JP2010215177A - Vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the power consumption of a temperature adjusting portion adjusting the temperature of a power storage device mounted on a vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: The vehicle includes a battery 23 mounted on the vehicle, a cooling fan 22 and a heater 24 for adjusting the temperature of the battery 23, an ECU (electronic control unit) 21 controlling the drive of the cooling fan 22 and the heater 24, and a temperature adjusting portion 12 of a seat 11 provided in a vehicle cabin. The ECU 21 does not drive the cooling fan 22, unless cooling action by the temperature adjusting portion 12 of the vehicle seat 11 is started. The ECU 21 does not drive the heater 24 unless heating action by the temperature adjusting portion 12 of the vehicle seat 11 is started. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle having a temperature control function of a power storage device.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, attention has been focused on electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and the like that are equipped with an electric motor for running a vehicle as vehicles that are conscious of the global environment. The electric motor is driven by electric power output from a chargeable / dischargeable power storage device.

  This type of power storage device generates heat not only during charging but also during discharging for supplying power to the electric motor. When the heat generation temperature increases, the power storage device decreases in performance and life, and when the temperature is extremely low, the output and charging efficiency decrease.

  For this reason, the power storage device may be provided with a temperature adjustment unit that performs temperature adjustment (see, for example, Patent Document 1). According to Patent Document 1, the amount of cooling air by a cooling fan for cooling a power storage device is set to Hi level, Lo level, and OFF (stop) based on the battery temperature detected by a battery temperature sensor provided in each battery. A vehicle configured to switch is disclosed.

JP-A-10-306722

  However, since drive control of the temperature adjustment unit is performed based on the battery temperature of the battery, the temperature adjustment unit is driven at a timing not conscious of the user, and fuel consumption may be deteriorated due to an increase in power consumption.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to reduce power consumption of a temperature adjustment unit that adjusts the temperature of a power storage device mounted on a vehicle.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a vehicle according to the present invention controls a power storage device mounted on a vehicle, a first temperature adjustment unit that adjusts the temperature of the power storage device, and driving of the first temperature adjustment unit. And a third temperature adjustment unit that is provided in the vehicle interior and that is different from the second temperature adjustment unit that adjusts the temperature of the vehicle interior space, and the controller includes the third temperature adjustment unit. The presence / absence of driving of the first temperature adjusting unit is controlled based on discriminating information including driving information relating to the presence / absence of driving.

  As the third temperature adjustment unit, a seat temperature adjustment unit provided in a vehicle seat can be used. The discrimination information can further include information related to the temperature of the power storage device. The controller drives the first temperature adjusting unit to drive the power storage device when the third temperature adjusting unit performs a cooling operation and the temperature of the power storage device is higher than a first threshold value. Can also be cooled. The controller drives the first temperature adjusting unit to drive the power storage device when the third temperature control unit performs a heating operation and the temperature of the power storage device is lower than a second threshold value. Can also be heated.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the power consumption of the temperature control part which adjusts the temperature of the electrical storage apparatus mounted in a vehicle can be reduced.

It is a block diagram of the vehicle provided with the temperature control function of a battery. It is the flowchart which showed the temperature control method of a battery.

Examples of the present invention will be described below.
Example 1
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a seat temperature control system and a battery temperature control system mounted on a vehicle. In the figure, a seat temperature control system 10 includes a temperature control unit (third temperature control unit) 12, a seat temperature control ECU (ELECTRONIC CONTROL UNIT) 13, and a seat temperature control switch 14. The temperature control unit 12 is configured by, for example, providing an air duct, a blower unit, a heat exchanger, or the like on the vehicle seat 11, and blows warm air or cold air from the surface of the vehicle seat 11.

  A Peltier heat exchanger can be used for the temperature control unit 12. The Peltier heat exchanger is a heat exchanger composed of a metal plate and a semiconductor, and can switch heat absorption and heat generation by switching the direction of current, and can adjust the amount of heat exchange by changing the voltage. . Thereby, the temperature of the vehicle seat 11 can be adjusted.

