that this method cannot always accurately estimate the remaining capacity of the lead-acid battery. In recent years, a sealed lead-acid battery having an extremely small amount of electrolyte has been adopted. For such a sealed lead-acid battery, it is difficult to measure the specific gravity of the electrolytic solution itself, so that the remaining capacity of the lead-acid battery cannot be estimated.

JP-A-53-127646 discloses that
(1) A transient current value of the alternator generated when the start key of the engine is turned is measured as a current flowing through a resistor interposed between the alternator and a lead-acid battery (battery) mounted on the vehicle, and a terminal of the battery is further measured. Also measure the voltage,
These measurement results are calculated by an operational amplifier to determine the initial remaining capacity of the battery immediately before traveling, and (2) the charge amount or the charge / discharge amount during traveling is further determined. (3) The initial remaining capacity and the charge / discharge amount And a method of calculating the remaining capacity of the battery by comparing the above. However, this method is based on the initial remaining capacity at a specific timing when the vehicle is started, and cannot be directly applied to the idling stop as the timing. In addition, since the resistor is provided for measuring the current, there is a disadvantage that the battery capacity is consumed.

JP-A-63-27776 discloses (1)
First, the terminal voltage drop of the battery with respect to the discharge charge amount during the engine start of the new battery when the battery is mounted on the vehicle is actually measured. (2) Thereafter, the static battery characteristics are restored between the stop and the start of the engine. The required terminal time has passed and the remaining battery capacity is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, and the terminal voltage drop of the battery with respect to the discharge charge amount during engine start is actually measured for each vehicle running, 3) discloses a method of estimating the battery life by calculating using the initial voltage drop and the voltage drop after traveling. However, this method also uses the drop in the terminal voltage of the battery at a specific timing such as when the vehicle is started as a reference for detecting the remaining capacity, and is not suitable for determining idling stop. In addition, this method is not applicable to the determination of idling stop because the above-mentioned conditions are imposed.

JP-A-1-39068 discloses (1) a battery discharge current at a plurality of points of time showing different values during a large current discharge such as when a starter is started, and a battery terminal voltage at the time of discharge of each discharge current. (2) Calculate the internal resistance value and power of the battery from the detected current and voltage values, and (3) calculate a function representing the correlation system between the battery capacity, internal resistance, and electromotive force, which was previously experimentally obtained. A method of calculating a remaining capacity of a battery from an internal resistance and an electromotive force calculated using the method is disclosed. However, this method is also not suitable for judging idling stop because the start condition of the starter is also a condition. Furthermore, the processing of this method is complicated.

Japanese Patent No. 2536257 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.
No. 95788) discloses an invention that uses internal impedance to detect the remaining capacity of a lead storage battery.
That is, in the present invention, (1) the internal impedance of the lead-acid battery is measured, and (2) the measured internal impedance of the lead-acid battery is determined by the inductance component L, the electrolyte resistance RΩ, the charge transfer resistance Rct, and the electric The optimum solution is obtained by applying the equivalent circuit consisting of the multilayer capacitance Cd, the Warburg impedance W, and the Wahlprague coefficient σ,
(3) At least one of L, RΩ, Rct, Cd, W, and σ is compared with the initial value, and the life of the lead storage battery is determined from the difference. However, the present invention cannot be applied to the remaining capacity of a vehicle-mounted lead-acid battery that is charged from the generator to the lead-acid battery as the vehicle travels. The reason is that it is difficult to measure the internal impedance of the lead-acid battery due to the influence of the generator on the lead-acid battery, the load fluctuation of the equipment mounted on the vehicle, and the like. If the internal impedance of the lead storage battery cannot be measured, it cannot be compared with the initial value and the life cannot be determined. Further, when the present invention is implemented, the configuration of the measuring device is complicated, the size is increased, and the price is increased. Therefore,
There are problems in applying the present invention to ordinary automobiles such as passenger cars.

A method is also known in which the current value discharged or charged from the storage battery is constantly measured, and the measured current value is integrated to determine the remaining capacity of the storage battery. Hereinafter, this method is referred to as a “current integration method”. In such a current integration method,
The error of the integrated value gradually increases due to the measurement error of the current value, and the state of the storage battery cannot be obtained accurately.
Therefore, a method that improves the “current integration method” is disclosed in
No. 791751 (JP-A-8-19103),
This is proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-171665 and the like.

In the invention described in Japanese Patent No. 2791751, data processing is performed using both a current integration method and an internal resistance detection method to measure the remaining capacity of a lead storage battery for an electric vehicle. That is, (1) first, the remaining capacity of the lead storage battery mounted on the electric vehicle is calculated by the current integration method, and (2) further, when the full charge of the lead storage battery for the electric vehicle is completed and when the vehicle is temporarily stopped during traveling. The internal impedance of the lead storage battery is measured, and (3) the value of the remaining capacity of the storage battery obtained by the current integration method is corrected based on the discharge rate derived from the internal impedance. This method is useful as a method for checking the remaining capacity of a storage battery for a vehicle, and is an important technique for an electric vehicle that needs to know the remaining capacity of a lead storage battery accurately. However, in the present invention, in addition to the measurement by the current integration method, it is necessary to carry out the measurement by the internal impedance, and when a measuring device for realizing this method is manufactured, the device price increases. In particular, since the present invention has a situation where it is difficult to measure the internal impedance described above,
It cannot be applied to idling stop of vehicles equipped with an internal combustion engine.

The invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 9-171065 is a technique for first calculating the remaining capacity of a storage battery by a current integration method and correcting the remaining capacity. In calculating the corrected remaining capacity, a data table of the terminal voltage and the remaining capacity in constant current discharge at a specific discharge current value is prepared in advance, and it is detected that the specific discharge current value has continued for a predetermined time while the vehicle is running. Then, the terminal voltage of the storage battery at that time is measured, and the measured terminal voltage is referred to the data table to determine the remaining capacity of the storage battery for correction. Then, the remaining capacity of the current integration method obtained in advance is corrected with the calculated remaining capacity for correction. The present invention is a technique suitable for measuring the remaining capacity of a storage battery (battery) mounted on an electric vehicle such as an electric vehicle. The reason is that, in an electric vehicle, there are many occasions in which the remaining capacity of the storage battery is obtained by setting the discharge current value at the traveling speed that is commonly used by the vehicle to the above-described specific discharge current value. However, the present invention is not suitable for the remaining capacity of a storage battery mounted on an automobile (ordinary automobile) operated by an internal combustion engine. The reason is that, in a normal automobile, there is little chance that a specific current value that continues for a certain period of time frequently appears while the automobile is running.Therefore, there is very little opportunity to find the remaining capacity of the storage battery. This is because the required remaining capacity cannot be determined.

As a method for solving the above-mentioned problem of the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-171065, for example,
Prepare multiple data tables of terminal voltage and remaining capacity,
It is also conceivable to determine the remaining capacity based on a plurality of current values. However, in order to implement such a method, it is necessary to prepare a plurality of data tables, and the processing becomes complicated. In order to accurately measure the remaining capacity, if the relationship between the terminal voltage and the remaining capacity of the storage battery changes depending on the temperature and the deterioration state, it is necessary to prepare more data tables accordingly, It is presumed that a complicated device is required to store and process the data. Also, the task of creating such a large amount of data is troublesome. It is also difficult to determine the state of deterioration of the storage battery.

[0015]

Various conventional techniques have been discussed above. However, these techniques have a problem in particular when applied to an idling stop of an automobile equipped with an internal combustion engine, and cannot be applied as it is. .

It is an object of the present invention to provide an idling stop processing method and apparatus for a vehicle equipped with a storage battery for determining whether to perform idling stop for stopping the internal combustion engine when the vehicle is temporarily stopped.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for measuring the remaining capacity of a storage battery mounted on a vehicle, which is suitable for application to idling stop processing of a vehicle and the like.

[0018]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an idling stop processing method for a vehicle on which a storage battery is mounted, wherein the idling stop is performed to stop an internal combustion engine when the vehicle is temporarily stopped. Thereafter, a first level indicating a battery capacity required for restarting the internal combustion engine, a battery capacity required for restarting the internal combustion engine after idling stop, and consumption during a standard idling stop period. A second level indicating a battery capacity expressed as a sum of a standard battery capacity, and an additional level indicating a battery capacity in a range larger than the battery capacity of the second level and equal to or less than a battery capacity when the storage battery is fully charged. Level, and calculate the remaining capacity of the storage battery by measuring the discharge current and terminal voltage of the storage battery, and when the vehicle is temporarily stopped, the calculated Remaining capacity of the battery is idling processing method for a vehicle determines whether there are any more defined battery capacity to a second level is provided.

The second level indicates the remaining capacity of the storage battery as a criterion for determining whether or not to perform idling stop. When the vehicle is temporarily stopped, it is determined whether or not the remaining capacity of the storage battery is equal to or higher than the second level battery capacity.

