JP2009067207A - Amphibious vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an amphibious vehicle capable of enhancing efficiency of motive power as compared with the conventional art. <P>SOLUTION: The amphibious vehicle is provided with a fuel battery; a battery for charging/discharging the electric power generated by the fuel battery; a drive device for on-ground traveling for converting the electric power generated by the fuel battery or the electric power fed from the battery to driving electric power for on-ground traveling; an electric motor for on-ground traveling driven by the drive device for on-vehicle traveling; a wheel rotated/driven by the electric motor for on-ground traveling; a thrust generator for generating thrust by driving an electric motor for on-water navigation by the electric power generated by the fuel battery or the electric power fed from the battery; a steering device for on-ground traveling for setting a traveling direction at on-ground traveling; a steering device for on-water navigation for setting a navigation direction at on-water navigation; and a vehicle control part for activating the fuel battery when a terminal voltage of the battery exceeds a predetermined threshold value, whereas stopping the fuel battery when the terminal voltage is less than the predetermined threshold value. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an amphibious vehicle having a water navigation function and a land traveling function.

Various amphibious vehicles have been developed. For example, the following Patent Document 1 aims to provide a powertrain structure for a lightweight and small amphibious vehicle with a simple configuration. An invention that achieves the above object by arranging the engine horizontally at the front and providing a transmission with a switching mechanism for selectively or simultaneously transmitting the engine power to the front wheel drive shaft or the screw drive shaft orthogonal thereto. It is disclosed.
As for amphibious vehicles, in addition to those disclosed in Patent Document 1, the following Patent Documents 2 to 7 disclose ones for various purposes.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 05-208605 JP 09-136519 A JP 05-008621 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 05-024420 JP 2000-071704 A JP 2004-306953 A JP 2002-211123 A

However, the above-mentioned various amphibious vehicles are not intended to improve the efficiency of the powertrain power (technical problem), and do not provide any solution for the technical problem of improving the powertrain efficiency.
Conventional amphibious vehicles are often used for leisure or military purposes, and the efficiency of powertrain power has not been an important theme for technological development. However, for example, in industrial applications, if you want to use an amphibious vehicle as a water transport vehicle for rivers, seas, etc. Efficiency is a very important development theme.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the situation mentioned above, and aims at providing the amphibious vehicle which can improve the efficiency of motive power than before.

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, as a first solving means, a fuel cell, a battery for charging / discharging the power generated by the fuel cell, power generated by the fuel cell, or power supplied from the battery Is generated by a land driving device that converts the power into land driving power, a land motor that is driven by the land driving device, a wheel that is rotationally driven by the land motor, and a fuel cell. A thrust generator that generates thrust by driving a motor for water navigation with electric power or power supplied from a battery, a steering device for land travel that sets a travel direction during land travel, and a navigation direction during water travel If the terminal voltage of the water navigation steering device to be set and the battery terminal voltage exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the fuel cell is activated, while the terminal voltage exceeds the predetermined threshold value. It is provided with a vehicle control unit to stop the fuel cell, employing the means of the case to visit.
As a second solving means, a means is adopted in which the thrust generator is a pod propeller in the first means.
As a third solving means, a means is used in which the single electric motor is shared as the water navigation motor or the land driving motor in the first or second means.
As a fourth solving means, in any one of the first to third means, a means is used in which the land traveling steering device and the water navigation steering device are alternatively operated by a common handle.

  According to the present invention, when the terminal voltage of the battery exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the motor for land driving or the water navigation motor is driven by the electric power of the battery, while the terminal voltage of the battery exceeds the predetermined threshold value. If it is lower, the fuel cell is driven to charge the battery, and the electric power of the fuel cell drives the motor for land travel or the water navigation motor, so the power for land travel and water navigation are driven only by the engine power. The power efficiency can be improved as compared with the conventional powertrain structure that generates power.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[First embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main functional configuration of an amphibious vehicle A according to the first embodiment.

  The amphibious vehicle A is composed of a vehicle main body A1, a pod (POD) propulsion device A2, and a turning mechanism A3 that pivotally fixes the pod propelling device A2 to the bottom of the vehicle main body A1, as shown in FIG. . The vehicle main body A1 has a power generation function, a land traveling function, and a main function. The vehicle body 1, the fuel cell 2, the battery 3, the main body inverter 4, the main body motor 5, the differential gear 6, the rear wheel 7, the handle 8, and the connection Mechanisms 9a and 9b, a front wheel 10 and a vehicle control device 11 are provided. On the other hand, the pod propulsion device A2 is a functional unit (thrust generator) for navigating on the water, and includes a POD housing 12, a POD inverter 13, a POD motor 14, and a propeller 15.

