JP2005094834A - Fuel cell vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fuel cell vehicle capable of surely preventing startup or travel of a vehicle which is not intended by a driver, with no increase in power consumption at startup and the number of components. <P>SOLUTION: A motor 7 drives an air supply device 6 which supplies air to a fuel cell unit 1 which is mounted as a main power source. The motor body is housed in a housing while separated from the inner peripheral surface of the housing, and a movable member moves between the inner peripheral surface of the housing and the outer peripheral surface of the motor body, thus fixing the motor body to or releasing from the housing. Only when a vehicle controller 9 judges that startup operation for the vehicle has been performed by normal action of an ignition key, the body of motor 7 is fixed to the housing under control of a motor control unit 8 for providing a rotational output from the motor 7. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a fuel cell vehicle equipped with a fuel cell as a main power source, and more particularly, to a technique for preventing unintended start-up and vehicle running by a driver.

  Fuel cell technology that enables clean exhaust and high energy efficiency is attracting attention as a countermeasure against environmental problems in recent years, especially air pollution caused by automobile exhaust gas and global warming due to carbon dioxide, Research and development related to fuel cell vehicles in which such a fuel cell is mounted as a main power source has been actively conducted.

  In order to widely disseminate fuel cell vehicles, cost reduction by improving the fuel cell system itself is considered as an extremely important issue. At the same time, it is necessary to actually use fuel cell vehicles in daily life. It is also important to apply various technologies that are considered to be necessary in the case of the assumption to the fuel cell vehicle in an optimum form suitable for the fuel cell vehicle. One of them is a technique for preventing unintended start-up and vehicle running by the driver.

In conventional electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles, as measures against unintentional start-up and vehicle running by the driver, a special electric anti-theft device is mounted on the vehicle (see, for example, Patent Document 1) or steering. An example in which a mechanism for mechanically preventing theft such as a lock is added is common.
JP 2002-326562 A

  By the way, in a fuel cell vehicle, since the start-up responsiveness of a fuel cell mounted as a main power source is not sufficient, a secondary battery is usually mounted as an auxiliary power source, and various controls are performed with electric power from the secondary battery when the vehicle starts. Like to do. However, since the capacity of the secondary battery mounted on the fuel cell vehicle is smaller than that of the secondary battery mounted on the conventional electric vehicle, it is desirable to keep the electricity consumption at startup as low as possible. It is. For this reason, it is considered unprofitable to install an electrical anti-theft device used in conventional electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles in a fuel cell vehicle to take measures against unintended start-up and vehicle running by the driver. It is done.

  In addition, since fuel cell vehicles have more components than conventional electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles, it is desirable to avoid further increases in the number of components as much as possible. For this reason, it is considered that adding a mechanical device such as a steering lock is not a good measure in the fuel cell vehicle.

  The present invention was devised in view of the above circumstances, and ensures start-up and vehicle travel that are not intended by the driver without causing an increase in power consumption at start-up or an increase in the number of parts. An object of the present invention is to provide a fuel cell vehicle that can be prevented.

  In the fuel cell vehicle according to the present invention, when a vehicle start operation not intended by the driver is performed, the air supply operation to the fuel cell is restricted to prevent the fuel cell from generating power. Do not start the vehicle. As a specific mechanism for that purpose, in the fuel cell vehicle according to the present invention, for example, a motor having a novel structure is employed as an electric motor for driving an air supply device that supplies air to the fuel cell, and this electric motor is controlled. An electric motor control device is provided, and the electric motor control device controls the electric motor so that a rotation output can be obtained from the electric motor when a start operation of the vehicle is performed by a normal operation of the ignition key.

  Specifically, for example, as an electric motor for driving the air supply device, a housing, an electric motor main body housed inside the housing in a state of being separated from an inner peripheral surface of the housing, an inner peripheral surface of the housing, and an electric motor main body The motor control device uses a motor with a movable member that fixes or releases the motor body relative to the housing by moving between the outer peripheral surface of the motor and the motor control operation is performed by a normal operation of the ignition key. At this time, the movable member of the electric motor is moved so that the electric motor main body is fixed to the housing, and control is performed so that a rotational output is obtained from the electric motor.