[0020] Preferably, the additional level is at least when the idling stop is longer than the standard idling stop time and / or more power than the standard battery capacity consumed during the standard idling stop period. Has a third level indicating the remaining capacity obtained by adding the first additional battery capacity to the second level of battery capacity when the power is consumed. By defining the third level,
The second level battery capacity can be determined. In addition, the third level is specified, and it is possible to cope with a case where the idling stop exceeds the standard time or a case where the power consumption during the idling stop period exceeds the standard time.

[0021] More preferably, the additional level further has a fourth level indicating a remaining capacity obtained by adding a second additional battery capacity to the third level battery capacity.

Preferably, when the remaining capacity of the storage battery is equal to or more than the battery capacity defined in a second level when the vehicle is temporarily stopped, the internal combustion engine is stopped after a predetermined time has elapsed from the temporary stop. Thus, idling stop is performed.

Preferably, after the internal combustion engine is stopped, until the internal combustion engine is restarted, the discharge current of the storage battery is measured, and the remaining capacity of the storage battery immediately before the idling stop is updated. Thus, the power consumption of the storage battery during the idling stop period can be updated, so that the remaining capacity of the storage battery during the idling stop period becomes accurate.

More preferably, during the idling stop period, the internal combustion engine is restarted when the remaining capacity of the storage battery falls below the battery capacity defined by the second level. When the internal combustion engine is restarted, the generator also operates to start charging the storage battery. With this, even if the idling stop period becomes long or the power consumption during the idling stop period exceeds the standard battery capacity,
The remaining capacity of the storage battery does not fall below the second level.

The step of measuring the discharge current and the terminal voltage of the storage battery to calculate the remaining capacity of the storage battery includes: (1) discharging at a plurality of discharge capacities corresponding to the battery capacities specified in advance at the plurality of levels; A step of obtaining a terminal voltage using the discharge current as a variable, the relationship between the current and the terminal voltage of the storage battery, and obtaining a plurality of approximate expressions corresponding to the plurality of discharge capacities;
(2) a measuring step of continuously measuring the actual discharge current of the onboard storage battery and the actual terminal voltage of the storage battery during operation of the vehicle; and (3) a plurality of approximations of the measured discharge current. An estimated terminal voltage calculating step of calculating an estimated value of a plurality of terminal voltages by substituting into an equation, and (4) comparing an actually measured terminal voltage of the storage battery with the calculated plurality of estimated terminal voltages, (5) determining a discharge capacity corresponding to an estimated terminal voltage within the range among the plurality of discharge capacities, and determining the discharge capacity as a remaining capacity of the storage battery; And determining a remaining capacity.

In the step of obtaining the approximate expression, (1)
For a storage battery having a battery capacity at full charge having a battery capacity greater than any of the plurality of discharge capacities, the battery is continuously discharged at a constant plurality of first discharge currents until the battery voltage drops to a predetermined terminal voltage. A first measuring step of measuring a terminal voltage and a discharge elapsed time of the storage battery; and (2) measuring the discharge voltage, which is a product of each of the constant discharge current value and the discharge time, for each of the discharge elapsed times. A first characteristic calculating step of obtaining a first characteristic indicating a relationship with a terminal voltage for the plurality of discharge currents; (3)
Regarding the storage battery that has dropped to the predetermined terminal voltage,
A second measuring step of continuously discharging at a constant second discharge current lower than the plurality of discharge currents until the terminal voltage drops to the predetermined terminal voltage and measuring a terminal voltage and a discharge elapsed time of the storage battery at that time; (4) For each of the plurality of discharge capacities A, a plurality of constant first discharge currents Id1 in the first measurement step and a discharge elapsed time T at that time.
1 and a second discharge capacity defined as a product of a constant second discharge current Id2 in the second measurement step and a discharge elapsed time T2 at that time. , For the discharge capacity A, a third discharge capacity is calculated by the following calculation,

(Id1 × T1) + (Id2 × T2) −A (5) The calculated third discharge capacity is applied to the discharge capacity / terminal voltage characteristic obtained in the first characteristic calculation step. A second characteristic calculating step of calculating a terminal voltage to obtain a second characteristic indicating a relationship between a discharge current and a terminal voltage for each discharge capacity; and (6) an approximation expressing a result of the second characteristic in an approximate expression. And a process.

Preferably, in the approximation step, for each discharge capacity, the relationship between the discharge current and the terminal voltage is approximated by a linear expression. In the linear approximation, only the data of the slope and the intercept need be stored, so that the memory capacity is reduced and the processing is simplified.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an idling stop processing device for a vehicle equipped with a storage battery, which performs an idling stop for stopping the internal combustion engine when the vehicle is temporarily stopped. A first level indicating a battery capacity required for restarting, a battery capacity required for restarting the internal combustion engine after idling stop, and a standard battery capacity consumed during a standard idling stop period. And a second level indicating a battery capacity expressed as a sum of the second level and an additional level indicating a battery capacity in a range larger than the second level battery capacity and equal to or less than a full capacity battery capacity of the storage battery. Storage means for measuring the discharge current and terminal voltage of the storage battery to calculate the remaining capacity of the storage battery; When is paused, the remaining capacity of the storage battery is idling stop apparatus for a vehicle having an idling stop determination means for determining whether or not the above defined battery capacity to a second level is provided.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the relationship between the discharge current at a plurality of discharge capacities and the terminal voltage of the storage battery is determined in advance by determining the terminal voltage using the discharge current as a variable. Obtaining a plurality of approximated expressions,
During the operation of the vehicle, the actual discharge current of the storage battery mounted on the vehicle and the measurement step of continuously measuring the actual terminal voltage of the storage battery, and substituting the measured discharge current into the plurality of approximate formulas obtained above. An estimated terminal voltage calculating step of calculating an estimated value of the terminal voltage of the storage battery, and comparing the actually measured terminal voltage of the storage battery with the calculated plurality of estimated terminal voltages to determine in which range the estimated terminal voltage is. And a remaining capacity determination step of determining a discharge capacity corresponding to an estimated terminal voltage within the range from among the plurality of discharge capacities and determining the discharge capacity as a remaining capacity of the storage battery. A method for measuring capacity is provided.

In the step of obtaining the approximate expression, (1)
For a storage battery whose battery capacity at the time of full charge is larger than any of the plurality of discharge capacities, the battery is continuously discharged at a fixed plurality of first discharge currents until the battery voltage drops to a predetermined terminal voltage. A first measuring step of measuring a voltage and a discharge elapsed time; and (2) a terminal voltage measured for each of the discharge elapsed times, with respect to a discharge capacity which is a product of the constant discharge current value and the discharge time elapsed. A first characteristic calculating step of obtaining a first characteristic indicating the relationship for the plurality of discharge currents; and (3) for the storage battery having dropped to the predetermined terminal voltage, until the storage battery drops to the predetermined terminal voltage. A second measuring step of continuing discharge at a constant second discharge current lower than the plurality of discharge currents and measuring a terminal voltage and a discharge elapsed time of the storage battery at that time; For each of the discharge capacity A,
A first discharge capacity defined as a product of a fixed plurality of first discharge currents Id1 in the first measurement step and a discharge elapsed time T1 at that time, and a fixed second discharge current in the second measurement step For the second discharge capacity defined as the product of the discharge current Id2 and the discharge elapsed time T2 at that time, and for the discharge capacity A, a third discharge capacity is calculated by the following calculation,

(Id1 × T1) + (Id2 × T2) −A (5) The calculated third discharge capacity is applied to the discharge capacity / terminal voltage characteristic obtained in the first characteristic calculation step. Calculate the terminal voltage, and for each discharge capacity,
The method includes a second characteristic calculation step of obtaining a second characteristic indicating a relationship between the discharge current and the terminal voltage, and (6) an approximation step of expressing a result of the second characteristic in an approximate expression.

In the approximation step, for each discharge capacity, the relationship between the discharge current and the terminal voltage is approximated by a linear equation.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the relationship between the discharge current at a plurality of discharge capacities and the terminal voltage of the storage battery is determined in advance by calculating the terminal voltage using the discharge current as a variable. Means for obtaining a plurality of approximated expressions,
An ammeter for measuring the discharge current of the storage battery, a voltmeter for measuring the terminal voltage of the storage battery, and a plurality of terminal voltages of the plurality of terminal voltages by substituting the discharge current measured by the ammeter into the plurality of obtained approximate expressions. An estimated terminal voltage calculating step of calculating an estimated value;
Comparing the terminal voltage of the storage battery measured by the voltmeter with the calculated plurality of estimated terminal voltages, determining a range of the estimated terminal voltage, and determining the range of the estimated terminal voltage; And a remaining capacity determining means for determining the discharge capacity corresponding to the estimated terminal voltage and determining the discharge capacity as the remaining capacity of the storage battery.