  The vehicle body 1 is a basic support structure of the amphibious vehicle A, and other functional components, that is, a fuel cell 2, a battery 3, a main body inverter 4, a main body motor 5, a differential gear 6, a rear wheel. 7, the handle 8, the coupling mechanisms 9a and 9b, the front wheel 10 and the vehicle control device 11 are supported. The fuel cell 2 is a power generation device that generates electric power by chemically reacting hydrogen as fuel with oxygen under the control of the vehicle control device 11. As is well known, the fuel cell 2 is a device that converts chemical energy into electrical energy without going through a form of thermal energy, and has higher power generation efficiency than a normal power generation system that drives a generator using an engine.

  The battery 3 stores / discharges the DC power supplied from the fuel cell 2 according to the load status of the main body inverter 4 and the POD inverter 13 connected as loads. For example, a lead storage battery, a nickel metal hydride battery Or it is a lithium ion battery.

  The main body inverter 4 converts the DC power supplied from the fuel cell 2 or / and the DC power supplied from the battery 3 under the control of the vehicle control device 11 into AC land driving power, and drives It is a drive device which drives the motor 5 for a main body with electric power. The main body motor 5 is a land traveling electric motor that rotationally drives the rear wheels 7 (via the differential gear 6) by the land traveling driving power supplied from the main body inverter 4, and is, for example, a three-phase brushless DC motor. .

  The differential gear 6 is a power transmission mechanism (differential gear) configured by combining a plurality of gears, and individually transmits the driving force of the main body motor 5 to the left and right rear wheels 7. The rear wheel 7 is a pair of left and right drive wheels, and is rotated by power transmitted from the main body motor 5 via the differential gear 6. The steering wheel 8 is operated by the driver to set the land traveling direction and the water navigation direction of the amphibious vehicle A, and is connected to the front wheel 10 via the coupling mechanism 9a and the coupling mechanism 9b. To the turning mechanism A3.

  The coupling mechanism 9 a turns on / off the mechanical connection between the handle 8 and the front wheel 10 and is controlled by the vehicle control device 11. That is, when the amphibious vehicle A travels on land, the coupling mechanism 9a is set to an ON state, that is, a state in which the handle 10 and the front wheel 10 are mechanically connected, and the amphibious vehicle A sails on the water. In this case, it is set to an OFF state, that is, a state in which the mechanical connection between the handle 8 and the front wheel 10 is deviated.

  The connection mechanism 9b turns on / off the mechanical connection between the handle 8 and the turning mechanism A3, and is controlled by the vehicle control device 11 in the same manner as the connection mechanism 9a. That is, the connecting mechanism 9a is controlled in reverse to the connecting mechanism 9a, and when the amphibious vehicle A travels on land, the mechanical state between the handle 10 and the turning mechanism A3 is in an OFF state. When the amphibious vehicle A sails on the water, it is set to an ON state, that is, a state in which the handle 8 and the turning mechanism A3 are mechanically connected.

  The front wheel 10 is rotatably attached to the vehicle body 1 and has an orientation with respect to the vehicle body 1 according to the operation of the handle 8. Such a front wheel 10 is a land travel steering device that sets a travel direction when the amphibious vehicle A travels on land.

  Subsequently, the POD housing 12 has a shape that reduces the propulsion resistance of the pod thruster A2 located below the water line as much as possible during water navigation, for example, a shape that is cylindrical and has a gradually reduced diameter at the front and rear ends. It is set and is removably attached to the bottom of the vehicle body 1 via the turning mechanism A3. In addition, a propeller 15 is attached to the tip of the POD housing 12 as shown in the figure.

  The swivel mechanism A3 sets the central axis direction (propulsion direction) of the POD housing 12 in the direction of the pod propulsion device A2 with respect to the vehicle body 1 based on the operation of the handle 8, that is, the direction orthogonal to the rotation surface of the propeller 15. This is a steering device for use.

  The POD inverter 13 converts the DC power supplied from the fuel cell 2 and / or the DC power supplied from the battery 3 under the control of the vehicle control device 11 into AC water navigation driving power. This is a drive device for driving the POD motor 14 by the driving power for navigation. The POD motor 14 is a water navigation electric motor that rotationally drives the propeller 15 with the water navigation drive power supplied from the POD inverter 13, and is, for example, a three-phase brushless DC motor. The propeller 15 generates thrust by rotation to propel the amphibious vehicle A on the water.