  In addition, in another fuel cell vehicle according to the present invention, when a start operation of the vehicle not intended by the driver is performed, a rotation output cannot be obtained from a wheel driving motor that operates with electric power supplied from the fuel cell. In this way, the vehicle is prohibited from traveling. As a specific mechanism for this, in another fuel cell vehicle according to the present invention, for example, a wheel drive motor having a novel structure is adopted, and a motor control device for controlling the wheel drive motor is provided. The motor control device controls the wheel drive motor so that a rotation output can be obtained from the wheel drive motor when the vehicle is started by the normal operation of the ignition key.

  Specifically, for example, as a wheel driving motor, a housing, a motor main body housed inside the housing in a state of being separated from the inner peripheral surface of the housing, an inner peripheral surface of the housing, and an outer peripheral surface of the motor main body Using a motor having a movable member that fixes or releases the motor body with respect to the housing by moving between the motor and the motor controller when the vehicle is started by the normal operation of the ignition key. The movable member is moved to fix the electric motor main body to the housing, and control is performed so that a rotational output is obtained from the wheel driving electric motor.

  According to the fuel cell vehicle of the present invention, regardless of a mechanism such as a special electric anti-theft device or a steering lock, the vehicle is prohibited from starting or running when a vehicle starting operation not intended by the driver is performed. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent unintended start-up and vehicle travel without causing an increase in power consumption at start-up and an increase in the number of parts.

  Hereinafter, a specific embodiment of a fuel cell vehicle to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
A schematic configuration of the fuel cell vehicle of the present embodiment is schematically shown in FIG. This fuel cell vehicle is equipped with a fuel cell unit 1 including a fuel cell stack as a main power source and a secondary battery 2 as an auxiliary power source. The wheel drive motor 3 is operated with electric power supplied from these power supplies, and the rotational output of the wheel drive motor 3 is transmitted to the drive wheels via the speed reducer 4 to give propulsive force to the vehicle. It is like that.

  The fuel cell stack of the fuel cell unit 1 has a structure in which power generation cells in which a hydrogen electrode and an air electrode are overlapped with an electrolyte / electrode catalyst composite interposed therebetween are stacked in multiple stages, and supplied to the hydrogen electrode of each power generation cell. Power is generated by an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen in the air supplied to the air electrode of each power generation cell. As described above, in order to obtain generated power from the fuel cell stack, it is necessary to supply hydrogen as a fuel and air as an oxidant to the fuel cell stack, respectively. A device 5 and an air supply device 6 are mounted.

  The hydrogen supply device 5 includes, for example, a high-pressure hydrogen tank as a means for storing hydrogen, takes out the hydrogen gas as fuel from the high-pressure hydrogen tank while reducing the pressure, and uses the flow rate control valve and the pressure control valve to remove the extracted hydrogen gas. The fuel cell unit 1 is supplied to the fuel cell stack while adjusting the desired flow rate and pressure.

  The air supply device 6 includes a compressor driven by an electric motor 7, for example, and is configured to take in outside air or the like by driving the compressor and pump it to the fuel cell stack of the fuel cell unit 1. In particular, in the fuel cell vehicle according to the present embodiment, as the electric motor 7 for driving the air supply device 6 (compressor), a new configuration whose details will be described later is used.

  In addition, the fuel cell vehicle of this embodiment is equipped with an electric motor control device 8 for controlling the operation of the wheel driving electric motor 3 and the electric motor 7. The electric motor control device 8 controls the operation of the wheel driving motor 3 and the electric motor 7 in accordance with a control command of a vehicle controller 9 that controls the entire fuel cell vehicle, and in particular, drives the air supply device 6. The electric motor 7 is controlled so that a rotational output is obtained from the electric motor 7 only when the starting operation of the vehicle is performed by the normal operation of the ignition key. In order to realize such control, in the fuel cell vehicle of the present embodiment, the key positions (OFF position, ACC position, IGN position, START position) from the key cylinder 10 into which the ignition key is inserted to the vehicle controller 9. A signal for identifying the vehicle is sent from time to time, and the vehicle controller 9 determines whether or not the vehicle has been started by the normal operation of the ignition key based on the signal sent from the key cylinder 10. Judgment is made.