[0033]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION As a first embodiment of the present invention, the present invention is mounted on a vehicle having a so-called idling stop function that stops an internal combustion engine (engine) while the vehicle is running and temporarily stops at a traffic jam or at an intersection. A method and an apparatus for idling stop processing of a vehicle for performing idling stop processing by measuring the remaining capacity of the stored storage battery will be described.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a vehicle idling stop processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The vehicle idling stop processing device 20 according to the present embodiment includes a memory unit 21, a storage battery remaining capacity measuring unit 22, an idling stop determining unit 23, an idling stop processing unit 24, and a restarting unit 25. .

The memory means 21 stores the following level data. Means 2 for measuring remaining capacity of storage battery
Reference numeral 2 denotes a unit for detecting the remaining capacity of the storage battery described in detail with reference to FIG. Idling stop determination means 23
Is a means for determining whether or not the storage capacity of the storage battery detected by the storage capacity measurement means 22 is at a level at which idling can be stopped. The idling stop processing means 24 is means for stopping the engine and setting the idling stop state when the idling stop determining means 23 determines that idling can be stopped. After the end of the idling stop, the restart means 25
This is a means for running the automobile by restarting the engine.

The memory unit 21, the idling stop determining unit 23, the idling stop processing unit 24, and the restarting unit 25 can be integrally formed in, for example, a control computer for controlling an automobile.

The criterion for determining the remaining capacity of the present invention stored in the remaining capacity determination level memory means 21 will be described. The inventor of the present application has established the following criteria for producing a practical method and apparatus for determining the remaining capacity. That is, the present invention defines the determination level of the remaining capacity of the lead-acid battery as illustrated in FIG. 2 under the limitation that the remaining capacity of the lead-acid battery of the vehicle having the idling stop function is measured. The level and the corresponding battery capacity are stored in a memory of an idling stop processing device of the vehicle, which will be described later, and are used for determining the remaining capacity of the storage battery.

(1) First level: Battery capacity required for restarting the car after idling stop. (2) Second level: Battery capacity required for restarting the car after idling stop and idling stop for a specific time. (3) Third level: battery capacity obtained by adding first predetermined battery capacity to second level battery capacity (4) Fourth level: third level Battery capacity obtained by adding a second predetermined battery capacity to the battery capacity of (5) Fifth level: Battery capacity obtained by adding a third predetermined battery capacity to a fourth level battery capacity

The meaning of the first level and the specified reason will be described. At the time of idling stop, the engine is stopped during the temporary stop, so it is necessary to restart the engine starter and the like when restarting the running after the temporary stop. First
The level is a value for judging that the battery capacity required at the time of restart is remaining in the storage battery.

The meaning of the second level and the specified reason will be described. When deciding to stop the engine immediately before stopping the engine, the battery capacity (first level) when starting running again after the engine is stopped, and restarting the starter and the like after stopping the engine, By the time the battery is restarted, it is necessary that the battery capacity including the battery capacity necessary for operating the equipment of the vehicle be left in the storage battery. In order to determine the battery capacity required to operate the vehicle equipment between the time the engine is stopped and the time the engine is restarted, the time from when the engine is stopped until the engine is restarted, that is, It is necessary to define the idling stop time. Further, it is necessary to know the amount of electric power consumed by the vehicle equipment operated during the idling stop. However, it is difficult to determine the idling stop time and the power consumption during that period before the idling stop. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, a standard idling stop time and a battery capacity consumed during the period are estimated. These are stored in the memory means 21.

The idling stop judging means 23 monitors the level of the remaining capacity of the storage battery.
If the actual idling stop time exceeds the estimated standard idling stop time and / or if the battery capacity consumed during the idling stop period exceeds the estimated standard battery capacity, it is necessary to restart the engine. There is a possibility that the engine cannot be restarted due to insufficient battery capacity.

Therefore, before the idling stop time exceeds the specified time and / or before the battery capacity consumed during the idling stop period exceeds the standard consumed battery capacity, a decrease in the remaining capacity of the storage battery is suppressed. Alternatively, it is desirable to apply a method of increasing the battery capacity of the storage battery. For this reason, the idling stop processing means 24 restarts the engine immediately after the standard idling stop time elapses or immediately after the power consumption exceeds the standard battery capacity during the idling stop period, for example, to restart the generator. To charge the storage battery, or to stop some of the operating equipment during the idling stop period.

When the idling stop processing means 24 operates to stop idling, at least the second level of battery capacity must be present in the lead storage battery as remaining capacity. However, the second level alone is not enough. Therefore, it is desirable to provide an additional level. Additional levels are described below.

As a method of measuring the remaining capacity of the lead storage battery for determining the above-mentioned level, a method described as a conventional technique can be applied in addition to the preferred embodiment of the present invention described below. However, in the method of calculating the remaining capacity using the internal impedance, as described above, when the engine is operating and the generator is operating, it is difficult to measure the internal impedance of the storage battery.
The remaining capacity of the storage battery cannot be determined. In such a method, when there is only the first and second determination levels, if the state in which measurement for determining the remaining capacity of the storage battery cannot be performed continues for a long period of time, the determination of the level of the remaining capacity of the storage battery becomes improper. Be accurate.

For example, in a certain situation, an automobile equipped with a storage battery whose remaining capacity is determined to be at the second level is
When the vehicle traveled at low speed using an air conditioner or heater in a situation such as traffic congestion, the state of discharge from the storage battery lasted for a long time, and when idling was stopped thereafter, the remaining capacity of the storage battery at that time was at the second level or It is difficult to determine whether the value is below the two levels, and it is difficult to determine the idling stop. Therefore, it is desirable to have at least one additional level, preferably one to three levels, for judging the remaining capacity larger than the second level. These levels are stored in the memory means 21.

When the remaining capacity greater than the second level is set as the third level, the vehicle equipped with the storage battery determined to be at the third level runs in the above-described state and the state of discharge from the storage battery lasts for a long time. When the idling stop is performed thereafter, when the remaining capacity of the difference between the second level and the third level is compared with the estimated value of the amount of discharge during traveling, it is determined whether or not the state is at the second level. At 23, it becomes possible.

Further, in consideration of safety for avoiding the shortage of the remaining capacity, it is desirable to provide the fourth level. Although a plurality of additional levels can be set in this way, setting many such additional levels complicates the remaining capacity measuring device and increases the price. Furthermore, it becomes complicated for a user such as a driver to recognize the remaining capacity of the storage battery. From such a viewpoint, practically, the additional level is preferably about 1 to 3. Therefore, the total level is about 3 to 5.

The values of these levels are determined by the capacity of the storage battery,
The determination is made in consideration of the starting power of the starter, the power consumption of the onboard equipment, and the like. An example of determining the level will be described in detail later as an example.

In the vehicle idling stop processing device 20 according to the present embodiment,
The absolute value of the remaining capacity of the storage battery or the ratio of the remaining capacity of the storage battery to the capacity at the time of full charge is not determined.As described above, a plurality of levels are provided for the remaining capacity, and the remaining capacity is measured. It is determined at which level the remaining capacity of the storage battery is. Compared to the conventional method for calculating the absolute value of the remaining capacity or the ratio of the remaining capacity to the capacity at full charge, the vehicle idling stop processing apparatus 20 according to the embodiment of the present invention
In the above, since it is only necessary to determine which one of the three to five levels, the apparatus can be simplified, the cost can be reduced, the outer shape of the apparatus can be reduced, and the practical effect is extremely high. become.

[0050] In practicing the idling stop in the measurement means 22 idling stop processing unit 24 of the remaining capacity of the storage battery, since the remaining capacity of more than the second level to determine whether the vehicle lead-acid batteries, the remaining capacity of the storage battery It is necessary to know the remaining capacity of the storage battery by means of the measuring means 22. JP-A-53-127646 discloses such a storage battery residual capacity measuring means 22.
JP-A-63-27776, JP-A-1-39068
And Japanese Patent No. 2536257 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.
788), Japanese Patent No. 2717951 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H8-19103), and the method described as the prior art described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H9-171065 can also be applied. However, a preferred method and apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 3 as preferred storage battery capacity measuring means 22 according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a device for measuring the remaining capacity of a lead-acid battery mounted on a vehicle as a first embodiment as a means 22 for measuring the remaining capacity of a storage battery according to the present invention. The lead-acid battery remaining capacity measuring device illustrated in FIG. 3 includes a starter 1, a generator 2, a lead-acid battery 3, and electric equipment 4 such as an air conditioner, a heater, a lighting fixture, an operation guide device, a music device, and a radio. And an arithmetic processing device 8 for performing arithmetic processing using the measured values of the ammeter 6, the voltmeter 7, and the ammeter 6 and the voltmeter 7
And a display 9 for displaying a result, such as a liquid crystal display. FIG. 3 also illustrates a control computer 10 for performing various controls of the automobile. As the control computer 10, the memory means 21, the idling stop determining means 23, the idling stop processing means 24 of the idling stop processing device 20 of the vehicle illustrated in FIG.
Restart means 25 can also be incorporated.