  The vehicle control device 11 controls the overall operation of the amphibious vehicle A. The vehicle control device 11 includes, for example, start-up control of the fuel cell 2 based on the terminal voltage of the battery 3, switching control of the coupling mechanisms 9a and 9b based on the operator's operation instruction, main body inverter 4 based on the operator's operation instruction, and Operation control of the POD inverter 13 and storage control of the pod propulsion device A2 in the vehicle body 1 based on operation instructions from the operator are performed.

Next, the operation of the amphibious vehicle A thus configured will be described in detail.
When the amphibious vehicle A travels on land, the vehicle control device 11 stores the pod propulsion device A2 in the vehicle body 1, sets the coupling mechanism 9a to the ON state and the coupling mechanism 9b to the OFF state, and also sets the POD. Only the main body inverter 4 is operated with the inverter 13 in a stopped state. As a result, in the amphibious vehicle A, the pod propulsion device A2 does not block the grounding of the rear wheels 7 and the front wheels 10 with respect to the ground, and the traveling direction is set by the operation of the handle 8 by the driver. The power generated by the main body motor 5 is transmitted.

  When the terminal voltage of the battery 3 exceeds a predetermined threshold value (that is, when the battery 3 is sufficiently charged by the fuel cell 2), the vehicle control device 11 stops the fuel cell 2 and 3 to supply DC power to the inverter 4 for the main body. The main body inverter 4 drives the main body motor 5 to rotate by converting the DC power supplied from the battery 3 in this way to AC land driving power and supplying it to the main body motor 5. Generate power. Then, the rotational power of the main body motor 5 is transmitted to the rear wheel 7 via the differential gear 6, whereby the rear wheel 7 rotates. As a result, the amphibious vehicle A travels on land.

  On the other hand, the vehicle control device 11 activates the fuel cell 2 when the terminal voltage of the battery 3 falls below a predetermined threshold value (that is, when the battery 3 is not sufficiently charged by the fuel cell 2). DC power is supplied (charged) to the battery 3 and DC power is supplied to the main body inverter 4 to drive the main body motor 5. As a result, the rear wheel 7 is rotated by the power generated by the main body motor 5 based on the electric power of the fuel cell 2.

  That is, the amphibious vehicle A travels on land based on DC power supplied from the battery 3 to the main body inverter 4 when the battery 3 is sufficiently charged by the fuel cell 2, while the battery 3 When the fuel cell 2 is not sufficiently charged, the vehicle travels on land based on the power of the fuel cell 2.

  By the way, when the amphibious vehicle A sails on the water, the vehicle control device 11 causes the pod propulsion device A2 to protrude downward from the bottom of the vehicle body 1, and the coupling mechanism 9a is turned off and the coupling mechanism 9b is turned on. Further, the main body inverter 4 is stopped and only the POD inverter 13 is operated. As a result, the amphibious vehicle A is in a state where it can sail on the water, the navigation direction is set by the operation of the handle 8 by the driver, and power is transmitted to the propeller 15.

  When the terminal voltage of the battery 3 exceeds a predetermined threshold value (that is, when the battery 3 is sufficiently charged by the fuel cell 2), the vehicle control device 11 stops the fuel cell 2 and 3 to supply DC power to the POD inverter 13. The POD inverter 13 drives the POD motor 14 to rotate by converting the DC power supplied from the battery 3 in this way to AC land driving power and supplying it to the POD motor 14. Generate power. Then, as the propeller 15 is rotated by the rotational power of the POD motor 14, the amphibious vehicle A sails on the water.

  On the other hand, the vehicle control device 11 activates the fuel cell 2 when the terminal voltage of the battery 3 falls below a predetermined threshold (that is, when the battery 3 is not sufficiently charged by the fuel cell 2). Then, DC power is supplied (charged) to the battery 3 and DC power is supplied to the POD inverter 13 to drive the POD motor 14. As a result, the propeller 15 is rotated by the power generated by the POD motor 14 based on the electric power of the fuel cell 2.

  That is, the amphibious vehicle A sails on the water based on the DC power supplied from the battery 3 to the POD inverter 13 when the battery 3 is sufficiently charged by the fuel cell 2. Is not sufficiently charged by the fuel cell 2, it travels on the water based on the power of the fuel cell 2.