  The seat temperature adjustment ECU 13 is electrically connected to the temperature adjustment unit 12 and the seat temperature adjustment switch 14 and controls the entire seat temperature adjustment system 10. The seat temperature adjustment ECU 13 outputs a drive signal corresponding to the switching operation of the seat temperature adjustment switch 14 to the temperature adjustment unit 12. The seat temperature adjustment switch 14 includes a temperature increase switch, a cooling switch, and an air flow rate adjustment switch, and outputs a signal corresponding to the switching operation of the temperature increase switch, the cooling switch, and the air flow rate adjustment switch to the seat temperature adjustment ECU 13.

  Next, the battery temperature control system 20 will be described. The battery temperature control system 20 includes a battery temperature control ECU (ELECTRONIC CONTROL UNIT) 21, a cooling fan (first temperature control unit) 22, a battery 23, and a heater (first temperature control unit) 24. The battery 23 supplies power to the vehicle driving motor. The battery 23 may be a secondary battery such as a nickel metal hydride battery or a lithium ion battery, or an electric double layer capacitor. The battery 23 is configured by electrically and mechanically connecting a plurality of battery elements. The battery temperature adjustment ECU 21 corresponds to the controller described in claim 1.

  The battery 23 is provided with a temperature sensor 23a. The temperature sensor 23a may be provided in each battery element that constitutes the battery 23, or some battery elements (for example, a battery element that is estimated to be the highest temperature and a battery element that is estimated to be the lowest temperature) May be provided). A thermistor or a thermocouple can be used for the temperature sensor 23a.

  The cooling fan 22 sucks air in the passenger compartment and supplies it to the battery 23. Part of the air used for cooling the battery 23 is returned to the vehicle interior, and the remainder is exhausted outside the vehicle. As the cooling fan 22, a sirocco fan, a cross flow fan, or a plapel fan can be used. The battery temperature adjustment ECU 21 controls the driving of the cooling fan 22.

  The heater 24 is connected to a heater power source (not shown), and the heater 24 generates heat based on a current output from the heater power source. A PTC heater can be used as the heater 24. The PTC heater can be provided, for example, on the outer surface of the battery element, on a bus bar that electrically and mechanically connects the batteries. When the PTC heater generates heat, the power generation element of the battery element constituting the battery 23 is heated, and the input / output characteristics of the battery 23 can be improved.

  The vehicle control ECU 31 is electrically connected to the seat temperature adjustment switch 14 and the battery temperature adjustment ECU 21. The vehicle control ECU 31 determines which one of the temperature raising switch and the cooling switch constituting the seat temperature adjustment switch 14 is operated, and outputs the determination information to the battery temperature adjustment ECU 21.

  Further, the battery temperature adjustment ECU 21 monitors temperature information output from a temperature sensor 23 a provided in the battery 23. This temperature information is used as discrimination information when driving the battery temperature control system 20.

  Next, the temperature rise control of the battery temperature adjustment system 20 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The flowchart shown in FIG. 2 is executed by the battery temperature adjustment ECU 21 and the vehicle control ECU 31.

  In step S101, it is determined whether or not the seat temperature adjustment switch 14 is turned on. If the seat temperature adjustment switch 14 is turned on, the process proceeds to step S102. In step S102, it is determined whether the seat temperature adjustment switch 14 is set to one of the temperature raising and cooling modes. Note that the vehicle control ECU 31 performs the determination processing in steps S101 and S102.

If it is determined in step S102 that the mode of the seat temperature adjustment switch 14 is the temperature increase, the process proceeds to step S103 and preparation for energizing the heater 24 is made. Step S1
In 04, based on the temperature information output from the temperature sensor 23a, it is determined whether or not the temperature of the battery 23 is equal to or lower than a lower limit temperature (threshold). If the temperature of the battery 23 is equal to or lower than the lower limit temperature, the process proceeds to step S105. If the temperature is higher than the lower limit temperature, the process returns to step S103 and waits.