  Here, the specific structure of the electric motor 7 for driving the air supply device 6 in the fuel cell vehicle of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The electric motor 7 has a structure in which an electric motor main body having a stator 11 and a rotor 12 is housed inside a housing 13 that is fixedly installed on a vehicle body. In particular, the electric motor main body is an inner peripheral surface of the housing 13. The motor main body is accommodated in the housing 13 by being accommodated in the housing 13 with a predetermined gap S from the housing 13 and being moved between the inner peripheral surface of the housing 13 and the outer peripheral surface of the motor main body. On the other hand, it has a great feature in that it is fixed or released.

  The stator 11 of the motor body is provided with a stator winding, and the rotor 12 performs a rotational motion with respect to the stator 11 by the action of a magnetic field generated by energizing the stator winding of the stator 11. It has become. An output shaft 15 is fixed to the rotor 12, and the output shaft 15 rotates with the rotation of the rotor 12, and the air supply device 6 can be driven by the rotation of the output shaft 15. .

  Here, in a general electric motor, since the electric motor body is fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the housing with an interference fit, when the rotor rotates with respect to the stator by energizing the stator winding, the rotor is A rotation output is obtained by rotating also with respect to the housing. On the other hand, in the electric motor 7 mounted on the fuel cell vehicle of the present embodiment, as described above, the electric motor main body is separated from the inner peripheral surface of the housing 13 with a predetermined gap S in the housing 13. Since the movable body 14 is accommodated and moved between the inner peripheral surface of the housing 13 and the outer peripheral surface of the electric motor main body, the electric motor main body is fixed to or released from the housing 13. As shown in a), when the electric motor main body is released from the housing 13, when the rotor 12 rotates relative to the stator 11 by energization of the stator winding, the reaction force reverses. Thus, the stator 11 rotates in the opposite direction with respect to the housing 13. As a result, since the rotor 12 does not rotate with respect to the housing 13, a rotation output cannot be obtained.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2 (b), when the electric motor body is fixed to the housing 13 by the movement of the movable member 14, the rotor 12 is moved to the stator 11 by energizing the stator windings. On the other hand, when the rotor 11 is rotated, the stator 11 is fixed to the housing 13, so that the stator 11 is prevented from rotating, and the rotor 12 also rotates with respect to the housing 13 to obtain a rotational output.

  A plurality of movable members 14 are arranged on a concentric circle coaxial with the electric motor main body, and all of them are attached to the housing 13 so as to be movable in a direction approaching and separating from the electric motor main body. Specifically, for example, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, a recess 13a for accommodating the movable member 14 is formed in the inner peripheral surface of the housing 13, and the recess 13a is movable in the recess 13a. A member 14 is disposed with a spring 16. Further, an electromagnet 17 is provided between the movable member 14 and the spring 16, and an energizing force is applied to the movable member 14 by energizing the electromagnet 17 through the power supply energizing layer 18 and the terminal 19 formed in the housing 13. It is supposed to be.

  The operation of the movable member 14 is controlled by the electric motor control device 8. That is, the electric motor control device 8 does not energize the electromagnet 17 when it is determined by the vehicle controller 9 that the starting operation of the vehicle by the normal operation of the ignition key is not performed. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3A, the balance of force between the spring 16 and the electromagnet 17 is maintained, the movable member 14 is maintained in the recessed portion 13a, and the electric motor body is attached to the housing 13. On the other hand, it is in a released state.

  On the other hand, when it is determined by the vehicle controller 9 that the vehicle has been activated by the normal operation of the ignition key, the motor control device 8 starts energizing the electromagnet 17. As a result, the movable member 14 receives the urging force of the electromagnet 17 and moves to the stator 11 side of the motor body, and the distal end of the movable member 14 is the outer periphery of the stator 11 as shown in FIG. It will contact the surface. As a result, the electric motor main body is fixed to the housing 13, and a rotational output can be obtained from the electric motor main body.

  Next, an example of the control at the time of starting the fuel cell vehicle according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In the fuel cell vehicle according to the present embodiment, a process for determining whether or not the activation operation is due to the normal operation of the ignition key is performed as a process before the system activation process. That is, when the fuel cell vehicle is started, the vehicle controller 9 monitors whether a signal for identifying the position of the ignition key is sent from the key cylinder 10 (step S1), and first, the ignition key is in the OFF position. (Step S2), then a signal indicating that the ignition key is at the ACC position (step S3), and then indicating that the ignition key has passed the IGN position. Confirm the signal (step S4), then confirm the signal indicating that the ignition key is in the START position (step S5), and finally confirm the signal indicating that the ignition key is held in the IGN position (Step S6), when the ignition key is It determines that the startup operation is performed by (Step S7).