According to the first embodiment, when the terminal voltage of the battery 3 exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the fuel cell 2 is stopped and the main body motor 5 or the POD motor 14 is driven by the power of the battery 3. On the other hand, when the terminal voltage of the battery 3 falls below a predetermined threshold value, the power of the fuel cell 2 is charged into the battery 3 and the main body motor 5 or the POD motor 14 is driven by the power of the fuel cell 2. Therefore, it is possible to improve the power efficiency over the powertrain structure of the conventional amphibious vehicle that travels on land and sails on the water only by the power of the fuel cell 2, and thus the fuel efficiency can be improved.
Further, since the pod propulsion device A2 is adopted as the propulsion device, turning on the water is easy.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment will be described.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a main functional configuration of an amphibious vehicle B according to the second embodiment. As shown in this figure, the amphibious vehicle B is provided with clutches 16 and 17 and a propeller 18 while removing the pod propulsion device A2 from the amphibious vehicle A of the first embodiment described above. Instead, the rudder 19 is connected to the coupling mechanism 9b.

  The clutch 16 is provided between the main body motor 5 and the differential gear 6, and performs connection / disengagement between the two based on control by the vehicle control device 11. The clutch 17 is provided between the main body motor 5 and the propeller 18, and performs connection / disengagement between the two based on control by the vehicle control device 11. The propeller 18 is provided at the rear end of the vehicle body 1, and the rudder 19 is rotatably provided behind the propeller 18. That is, the amphibious vehicle B navigates on the water by the thrust of the propeller 18 and the navigation direction is set by the rudder 19.

  When such an amphibious vehicle B travels on land, the vehicle control device 11 sets the coupling mechanism 9a to the ON state and the coupling mechanism 9b to the OFF state, and sets the clutch 16 to the connected state and the clutch 17 to the disengaged state. To do. As a result, the amphibious vehicle B has its traveling direction set by the driver's operation of the handle 8, and power is not transmitted to the propeller 18 but is transmitted only to the rear wheels 7, so that it can travel on land. It becomes.

  On the other hand, when the amphibious vehicle B sails on the water, the vehicle control device 11 sets the coupling mechanism 9a to the OFF state and the coupling mechanism 9b to the ON state, and sets the clutch 16 to the disengaged state and the clutch 17 to the connected state. . As a result, the amphibious vehicle B is capable of navigating on the water by setting the direction of the rudder 19 by designating the direction of the rudder 19 by operating the steering wheel 8 by the driver and transmitting the power to the propeller 18. It becomes.

  According to such an amphibious vehicle B, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment described above, the configuration is simple because the land traveling and the water navigation are performed only by the power generated by the main body motor 5, and thus the weight is reduced. Therefore, fuel consumption can be improved.

In addition, this invention is not limited to said each embodiment, For example, the following modifications can be considered.
(1) In each of the above embodiments, the propellers 15 and 18 are configured to sail on the water by the thrust generated. However, the propellers 15 and 18 may be replaced with a water jet propulsion unit.
(2) In each of the above embodiments, the battery 3 is used as a power supply device that stores or discharges the electric power generated by the fuel cell 2, but a large-capacity capacitor may be used instead of the battery 3.
(3) In each of the above embodiments, the motor and the differential gear are directly connected, but it is preferable to insert a transmission between them.

It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the amphibious vehicle A concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the amphibious vehicle B concerning 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  A, B ... Amphibious vehicle, A1, B1 ... Vehicle body, A2 ... Pod propulsion device, A3 ... Turning mechanism, 1 ... Vehicle body, 2 ... Fuel cell, 3 ... Battery, 4 ... Body inverter, 5 ... Body motor , 6 ... differential gear, 7 ... rear wheel, 8 ... handle, 9a, 9b ... coupling mechanism, 10 ... front wheel, 11 ... vehicle control device, 12 ... POD housing, 13 ... inverter for POD, 14 ... motor for POD, 15, 18 ... propeller, 16, 17 ... clutch, 19 ... rudder

Claims (4)

A fuel cell;
A battery for charging and discharging electric power generated by the fuel cell;
A land drive device that converts power generated by the fuel cell or power supplied from the battery into land drive power; and
An electric motor for land travel driven by the land travel drive device;
Wheels that are rotationally driven by the motor for land travel;
A thrust generator that generates thrust by driving a water navigation electric motor with electric power generated by the fuel cell or electric power supplied from the battery;
A land-use steering device that sets the travel direction during land travel;
A water navigation steering device for setting a navigation direction during water navigation;
A vehicle control unit that activates the fuel cell when the terminal voltage of the battery exceeds a predetermined threshold value, and stops the fuel cell when the terminal voltage falls below a predetermined threshold value. An amphibious vehicle characterized by that.   The amphibious vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the thrust generator is a pod propulsion device.   The amphibious vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a single electric motor is shared as the water navigation motor or the land driving motor. The amphibious vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a land steering steering device and a water navigation steering device are selectively operated by a single handle.

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