In order to calculate the remaining capacity of the lead storage battery 3 and to determine the level, the ammeter 6, the voltmeter 7, the arithmetic processing unit 8
The control computer 10 and the like must always be supplied with power from the lead storage battery 3 and be operable. Therefore, the battery capacity required for the second level is
In addition to the power consumed by the electrical equipment 4 described above, it is necessary to consider the power consumed by the ammeter 6, the voltmeter 7, the arithmetic processing unit 8, and the control computer 10. In general, the battery capacity consumed by the ammeter 6, the voltmeter 7, the arithmetic processing unit 8, and the control computer 10 is smaller than the battery capacity consumed by the electric equipment 4 or the like. In the present embodiment, for convenience, the battery capacity of the electric equipment 4 considered as the second-level battery capacity is added to the ammeter 6, the voltmeter 7, the arithmetic processing unit 8, and the control computer 10. This shall include the consumed battery capacity.

The ammeter 6 measures the charge / discharge current of the lead storage battery 3. The voltmeter 7 measures the terminal voltage of the lead storage battery 3. As the ammeter 6 and the voltmeter 7, well-known measuring meters can be used.

The arithmetic processing unit 8 calculates the remaining capacity of the lead storage battery 3, determines the level illustrated in FIG. 2 based on the calculation result, and determines the idling stop in cooperation with the control computer 10. . Information regarding the operation (including stoppage) and operation of the vehicle related to the method for measuring the remaining capacity of the lead storage battery according to the present embodiment is transmitted from the vehicle control computer 10 to the arithmetic processing device 8. Therefore, it is assumed that the arithmetic processing unit 8 holds information necessary for calculating the remaining capacity of the lead storage battery 3 and determining the above-described level as described below. Although the arithmetic processing device 8 and the control computer 10 may be integrated, the present embodiment describes a case where the arithmetic processing device 8 and the control computer 10 are independent from each other.

The arithmetic processing unit 8 has, for example, a memory, a computer such as a microcomputer, and an A / D converter for inputting measurement signals of the ammeter 6 and the voltmeter 7. The arithmetic processing described below is performed by a computer. Data for calculating the remaining capacity of the lead storage battery 3 described below is stored in the memory.

The display 9 is not added in the present embodiment, but is desirably used in combination with a display already mounted on an automobile. That is, the display output of the display 9 described below is displayed on the panel portion of the automobile, for example,
This is a case where the remaining capacity display mode of the storage battery is displayed on a part of the existing display device that performs speed display, failure display, and the like.

Referring to FIG. 4, the processing of the apparatus for measuring the remaining capacity of a lead storage battery illustrated in FIG. 3 will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the apparatus for measuring the remaining capacity of a lead storage battery illustrated in FIG.

Step 1: Advance preparation processing, calculation of remaining capacity
The vehicle designer prepares in advance for each of the first to third levels, or the first to fourth levels, or the first to fifth levels corresponding to the respective battery capacities. Data relating the discharge current value of the lead storage battery 3 and the terminal voltage value of the lead storage battery 3 is obtained in advance and stored in a memory as a table.
As described above, in the present embodiment, the relationship between the discharge current value of the lead storage battery 3 and the terminal voltage of the lead storage battery 3, which indicates the specific remaining capacity corresponding to the plurality of levels of battery capacity, is prepared as data. Then, the data is stored as a data table in a memory in the arithmetic processing unit 8. That is, the present embodiment is characterized in that the relationship between the discharge current value at the time of constant current discharge and the terminal voltage is used.

An outline of a method for obtaining the relationship between the discharge current and the terminal voltage will be described with reference to FIG. A specific example will be described later as an example.

Step 21: First Measurement Step Regarding a storage battery whose battery capacity at full charge is larger than any of the discharge capacities specified by a plurality of levels, a plurality of storage batteries are fixed until the battery voltage drops to a predetermined terminal voltage. The discharge is continued with the first discharge current, and the terminal voltage and the elapsed discharge time of the storage battery at that time are measured. The value of the constant first discharge current is a value that is assumed to have been discharged at each level of battery capacity. The predetermined terminal voltage is a terminal voltage at which the lead storage battery 3 can operate normally even when discharged.

Step 22: first characteristic calculating step A first characteristic showing a relationship between a discharge capacity, which is a product of each of the constant discharge current values and a discharge time, and the terminal voltage measured for each discharge time. Characteristics are determined for the plurality of discharge currents. Such a characteristic can be shown, for example, as a graph illustrated in FIG.

Step 23: Second Measurement Step For the storage battery dropped to the predetermined terminal voltage,
Until the voltage drops to the predetermined terminal voltage, the discharge is continued at a constant second discharge current lower than the plurality of discharge currents, and the terminal voltage and the elapsed discharge time of the storage battery at that time are measured.

Step 24: second characteristic calculation step For each of the plurality of discharge capacities A, a plurality of constant first discharge currents Id in the first measurement step
1 and the first discharge capacity defined as the product of the discharge elapsed time T1 at that time, and the product of the constant second discharge current Id2 in the second measurement step and the discharge elapsed time T2 at that time. And the discharge capacity A
, A third discharge capacity is calculated by the following calculation.

[0064]

(Id1 × T1) + (Id2 × T2) −A

Further, the calculated third discharge capacity is applied to the discharge capacity / terminal voltage characteristic obtained in the first characteristic calculation step to calculate a corresponding terminal voltage, and the discharge current and the terminal current for each discharge capacity are calculated. A second characteristic indicating the relationship with the voltage is obtained.

Step 25: Approximation Step The result of the second characteristic is represented by an approximate expression.

According to an experiment conducted by the inventor of the present invention, when the lead storage battery 3 is used as the storage battery, the relationship between the discharge current value and the terminal voltage can be approximated by a linear equation. Therefore,
The data stored in the memory may be inclination data and intercept data. Such a pair of the inclination data and the intercept data is
A plurality of sets of discharge capacities of the lead storage battery 3 corresponding to the battery capacities defining the above-mentioned levels are prepared and stored in the memory. Thus, the lead-acid battery 3 showing a specific remaining capacity
It has been found that the relationship between the discharge current value and the terminal voltage can be approximated by a linear equation. Being able to approximate by a linear expression requires very few data to be stored in the memory, and simplifies subsequent arithmetic processing. As a result, there is an advantage that the arithmetic processing device 8 can be easily manufactured and can be manufactured at low cost. From such a viewpoint, it is preferable as the measuring device 22 for measuring the remaining capacity of the storage battery of the lead storage battery of the present embodiment and the idling stop processing device 20 of the vehicle.

Step 2: The charging / discharging current of the lead storage battery 3 is measured by the measuring ammeter 6, and similarly,
The voltmeter 7 measures the terminal voltage of the lead storage battery 3. This measurement process is performed continuously irrespective of the operation of the arithmetic processing unit 8. Discharge current measured by ammeter 6 and voltmeter 7
Is output as a continuous analog signal, for example, a voltage signal.

Step 3: The computer of the terminal voltage estimating arithmetic processing unit 8 converts the current measured value of the ammeter 6 and the voltage measured value of the voltmeter 7 converted into digital signals by the A / D converter into a predetermined sampling period. To enter. The arithmetic processing unit 8 converts the input measurement value m of the ammeter 6 into
Using the slope data a and the intercept data b for each level of discharge capacity stored in the memory, (m × a) +
By calculating b, the terminal voltage of the lead storage battery 3 is estimated. This estimated terminal voltage is calculated for each discharge capacity.

Step 4: The discharge capacity estimation arithmetic processing unit 6 compares the terminal voltage measured by the voltmeter 7 with the plurality of terminal voltages estimated above, and determines which terminal voltage the measured terminal voltage has been estimated. Judgment is made as to whether the voltage is close or which terminal voltage is close. And the arithmetic processing unit 8
Is the discharge capacity corresponding to the estimated terminal voltage that is the closest
It is estimated as the remaining capacity of the lead storage battery 3. From the characteristics illustrated in FIG. 6, the remaining capacity of the lead storage battery 3 at that time can be estimated. The remaining capacity of the lead storage battery 3 estimated in this way is
The above-mentioned level corresponds to the battery capacity specified. Therefore, the remaining capacity calculated by the arithmetic processing unit 8 can be easily used for the determination by the idling stop determination unit 23 of the idling stop processing unit 20 of the vehicle illustrated in FIG.

The discharge current value of the storage battery takes various values depending on the life, season, time, weather, driver, and running state of the storage battery. Therefore, being able to determine the remaining capacity of the storage battery in a wide range of current values as in the embodiment of the present invention is extremely useful in practice.