  When the vehicle controller 9 determines that the starting operation is due to the normal operation of the ignition key, the motor control device 8 is provided in the housing 13 of the motor 7 in response to a control command from the vehicle controller 9. The electromagnet 17 is energized, and the movable member 14 is moved to the stator 11 side of the electric motor body (step S8). As a result, the electric motor main body of the electric motor 7 is fixed to the housing 13, and a rotational output is obtained from the electric motor 7. Thereafter, system activation processing is performed (step S9), the air supply device 6 is driven by the electric motor 7, and power generation in the fuel cell unit 1 that is the main power source is started (step S10).

  On the other hand, if the signal indicating the position of the ignition key is not correctly sent from the key cylinder 10 in the order of step S2 to step S6, the vehicle controller 9 determines that the correct starting operation has not been performed (step S11). In this case, since the motor controller 8 does not energize the electromagnet 17 of the motor 7, no rotation output can be obtained from the motor 7. Therefore, in this case, since the air supply operation to the fuel cell unit 1 is not performed, the fuel cell unit 1 does not function as a main power source. For example, a person other than the driver can use an illegal method such as direct wiring. Even if the activation operation is performed, the fuel cell vehicle is not activated.

  As described above, in the fuel cell vehicle of the present embodiment, the air supply device is controlled by the electric motor control device 8 only when the vehicle controller 9 determines that the start operation of the vehicle has been performed by the normal operation of the ignition key. Rotational output is obtained from an electric motor 7 for driving 6. Therefore, for example, when an activation operation that is not based on the normal operation of the ignition key, such as an activation operation by direct wiring, that is, an activation operation that is not intended by the driver, is performed from the air supply device 6 to the fuel cell unit 1. The air supply operation is not performed, and the power generation in the fuel cell stack of the fuel cell unit 1 is blocked, so that it is possible to effectively prevent the vehicle from starting without the driver's intention.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, another example of the fuel cell vehicle to which the present invention is applied will be described. The fuel cell vehicle according to the present embodiment prohibits traveling of the vehicle by preventing a rotation output from being obtained from the wheel driving motor 3 when a vehicle start operation not intended by the driver is performed. It is characterized by the point.

  That is, in the fuel cell vehicle according to the first embodiment described above, the motor 7 for driving the air supply device 6 (compressor) is used with a novel configuration as shown in FIGS. When a vehicle start operation not intended by the driver is performed, the air supply operation to the fuel cell unit 1 is restricted by preventing the rotation output from being obtained from the electric motor 7, and the vehicle not intended by the driver However, in the fuel cell vehicle of this embodiment, the motor of the novel configuration shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is used as the wheel driving motor 3 to start the vehicle unintended by the driver. When an operation is performed, the vehicle is prevented from traveling by the vehicle not intended by the driver by preventing rotation output from being obtained from the wheel drive motor 3. Note that the basic configuration of the fuel cell vehicle is the same as the configuration of the fuel cell vehicle according to the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the wheel driving motor 3 in the fuel cell vehicle according to the present embodiment is such that the motor body having the stator 11 and the rotor 12 has a predetermined gap S from the inner peripheral surface of the housing 13. And the movable member 14 is moved between the inner peripheral surface of the housing 13 and the outer peripheral surface of the electric motor main body by the action of the spring 16 and the electromagnet 17 so that the electric motor main body is The structure is fixed or released with respect to the housing 13.

  In this wheel drive motor 3, when the vehicle controller 9 determines that the vehicle has not been started by the normal operation of the ignition key, the motor controller 8 does not energize the electromagnet 17 and the movable member 14 The electric motor main body is released from the housing 13 while being maintained in the state of being accommodated in the recess 13a. In this state, since no rotation output is obtained from the wheel driving motor 3, the fuel cell vehicle does not travel.