  Here, the lower limit temperature can be appropriately set from the viewpoint of improving the input / output characteristics of the battery 23. For example, when the battery 23 is a lithium ion battery, the lower limit temperature can be set to −10 ° C. When the lithium ion battery becomes lower than −10 ° C., the internal resistance increases and it becomes difficult to charge and discharge.

In step S105, the heater 24 is energized to generate heat. This
The temperature of the battery 23 can be raised. As a result, the input / output characteristics of the battery 23 are improved.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the heater 24 is operated only when the temperature adjustment unit 12 of the vehicle seat 11 is heated. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the heater 24 from operating using only the temperature of the battery 23 as operation information. As a result, power consumption in a situation not intended by the user can be suppressed, and fuel consumption can be improved.

  If it is determined in step S102 that the mode of the seat temperature adjustment switch 14 is cooling, the process proceeds to step S106 to prepare for operating the cooling fan 22. In step S107, based on the temperature information output from the temperature sensor 23a, it is determined whether or not the temperature of the battery 23 is equal to or higher than the upper limit temperature. If the temperature of the battery 23 is equal to or higher than the upper limit temperature, the process proceeds to step S108. If the temperature is lower than the upper limit temperature, the process returns to step S106 and waits.

  Here, the upper limit temperature can be appropriately set from the viewpoint of preventing deterioration of the battery 23. For example, when the battery 23 is a lithium ion battery, the upper limit temperature can be set to 60 ° C. When the lithium ion battery reaches 60 ° C. or higher, the deterioration progresses and the battery life decreases.

  In claim 1, the reason why the second temperature adjusting unit (air conditioning) for adjusting the temperature of the vehicle interior space is excluded from the third temperature adjusting unit is that the vehicle interior temperature is greatly affected. That is, when the air conditioner is operated to cool the vehicle interior and at the same time the cooling fan 22 is operated to cool the battery 23, a part of the air heated by the cooling of the battery 23 returns to the vehicle interior. There is a risk of raising the temperature in the passenger compartment. For this reason, contrary to a user's request | requirement, it becomes difficult to cool a vehicle interior.

(Modification)
In the above-described embodiment, the vehicle includes both the cooling fan 22 and the heater 24. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is also applicable to a vehicle having only one of the cooling fan 22 and the heater 24. can do.

  The function of the battery temperature adjustment ECU 21 can be shared by the battery ECU that monitors the charge / discharge state of the battery 23. Further, the functions of the seat temperature adjustment ECU 13, the vehicle control ECU 31, and the battery temperature adjustment ECU 21 may be integrated into one ECU.

  In the above-described embodiment, the operation information of the temperature adjustment unit 12 of the vehicle seat 11 and the temperature information of the battery 23 are used as the discrimination information when the battery temperature adjustment system 20 is operated. Only information may be used as discrimination information.

  In the above-described embodiment, the temperature of the battery 23 is increased by energizing the heater 24. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a method of generating heat by forcibly charging and discharging the battery 23 is also applicable. Applicable. In this case, similarly to the embodiment, the charge / discharge mode for forcibly charging / discharging the battery 23 may be performed in conjunction with the presence / absence of the driving of the temperature adjustment unit 12 of the vehicle seat 11. Thereby, the effect similar to an Example can be acquired.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Seat temperature control system 11 Vehicle seat 12 Temperature control part 20 Battery temperature control system 21 Battery temperature control ECU
22 Cooling fan 23 Battery 23a Temperature sensor 24 Heater

Claims (1)

A power storage device mounted on the vehicle;
A first temperature adjusting unit for adjusting the temperature of the power storage device;
A controller for controlling the driving of the first temperature adjusting unit;
A third temperature adjustment unit provided in the vehicle interior and different from the second temperature adjustment unit for adjusting the temperature of the vehicle interior space;
The vehicle, wherein the controller controls the presence / absence of driving of the first temperature adjusting unit based on discrimination information including driving information related to the presence / absence of driving of the third temperature adjusting unit.

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