First Embodiment Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the vehicle idling stop processing device 20 and the device for measuring the remaining capacity of a lead storage battery will be described. As a first example of the idling stop processing device 20 and the measuring device of the remaining capacity of the lead storage battery of the vehicle according to the embodiment of the present invention, in an automobile having an idling stop function and having a lead storage battery as a battery, FIG. Using the lead-acid battery remaining capacity measuring device shown in (1), the capacity of the lead-acid battery required for starting the engine under various temperature conditions was tested.

The first-level determined lead storage battery 3 having a capacity of 20 Ah when fully charged was used. As a result of the actual measurement, the capacity of the lead storage battery required to start the starter 1 and start the engine was 8 Ah for a margin. Therefore, this 8Ah was set as the first level. The battery capacity at the first level was 40% of the battery capacity at the time of full charge.

Determination of the Second Level The standard time for performing the idling stop is assumed to be 3 minutes, and it is assumed that a maximum current of 30 A flows from the lead storage battery 3 to the electric equipment 4 mounted on the vehicle during the idling stop period. Therefore, the standard value of the battery capacity consumed by the electric equipment 4 at the time of the idling stop is 1.5 Ah. The battery capacity of the first level is 8 Ah, and the power consumption of the electric equipment 4 during the idling stop period is 1.5 Ah. Therefore, the total is 9.5 Ah, but considering the margin, the battery capacity of the second level is 10 Ah. did.

Determination of Third and Fourth Levels Between the second level of 10 Ah and the fully charged battery capacity of 20 Ah, 13 Ah was set as the third level battery capacity and 18 Ah was set as the fourth level battery capacity. In this experimental example,
The additional levels were only the third and fourth.

Sampling of Characteristic Data in FIG . 6 A lead-acid battery having a capacity of 20 Ah at full charge was used as a sample (sample), discharged by a known method, and the voltage between terminals of the test storage battery at that time was measured. Constant current discharge is
5A, 10A, 20A, 30A for the lead storage battery to be tested
I went in. Such a constant current discharge value is 0 A to 3 A since a maximum of 30 A flows from the lead storage battery to the electric equipment mounted on the vehicle.
This is assumed to be an appropriate value between 0A. FIG. 6 is a graph showing the relationship between the discharge current value of the test lead storage battery and the terminal voltage obtained in the above experiment. The horizontal axis in FIG. 6 shows the discharge capacity D of the lead storage battery, and the vertical axis shows the terminal voltage of the lead storage battery. As illustrated in FIG. 6, when discharging at a constant current, the drooping characteristic of the terminal voltage at that time differs due to the difference in the current value.

The constant current discharge was continued until the terminal voltage of the lead storage battery dropped to 10.5 V, and the time T1 when the constant current discharge was performed on the lead storage battery of FIG .
Was measured. The first discharge capacity D1 was obtained by multiplying the time T1 by the current value of each constant current discharge. The 12 V lead storage battery is configured by connecting approximately 2 V batteries per cell in series with 6 cells. If the battery of one cell is discharged until the voltage becomes 1.75 V or less, the battery itself is damaged due to overdischarge. Therefore, 10.5V, which is six times 1.75V, was set as the lower limit voltage in discharging.

Next, by each constant current discharge,
The lead-acid battery whose terminal voltage has reached 10.5V continues to be
The constant current discharge was performed at a current lower than the above constant current discharge, for example, 4 A. When the constant current discharge at 4 A was started, the terminal voltage of the lead storage battery temporarily increased, but the discharge was continued until the terminal voltage again decreased to 10.5 V. The time T2 during which constant current discharge was performed at 4 A was measured. The second discharge capacity D2 was obtained by multiplying the time T2 by the discharge current value = 4A.

The first discharge capacity D1 and the second discharge capacity D
The value of 2 was different depending on the current value of the constant current discharge.

Constant current discharge values 5 A, 10 A, 20 A, 30
The following calculation was performed for each experimental result of A.

[0081]

[Equation 8] D1 + D2-8 = D3 ₈

[0082] symbol D3 _8, the battery capacity of the first level 8Ah
Means the third discharge capacity D3. According to FIG.
The terminal voltage Vd ₈ corresponding to the calculated discharge capacity D3 ₈ was read. The current value of the constant current discharge and the voltage Vd ₈ read here were plotted to obtain the characteristics of FIG.

[0083] The third discharge capacity D3 ₁₀ of the battery capacity 10Ah of the second level is obtained by performing the above, the following calculation.

[0084]

D1 + D2-10 = D3 ₁₀

[0085] The Figure 6, read the terminal voltage Vd ₁₀ corresponding to the calculated discharge capacity D3 _10. By plotting the current and voltage Vd ₁₀ of the constant current discharge was read here, FIG. 7
The characteristic of (B) was obtained.

[0086] In the same manner, reads the terminal voltage Vd ₂₀ corresponds to the discharge capacity D3 _20, obtains the characteristic of FIG. 7 (C) to plot the results, the terminal voltage Vd ₃₀ corresponds to the discharge capacity D3 ₃₀ Was read, and the results were plotted to determine the characteristics of FIG. 7 (D).

FIG. 7A is a graph illustrating a characteristic curve L1 showing the relationship between the discharge current value of 8 Ah, which is the first level of battery capacity, and the terminal voltage of the lead storage battery. is there. FIG. 7 (B) is a graph illustrating a characteristic curve L2 showing a relationship between a discharge current value of 10 Ah where the remaining capacity of the test lead storage battery is the second level battery capacity and a terminal voltage of the lead storage battery. FIG. 7C is a graph illustrating a characteristic curve L3 indicating a relationship between a discharge current value of 13 Ah, which is a third-level battery capacity, and a terminal voltage of the lead storage battery. FIG. 7D is a graph illustrating a characteristic curve L4 showing a relationship between a discharge current value of 18 Ah, which is a fourth-level battery capacity of the test lead storage battery, and a terminal voltage of the lead storage battery.

The characteristic curves shown in FIGS. 7A to 7D are as follows.
This is a result obtained by approximating the relationship between the plotted discharge current value and the terminal voltage by the least squares method, and each of the results can be expressed as a substantially straight line. A curve L1 illustrating the relationship between the discharge current value and the terminal voltage when the remaining capacity of the test lead storage battery illustrated in FIG. 7A is 8 Ah has a slope of a1, an intercept on the vertical axis indicated by b1, and a horizontal axis indicated by b1. Is a straight line that can be expressed by the following equation, where x is the discharge current of

[0089]

L1 = a1 × x + b1 (1)

The curves in FIGS. 7B to 7D can be expressed by the following equations showing straight lines, similarly to the above.

[0091]

L2 = a2 · x + b2 (3) L3 = a3 · x + b3 (3) L4 = a3 · x + b4 (4)

The relationship between the discharge current and the terminal voltage obtained in this manner was arranged as a battery capacity, and stored in the form of a table in the memory of the arithmetic processing unit 8 illustrated in FIG. Actually, the data is stored in the memory in a pair with the slope, for example, a1, and the value of the intercept, for example, b1. As described above, since the data to be stored in the memory is only the above-described parameters, the memory usage is very small. Thus, the remaining capacity can be basically expressed by a linear relational expression between the discharge current and the terminal voltage. The above processing is the preparation work of step 1 illustrated in FIG.

After the preparatory work described above, the lead storage battery was actually mounted on the automobile, and the operations after step 2 in FIG. 4 were performed.

As the lead storage battery 3 mounted on the automobile, the lead storage battery is discharged by a known method, and the remaining capacity is 17 A.
h was used.

With the engine of the automobile stopped, constant current discharge of the current value Am was performed for 2 seconds while measuring with the ammeter 6, during which the terminal voltage of the lead storage battery was measured with the voltmeter 7 and the voltage value Vm was measured. Obtained.

In the computer of the arithmetic processing unit 8,
The respective slope data a1 to a4 of the straight lines L1 to L4 and the intercept data b1 to b4 are read from the memory,
As the discharge current value x, by substituting the current value Am measured by the ammeter 6, and calculates an estimated value voltage Um ₁ ~Um ₄ of the terminal voltage.

Thereafter, the following judgment was made on the voltage value Vm measured by the voltmeter 7.

[0098]

Vm> Um ₄ Um ₄ >Vm> Um ₃ Um ₃ >Vm> Um ₂ Um ₂ >Vm> Um ₁

By this comparison, it is possible to determine where the terminal voltage measured by the voltmeter 7 is located. For example, Um ₄
If>Vm> Um ₃ , the lead storage battery 3 has a third level of remaining capacity.

Next, the electric equipment 4 was operated with the engine stopped, that is, with the generator 2 stopped, and left for a certain time. After that, the operation of the electric equipment 4 was stopped. During this time, the arithmetic processing unit 8 accumulates the measured values of the ammeter 6 and integrates the current value discharged from the lead storage battery 3. According to experiments, the value was 7 Ah
Was equivalent to

Thereafter, with the engine stopped, a constant current discharge of the current value An was performed for 3 seconds, during which the voltmeter 7 was discharged.
, The terminal voltage of the lead storage battery 3 was measured to obtain a voltage value Vn.