  When it is determined by the vehicle controller 9 that the vehicle has been started by the normal operation of the ignition key, the motor controller 8 starts energization of the electromagnet 17 of the wheel driving motor 3 and the movable member 14 is moved to the motor. By moving to the stator 11 side of the main body, the electric motor main body is fixed to the housing 13. As a result, it is possible to obtain a rotational output from the wheel driving motor 3, and the fuel cell vehicle can travel. Note that the process in which the vehicle controller 9 determines whether or not the vehicle start operation has been performed by the normal operation of the ignition key is the same as that in the first embodiment (see FIG. 4).

  As described above, in the fuel cell vehicle according to the present embodiment, the vehicle controller 9 controls the wheel drive only when the vehicle controller 9 determines that the starting operation of the vehicle has been performed by the normal operation of the ignition key. A rotation output is obtained from the electric motor 3. Therefore, for example, when a startup operation not based on the normal operation of the ignition key, such as a startup operation by direct wiring, that is, a startup operation not intended by the driver is performed, a driving force is applied from the wheel driving motor 3 to the wheels. Is not transmitted, it is possible to effectively prevent the vehicle from traveling unintentionally by the driver.

  Each embodiment described above shows a specific example of the fuel cell vehicle to which the present invention is applied, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. is there. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the motor 7 used to drive the air supply device 6 (compressor) or the motor used as the wheel driving motor 3 includes a plurality of movable members 14 arranged on concentric circles coaxial with the motor body. Although the electric motor main body is structured to be fixed or released with respect to the housing 13 by moving in the direction of approaching and separating from the electric motor main body, the arrangement and moving direction of the movable member 14 are limited to the above examples. However, it can be appropriately changed according to the internal structure of the entire motor. Further, the method of moving the movable member 14 is not limited to the above-described method of energizing the electromagnet 17, and various methods such as a method of using a leakage magnetic field from the stator winding of the stator 11 are applied. Is possible.

It is a figure which shows typically schematic structure of the fuel cell vehicle to which this invention is applied. It is a diagram schematically showing the structure of an electric motor used as an electric motor for driving an air supply device or an electric motor for driving a wheel, (a) shows the internal structure of the electric motor in a state where the electric motor body is released from the housing, (B) shows the internal structure of the electric motor in a state where the electric motor main body is fixed to the housing by the movement of the movable member. It is a figure which expands and shows the principal part of the said motor, (a) is a figure which expands and shows the A section in Fig.2 (a), (b) expands and shows the B section in FIG.2 (b). FIG. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the control at the time of starting of the fuel cell vehicle to which this invention is applied.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fuel cell unit 3 Wheel drive motor 6 Air supply device 7 Electric motor 8 Motor control device 9 Vehicle controller 10 Key cylinder 11 Stator 12 Rotor 13 Housing 14 Movable member 15 Output shaft 16 Spring 17 Electromagnet

Claims (4)

In a fuel cell vehicle equipped with a fuel cell as a main power source,
Mechanism for prohibiting the start of the vehicle unintended by the driver by restricting the air supply operation to the fuel cell and preventing the power generation of the fuel cell when the start operation of the vehicle not intended by the driver is performed A fuel cell vehicle comprising: As an electric motor for driving an air supply device for supplying air to the fuel cell, a housing, an electric motor main body housed inside the housing in a state of being separated from the inner peripheral surface of the housing, and an inner peripheral surface of the housing While using an electric motor provided with a movable member that fixes or releases the electric motor main body relative to the housing by moving between the outer peripheral surface of the electric motor main body,
When the vehicle is started by a normal operation of the ignition key, the movable member of the electric motor is moved to fix the electric motor main body to the housing, and control is performed so that rotation output is obtained from the electric motor. The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising an electric motor control device. In a fuel cell vehicle equipped with a fuel cell as a main power source,
A mechanism for prohibiting vehicle travel by preventing rotation output from being obtained from a wheel drive motor operated by electric power supplied from the fuel cell when a driver's unintended vehicle startup operation is performed; A fuel cell vehicle comprising: The wheel drive motor moves between a housing, a motor main body housed inside the housing in a state of being separated from the inner peripheral surface of the housing, and an inner peripheral surface of the housing and an outer peripheral surface of the motor main body. And using a motor provided with a movable member for fixing or releasing the motor body with respect to the housing.
When a vehicle starting operation is performed by a normal operation of the ignition key, the movable member of the electric motor is moved to fix the electric motor body to the housing so that a rotational output can be obtained from the wheel driving electric motor. The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 3, further comprising an electric motor control device that controls the motor.

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