In the computer of the arithmetic processing unit 8,
The respective slope data a1 to a4 of the straight lines L1 to L4 and the intercept data b1 to b4 are read from the memory,
The estimated values Un _{1 to} Un ₄ of the terminal voltages were calculated by substituting the current value An measured by the ammeter 6 as the discharge current value x.

Thereafter, the following judgment was made on the voltage value Vn measured by the voltmeter 7.

[0104]

[Number 13] _{Vn> Un 4 Un 4> Vn} > Un 3 Un 3>Vn> Un 2 Un 2>Vn> Un 1

From this comparison, it is possible to determine where the terminal voltage measured by the voltmeter 7 is located. For example, Un ₃
If>Vn> Un _2, a lead-acid battery 3 has a remaining capacity of the second level.

When the remaining capacity of the lead-acid battery 3 is at the second level, it means that the remaining capacity required for starting the engine is present in the lead-acid battery 3. Then, after that, when an engine start experiment was performed, the engine could be started.

After a certain period of time has elapsed since the start of the engine,
I stopped the engine. With the engine stopped, a constant current discharge of the current value Ap was performed for 5 seconds, during which time the terminal voltage of the lead storage battery 3 was measured by the voltmeter 7 to obtain the voltage Vp.

In the computer of the arithmetic processing unit 8,
The respective slope data a1 to a4 of the straight lines L1 to L4 and the intercept data b1 to b4 are read from the memory,
The estimated value voltage Up _{1 to} Up ₄ of the terminal voltage was calculated by substituting the current value Ap measured by the ammeter 6 as the discharge current value x. Thereafter, the following determination was made on the voltage value Vp measured by the voltmeter 7.

[0109]

[Number 14] _{Vp> Up 4 Up 4> Vp} > Up 3 Up 3>Vp> Up 2 Up 2>Vp> Up 1

From this comparison, it is possible to determine where the terminal voltage Vp measured by the voltmeter 7 is located. For example, U
If p ₃ >Vp> Up ₂ , the lead storage battery 3 has the second level of remaining capacity.

Thereafter, the remaining capacity of the lead-acid battery was measured by the method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 9-171665, which was modified from a known method for measuring the remaining capacity of a lead-acid battery, for example, the current integration method. However, the remaining capacity of the lead storage battery 3 was 11 Ah. Since the remaining capacity is equal to or higher than the second level battery capacity and equal to or lower than the third level battery capacity, the lead storage battery 3 exhibits the second level remaining capacity.

As described above, as shown in this embodiment,
(1) In advance, the relationship between the discharge current and the terminal voltage of the lead storage battery 3 at a specific discharge capacity is represented by a straight line, and slope data and intercept data indicating the straight line are obtained.
These data are stored in the memory of the arithmetic processing unit 8, and (3) the measured values of the ammeter 6 and the voltmeter 7 immediately before starting and stopping the vehicle are input to the arithmetic processing unit 8, 4) In the arithmetic processing unit 8, a predicted value of the terminal voltage is calculated by substituting the discharge current measured by the ammeter 6 into the slope data and intercept data stored in the memory, and (5) the calculated predicted value of the terminal voltage And the voltage values measured by the voltmeter 7 are compared to determine the level of the remaining capacity of the lead-acid battery 3 according to where the terminal voltage of the lead-acid battery 3 measured by the voltmeter 7 is located at the predicted terminal voltage. it can.

The level thus determined is sent from the arithmetic processing unit 8 to the memory means 21 of the idling stop processing unit 20 of the vehicle. Idling stop determination means 23 of idling stop processing device 20 for vehicle
Determines the idling stop when the vehicle is temporarily stopped by referring to the remaining capacity and the level data, and the idling stop processing means 24 performs the idling stop.

The information is displayed on the display unit 9 from the arithmetic processing unit 8 to provide information to the driver.

Although the present embodiment does not calculate the absolute value of the remaining capacity of the lead-acid battery 3, the state of the remaining capacity of the lead-acid battery 3 for determining whether or not to perform idling stop can be determined as a level. The present invention can be applied to an automobile having an idling stop function. In the method of the present embodiment, the processing performed by the arithmetic processing unit 8 using the measurement results of the ammeter 6 and the voltmeter 7 after the preparatory work shown in step 1 shown in FIG. Is easy. Therefore, FIG.
Since the device for measuring the remaining capacity of the lead-acid battery of the present embodiment having the ammeter 6, the voltmeter 7 and the arithmetic processing device 8 illustrated in FIG. can do.

As described above, the case where the lead storage battery 3 is used as the storage battery has been described. In the present embodiment, the specific gravity of the electrolyte is not used as an index, the internal impedance is not used,
Since the process specified for the lead storage battery is not performed, the storage battery other than the lead storage battery can be applied as the secondary battery.

Modification In the case where a lead-acid battery having the characteristic that the relationship between the amount of discharge current and the terminal voltage at the level of the remaining capacity of the lead-acid battery 3 changes depending on the temperature or the state of deterioration, judgment is made as necessary. It is desirable to prepare a data table of the discharge current value and the terminal voltage value corresponding to the temperature and / or the deterioration state at each level of the remaining capacity to be corrected, and to correct the above-mentioned value based on the result. When an additional data table is prepared according to the temperature and / or the deterioration state, there is a possibility that a problem that the cost of the apparatus increases due to an increase in the number of data tables to be prepared. In this case, it is desirable to previously obtain a correction parameter based on the temperature and / or the deterioration state, and to correct the relationship between the discharge current value and the terminal voltage value for each level of the remaining capacity of the lead storage battery using the correction parameter. By doing so, one data table may be prepared for each level to be determined, and the cost of the apparatus can be reduced.

Second Embodiment As a second embodiment of the present invention, when the level of the remaining capacity of the lead-acid battery according to the above-described first embodiment is determined and the remaining capacity equal to or higher than the second level is determined, the following steps are taken. Until the measuring device for measuring the remaining capacity of the lead-acid battery at the time of the stoppage performs the above-described operation of performing the level determination, the discharge current value continuously measured by the ammeter 6 is accumulated in the arithmetic processing device 8 and the known technology As described above, the level of the remaining capacity of the storage battery can be determined using the accumulated integrated current value. According to the second embodiment,
The accuracy of the determination can be increased by performing the determination based on the integrated value of the charge / discharge current from the time when the determination is made to the time of this determination in addition to the determination level of the remaining capacity that was performed closest. .

Third Embodiment In a third embodiment, a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H9-171065 is applied instead of the method and apparatus described with reference to FIGS. The remaining capacity of the lead storage battery is calculated to determine the level. According to the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H9-171065, (1) a data table indicating the relationship between the terminal voltage of the storage battery and the remaining capacity in constant current discharge at a specific discharge current value is prepared in advance. (2) The arithmetic processing unit 8 detects when the current value measured by the ammeter 6 has reached a specific discharge current, and at that time, the arithmetic processing unit 8 obtains the remaining capacity of the storage battery.

In this method and apparatus, it is necessary to prepare a data table of terminal voltage and remaining capacity in constant current discharge at a specific discharge current value. As in the first embodiment, terminal voltage and remaining capacity are required. It is difficult to express the relationship by a primary or quadratic expression, so from the first embodiment,
Processing becomes complicated. However, the remaining capacity of the storage battery can be calculated according to the third embodiment, and the arithmetic processing unit 8 can determine the result to determine the level.

Fourth Embodiment A fourth embodiment is described in JP-A-53-127646.
Patent Publication, Patent Publication No. 1554660, Patent Publication No. 19
The invention described in No. 27445, that is, the remaining capacity of the storage battery is calculated using the relationship between the current and the voltage generated when the start key of the engine is turned. The remaining capacity of the storage battery is calculated by the processing unit 8.

Although the relationship between the current and the voltage of the fourth embodiment is used, the process is the same as that of the apparatus for measuring the remaining capacity of a lead storage battery of the first embodiment.
While the relationship between the current value of the constant current discharge, which indicates a predetermined remaining capacity at the time of constant current discharge, and the terminal voltage is used, in the fourth embodiment, the transient generated when the start key of the engine is turned is generated. The relationship between the current value and the voltage value is used. However, according to the fourth embodiment, the remaining capacity of the storage battery can be calculated, and the arithmetic processing unit 8 can determine the result to determine the level.

[0123]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in a vehicle driven by an internal combustion engine having an idling stop function, a plurality of levels are defined for the remaining capacity of the storage battery, and the vehicle can be restarted after the idling stop. It is possible to reliably determine whether or not this is the case.

In particular, according to the present invention, the determination as to whether idling stop is possible or not is appropriately performed, and unnecessary information is not output. In particular, from the viewpoints of low cost, small size, easy processing, and the like, the present invention is preferably applied to a vehicle that operates as an internal combustion engine having an idling stop function.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, an outline of the remaining capacity of the storage battery can be calculated by a simple method. Since the method for calculating the remaining capacity of the storage battery is simple, the apparatus for measuring the remaining capacity of the lead storage battery can be manufactured at low cost and in a small size, and is easy to handle.

Although the remaining capacity of the storage battery calculated by the present invention is not very accurate, for example, it shows sufficient detection accuracy to determine the level of the remaining capacity of the storage battery for determining whether or not to stop idling. Therefore, when the invention according to the second aspect of the present invention is applied to the invention according to the first aspect, it is particularly preferable to apply the invention to a vehicle operating on an internal combustion engine having an idling stop function due to a synergistic effect of the two.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle idling stop processing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a level indicating a remaining capacity of a storage battery according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an apparatus for calculating a remaining capacity of a vehicle-mounted storage battery according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process and a preparation operation in an arithmetic processing unit of the apparatus for measuring the remaining capacity of the lead storage battery shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process in step 1 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a graph showing discharge characteristics of a storage battery.

7 (A) to 7 (D) are graphs showing the relationship between the discharge current and the terminal voltage used in the device for measuring the remaining capacity of the lead storage battery illustrated in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, starter 2, generator 3, lead-acid battery 4, electric equipment 6, ammeter 7, voltmeter 8, arithmetic processing unit 9, display unit 10, control computer 20, vehicle Idling stop processing device 21 Memory means 22 Remaining battery capacity measuring means 23 Idling stop determining means 24 Idling stop processing means 25 Restarting means

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Toshiyuki Sato 2-6-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. 23-6 Furukawa Battery Co., Ltd. Iwaki Works (72) Inventor Toru Mangahara Tokuban, Fukushima Pref., Japan CC04 CC10 CC16 CC27 CC28 CD02 CE31 CF06 3G093 AA07 BA22 DB19 DB20 DB23 EB09 FA11 5G003 BA01 DA02 EA05 FA06 5H030 AS08 BB01 BB21 FF41 FF42 FF44 FF52

Claims (26)

[Claims] 1. An idling stop processing method for a vehicle equipped with a storage battery, which performs an idling stop for stopping the internal combustion engine when the vehicle is temporarily stopped, comprising a battery capacity required to restart the internal combustion engine after the idling stop. And a battery capacity expressed as the sum of a battery capacity required to restart the internal combustion engine after idling stop and a standard battery capacity consumed during a standard idling stop period. A second level, and an additional level indicating a battery capacity in a range larger than the battery capacity of the second level and equal to or less than a battery capacity at the time of full charge of the storage battery, and measuring a discharge current and a terminal voltage of the storage battery. Calculating the remaining capacity of the storage battery, and when the vehicle is temporarily stopped, the calculated remaining capacity of the storage battery is the power specified by the second level. Idling stop processing method for a vehicle determines whether a more capacity. 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the additional level is at least when the idling stop time is longer than the standard idling stop time and / or the power is more than the standard battery capacity consumed during the standard idling stop period. 2. The vehicle idling stop processing method according to claim 1, further comprising a third level indicating a remaining capacity obtained by adding a first additional battery capacity to the second level battery capacity when consumed. 3. The vehicle of claim 2, wherein the additional level further comprises a fourth level indicative of a remaining capacity obtained by adding a second additional battery capacity to the third level of battery capacity. Idling stop processing method. 4. The internal combustion engine is stopped after a lapse of a predetermined time from the temporary stop when the remaining capacity of the storage battery is equal to or greater than the battery capacity specified in a second level when the vehicle is temporarily stopped. 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the vehicle is idling stop. 5. An idling stop process for a vehicle according to claim 4, wherein after the internal combustion engine is stopped, the discharge current of the storage battery is measured and the remaining capacity of the storage battery immediately before the idling stop is updated until the internal combustion engine is restarted. Method. 6. The idling stop process for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the internal combustion engine is restarted when the remaining capacity of the storage battery falls below a battery capacity defined by the second level during the idling stop period. Method. 7. The step of measuring the discharge current and the terminal voltage of the storage battery to calculate the remaining capacity of the storage battery includes the steps of: A step of obtaining a terminal voltage using a discharge current as a variable, and obtaining a plurality of approximate expressions corresponding to the plurality of discharge capacities, during the operation of the vehicle, A measuring step of continuously measuring an actual terminal voltage of the storage battery; and an estimated terminal voltage calculating step of calculating an estimated value of a plurality of terminal voltages by substituting the measured discharge currents into the plurality of obtained approximate expressions. And comparing the actually measured terminal voltage of the storage battery with the calculated plurality of estimated terminal voltages to determine which range of the estimated terminal voltage is in the range, and among the plurality of discharge capacities, Ah To determine the discharge capacity corresponding to the estimated terminal voltage, remaining capacity determination step and a, idling stop processing method for a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 6 for determining the discharge capacity and the residual capacity of the storage battery. 8. In the step of obtaining the approximate expression, for a storage battery having a battery capacity at full charge greater than any of the plurality of discharge capacities, a plurality of storage batteries each having a predetermined capacity until the battery capacity drops to a predetermined terminal voltage. A first measuring step of continuing discharge with a first discharge current and measuring a terminal voltage and a discharge elapsed time of the storage battery at that time; and a discharge capacity which is a product of the respective constant discharge current value and discharge time elapsed. A first characteristic showing a relationship with the terminal voltage measured for each of the discharge elapsed times for the plurality of discharge currents, a first characteristic calculating step, and for the storage battery dropped to the predetermined terminal voltage. ,
A second measuring step of continuously discharging at a constant second discharge current lower than the plurality of discharge currents until the terminal voltage drops to the predetermined terminal voltage and measuring a terminal voltage and a discharge elapsed time of the storage battery at that time; For each of the plurality of discharge capacities A, a plurality of constant first discharge currents Id in the first measurement step
1 and the first discharge capacity defined as the product of the discharge elapsed time T1 at that time, and the product of the constant second discharge current Id2 in the second measurement step and the discharge elapsed time T2 at that time. And the discharge capacity A
, A third discharge capacity is calculated by the following calculation, and: (Id1 × T1) + (Id2 × T2) −A The calculated third discharge capacity was obtained in the first characteristic calculation step. A second characteristic calculating step of calculating a terminal voltage corresponding to the discharge capacity / terminal voltage characteristic to obtain a second characteristic indicating a relationship between a discharge current and a terminal voltage for each discharge capacitance; Having an approximation step of expressing the result of the characteristic in an approximation formula.
The method for processing the idling stop of a vehicle according to claim 7. 9. The vehicle idling stop processing method according to claim 1, wherein the on-vehicle storage battery is a lead storage battery. 10. The idling stop processing method for a vehicle according to claim 9, wherein in the approximation step, the relation between the discharge current and the terminal voltage is approximated by a linear expression for each discharge capacity. 11. An idling stop processing device for a vehicle equipped with a storage battery, which performs an idling stop for stopping the internal combustion engine when the vehicle is temporarily stopped, and a battery capacity required for restarting the internal combustion engine after the idling stop. And a battery capacity expressed as a sum of a battery capacity required to restart the internal combustion engine after idling stop and a standard battery capacity consumed during a standard idling stop period. First storage means for storing a second level indicated by the first storage means and an additional level indicating a battery capacity that is larger than the battery capacity of the second level and equal to or less than the battery capacity at the time of full charge of the storage battery; Means for measuring the remaining capacity of the storage battery by measuring the discharge current and the terminal voltage to calculate the remaining capacity of the storage battery; and Remaining capacity of the storage battery idling stop apparatus for a vehicle having an idling stop determination means for determining whether or not the above defined battery capacity to a second level. 12. The additional level stored in the first storage means is consumed at least when the idling stop time is longer than the standard idling stop time and / or during the standard idling stop period. 12. The vehicle of claim 11, further comprising a third level indicating a remaining capacity obtained by adding the first additional battery capacity to the second level of battery capacity when consuming more power than the standard battery capacity. Idling stop processing device. 13. The fourth level indicating the remaining capacity obtained by adding a second additional battery capacity to the third level battery capacity, the additional level stored in the first storage means. The idling stop processing device for a vehicle according to claim 12, comprising: 14. An idling stop process for stopping the internal combustion engine after a lapse of a predetermined time after the suspension when the remaining capacity of the storage battery is equal to or more than the battery capacity defined by a second level when the vehicle is temporarily stopped. The idling stop processing device for a vehicle according to any one of claims 11 to 13, further comprising a unit. 15. The storage battery remaining capacity measuring means measures the discharge current of the storage battery after the internal combustion engine is stopped until the internal combustion engine is restarted, and updates the storage capacity of the storage battery immediately before the idling stop. The idling stop processing device for a vehicle according to claim 14. 16. The idling stop processing means includes:
When the remaining capacity of the storage battery falls below the battery capacity defined by the second level during the idling stop period,
The idling stop processing device for a vehicle according to any one of claims 11 to 15, wherein the internal combustion engine is restarted. 17. A means for measuring a discharge current and a terminal voltage of the storage battery to calculate a remaining capacity of the storage battery, wherein the storage capacity of the storage battery is determined in advance by a plurality of levels stored in the first storage means. Means for obtaining a plurality of approximate expressions corresponding to the plurality of discharge capacities, obtaining a terminal voltage using the discharge current as a variable, the relationship between the discharge current and the terminal voltage of the storage battery at the corresponding plurality of discharge capacities; An ammeter for measuring the terminal voltage of the storage battery; and an estimation terminal for calculating an estimated value of a plurality of terminal voltages by substituting the discharge current measured by the ammeter into the plurality of approximate expressions obtained above. Voltage calculating means, determining means for comparing the terminal voltage measured by the voltmeter with the calculated plurality of estimated terminal voltages to determine in which range the estimated terminal voltage is, and among the plurality of discharge capacities, The idling stop of the vehicle according to any one of claims 11 to 16, further comprising: a remaining capacity determination unit that determines a discharge capacity corresponding to the estimated terminal voltage in the range of (i) and determines the discharge capacity as the remaining capacity of the storage battery. Processing equipment. 18. A method according to claim 18, wherein said first and second discharge capacities are constant until a battery voltage at full charge is larger than any of said plurality of discharge capacities and drops to a predetermined terminal voltage. The terminal voltage of the storage battery and discharge elapsed time at that time were continuously measured by discharging the current, and the discharge capacity, which is the product of the respective constant discharge current values and the discharge time elapsed, was measured for each discharge elapsed time. A first characteristic indicating a relationship with the terminal voltage is obtained for the plurality of discharge currents. For the storage battery that has dropped to the predetermined terminal voltage,
Until the voltage drops to the predetermined terminal voltage, discharge is continued at a constant second discharge current lower than the plurality of discharge currents, and the terminal voltage and discharge elapsed time of the storage battery at that time are measured. A, a first discharge capacity defined as a product of a plurality of constant first discharge currents Id1 and a discharge elapsed time T1 at that time, a constant second discharge current Id2, Elapsed discharge time T
A second discharge capacity defined as a product of 2 and a third discharge capacity are calculated by the following calculation for the discharge capacity A, and (Id1 × T1) + (Id2 × T2) −A The calculated third discharge capacity is applied to the obtained discharge capacity / terminal voltage characteristics to calculate a corresponding terminal voltage, and for each discharge capacity, a second characteristic indicating a relationship between a discharge current and a terminal voltage is obtained. 18. The idling stop processing device for a vehicle according to claim 17, wherein a result of the second characteristic is represented by an approximate expression. 19. The idling stop processing device for a vehicle according to claim 11, wherein the on-vehicle storage battery is a lead storage battery. 20. The idling stop processing device for a vehicle according to claim 19, wherein the relation between the discharge current and the terminal voltage is approximated by a linear expression for each discharge capacity in the approximation processing. 21. A method for determining a relationship between a discharge current and a terminal voltage of a storage battery in a plurality of discharge capacities in advance, obtaining a terminal voltage using the discharge current as a variable, and obtaining a plurality of approximate expressions corresponding to the plurality of discharge capacities. During the operation of the vehicle, a measurement step of continuously measuring the actual discharge current of the storage battery mounted on the vehicle and the actual terminal voltage of the storage battery, and substituting the measured discharge current into the plurality of obtained approximate expressions. An estimated terminal voltage calculating step of calculating an estimated value of a plurality of terminal voltages; and comparing a measured terminal voltage of the storage battery with the calculated plurality of estimated terminal voltages to determine a range of the estimated terminal voltages. Determining a discharge capacity corresponding to an estimated terminal voltage within the range among the plurality of discharge capacities, and determining the discharge capacity as the remaining capacity of the storage battery. A method for measuring the remaining capacity of a pond. 22. In the step of obtaining the approximate expression, for a storage battery whose battery capacity at full charge is larger than any of the plurality of discharge capacities, a plurality of first discharges are fixed until the battery drops to a predetermined terminal voltage. A first measuring step of continuing discharge with a current and measuring a terminal voltage and a discharge elapsed time of the storage battery at the time; and performing the discharge with respect to a discharge capacity which is a product of the constant discharge current value and a discharge time elapsed. A first characteristic indicating a relationship with the terminal voltage measured for each elapsed time is obtained for the plurality of discharge currents, a first characteristic calculating step, and for the storage battery dropped to the predetermined terminal voltage,
A second measuring step of continuously discharging at a constant second discharge current lower than the plurality of discharge currents until the terminal voltage drops to the predetermined terminal voltage and measuring a terminal voltage and a discharge elapsed time of the storage battery at that time; For each of the plurality of discharge capacities A, a plurality of constant first discharge currents Id in the first measurement step
1 and the first discharge capacity defined as the product of the discharge elapsed time T1 at that time, and the product of the constant second discharge current Id2 in the second measurement step and the discharge elapsed time T2 at that time. And the discharge capacity A
, A third discharge capacity is calculated by the following calculation, and (Id1 × T1) + (Id2 × T2) −A The calculated third discharge capacity is obtained in the first characteristic calculation step. A second characteristic calculating step of calculating a terminal voltage corresponding to the discharge capacity / terminal voltage characteristic to obtain a second characteristic indicating a relationship between a discharge current and a terminal voltage for each discharge capacitance; 22. The method for measuring the remaining capacity of a storage battery according to claim 21, further comprising: an approximation step of expressing a result of the characteristic in an approximation formula. 23. The method according to claim 21, wherein in the approximation step, the relation between the discharge current and the terminal voltage is approximated by a linear expression for each discharge capacity. 24. Means for obtaining a plurality of approximate expressions corresponding to the plurality of discharge capacities, wherein the relation between the discharge currents at the plurality of discharge capacities and the terminal voltage of the storage battery is determined in advance, and the terminal voltage is determined using the discharge current as a variable. An ammeter for measuring a discharge current of the storage battery; a voltmeter for measuring a terminal voltage of the storage battery; and a plurality of terminal voltages obtained by substituting the discharge current measured by the ammeter into the plurality of obtained approximate expressions. An estimated terminal voltage calculating step of calculating an estimated value of the storage battery, and comparing the terminal voltage of the storage battery measured by the voltmeter with the plurality of calculated estimated terminal voltages to determine a range of the estimated terminal voltage. Means for determining a discharge capacity corresponding to an estimated terminal voltage within the range of the plurality of discharge capacities, and a remaining capacity determining means for determining the discharge capacity as the remaining capacity of the storage battery. Measuring device of the remaining capacity of the pond. 25. The means for obtaining the approximate expression comprises: for a storage battery whose battery capacity at full charge is larger than any of the plurality of discharge capacities, a plurality of first discharge capacities until a predetermined terminal voltage is dropped. The terminal voltage of the storage battery and discharge elapsed time at that time were continuously measured by discharging the current, and the discharge capacity, which is the product of the respective constant discharge current values and the discharge time elapsed, was measured for each discharge elapsed time. A first characteristic indicating a relationship with the terminal voltage is obtained for the plurality of discharge currents. For the storage battery that has dropped to the predetermined terminal voltage,
Until the voltage drops to the predetermined terminal voltage, discharge is continued at a constant second discharge current lower than the plurality of discharge currents, and the terminal voltage and discharge elapsed time of the storage battery at that time are measured. A, a first discharge capacity defined as a product of a plurality of constant first discharge currents Id1 and a discharge elapsed time T1 at that time, a constant second discharge current Id2, Elapsed discharge time T
With respect to the second discharge capacity defined as a product of 2 and the discharge capacity A, a third discharge capacity is calculated by the following calculation, and the following formula is obtained. (Id1 × T1) + (Id2 × T2) − A The calculated third discharge capacity is applied to the calculated discharge capacity / terminal voltage characteristic to calculate a corresponding terminal voltage, and a second value indicating the relationship between the discharge current and the terminal voltage for each discharge capacity is calculated.
25. The apparatus for measuring the remaining capacity of a storage battery according to claim 24, wherein the characteristic of the second characteristic is obtained, and the result of the second characteristic is represented by an approximate expression. 26. The storage battery is a lead storage battery, wherein the approximation means approximates the relationship between the discharge current and the terminal voltage with a linear expression for each discharge capacity, and calculates the slope data and intercept data approximated by the linear expression. 26. The apparatus for measuring the remaining capacity of a storage battery according to claim 25, wherein the storage capacity is stored in a storage unit.