JP2011151991A - Drive device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To cool a secondary battery more properly by detecting the temperature of a reactor. <P>SOLUTION: A drive device decides the necessity of cooling for the battery when a temperature-rise ratio ΔTr per unit time of the temperature Tr of the reactor is a threshold ΔTref1 or more even when the temperature Tr of the reactor for a step-up converter is the threshold Tref1 or more and the temperature Tr of the reactor is less than the threshold Tref1, and a cooling fan cooling the battery is driven so as to reach the quantity of an air blast at a higher level as time when the decision continues becomes longer (S120 to S160). Accordingly, the battery can be cooled without generating a delay in the cooling for the battery, enlarging the bulk of the cooling fan and increasing the consumption power of the cooling fan more than required. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a drive device, and more specifically, a drive motor, a secondary battery, a booster circuit that has a reactor and boosts the power of the secondary battery to supply the motor, and cooling that cools the secondary battery The present invention relates to a drive device comprising: a drive device comprising: means; a drive motor; a secondary battery that supplies power to the motor; and a cooling means that cools the secondary battery.

  Conventionally, as this type of drive device, a device that restricts on / off of a switching element in the boost converter when the temperature of the reactor in the boost converter that boosts and outputs the battery voltage is equal to or higher than a predetermined value has been proposed (for example, , See Patent Document 1). In this apparatus, the temperature of the reactor can be increased while the temperature of the reactor can be increased by preventing the heating of the reactor by restricting on / off of the switching element when the temperature of the reactor is equal to or higher than a predetermined value.

  In addition, there has been proposed one that limits the input / output limit as the maximum allowable power that may charge / discharge the battery when the temperature of the reactor in the boost converter that boosts the voltage of the battery and supplies it to the motor is above a predetermined value. (For example, refer to Patent Document 2). In this apparatus, when the temperature of the reactor is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, the input / output limit of the battery is restricted, thereby suppressing the input / output of the battery and the reactor overheating.

JP 2009-159748 A JP 2009-254209 A

  In a device having a boost converter that boosts the voltage of the battery and supplies it to a motor or the like like the above-described drive device, it is necessary not only to suppress damage due to overheating of the boost converter but also to suppress overheating of the battery. In this case, when the temperature of the battery reaches a predetermined temperature or more, it may be possible to manage the battery temperature by driving a fan or the like that cools the battery. However, like a battery mounted on an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle, etc. Since a battery with a large physique is slow in transmitting temperature rise, there is a delay in cooling the battery. In order not to cause a delay in cooling the battery, it may be possible to use a fan with a large air flow rate, but the physique of the fan becomes large or the power consumed by the fan becomes large.

  The drive device of the present invention is mainly intended to more appropriately cool the secondary battery.

  The drive device of the present invention employs the following means in order to achieve the main object described above.

The first drive device of the present invention comprises:
In a drive device comprising: a drive motor; a secondary battery; a booster circuit that has a reactor and boosts the power of the secondary battery to supply the secondary battery; and a cooling unit that cools the secondary battery. ,
Temperature detecting means for detecting a reactor temperature which is a temperature of the reactor;
Cooling that controls the cooling means so that the secondary battery is cooled when the detected reactor temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature or when the rate of increase of the detected reactor temperature per unit time is equal to or higher than a predetermined rate of increase. Control means;
It is a summary to provide.

  In the first drive device according to the present invention, when the temperature of the reactor included in the booster circuit that boosts the power of the secondary battery and supplies it to the drive motor is higher than a predetermined temperature, or the temperature of the reactor rises per unit time. When the rate is equal to or higher than the predetermined rate of increase, the cooling means is controlled so that the secondary battery is cooled. Since power transfer between the secondary battery and the motor is performed via the booster circuit, the temperature of the reactor of the booster circuit rises according to the power transfer. Since the reactor is smaller in size than a secondary battery mounted on an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle, the temperature rise of the reactor is faster than the temperature rise of the secondary battery. In the first drive device of the present invention, paying attention to the fact that the temperature rise of the reactor is faster than the temperature rise of the secondary battery, the temperature of the reactor is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature, or per unit time of the temperature of the reactor. When the increase rate of the secondary battery is equal to or higher than the predetermined increase rate, it is determined that the temperature of the secondary battery increases after the temperature increase of the reactor, and the cooling of the secondary battery is controlled prior to the temperature increase of the secondary battery. Thereby, the secondary battery can be cooled more appropriately.

The second drive device of the present invention is:
In a driving apparatus comprising: a driving motor; a secondary battery that supplies power to the motor; and a cooling unit that cools the secondary battery.
Temperature detecting means for detecting a motor temperature which is a temperature of the motor;
Cooling for controlling the cooling means so that the secondary battery is cooled when the detected motor temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature or when the rate of increase of the detected motor temperature per unit time is equal to or higher than a predetermined rate of increase. Control means;
It is a summary to provide.

  In the second drive device of the present invention, the secondary battery is cooled when the temperature of the driving motor is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature or when the rate of increase of the motor temperature per unit time is equal to or higher than the predetermined rate of increase. Control the cooling means. Since most of the charging / discharging of the secondary battery is performed by power generation / drive of the motor, the temperature of the motor rises according to the power generation / drive of the motor. Since the electric motor is smaller in size than a secondary battery mounted on an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle, the temperature rise of the electric motor is faster than the temperature rise of the secondary battery. In the second drive device of the present invention, paying attention to the fact that the temperature rise of the motor is faster than the temperature rise of the secondary battery, the temperature of the motor is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature, or per unit time of the temperature of the motor. When the increase rate of the secondary battery is equal to or higher than the predetermined increase rate, it is determined that the temperature of the secondary battery increases after the temperature increase of the electric motor, and the cooling of the secondary battery is controlled prior to the temperature increase of the secondary battery. Thereby, the secondary battery can be cooled more appropriately.

It is a block diagram which shows the outline of a structure of the drive device 20 of 1st Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the cooling control routine performed by the electronic control unit 50 of 1st Example. It is a block diagram which shows the outline of a structure of the drive device 20B of 2nd Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the cooling control routine performed by the electronic control unit 50 of 2nd Example.

  Next, the form for implementing this invention is demonstrated using an Example.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of a configuration of a drive device 20 as a first embodiment of the present invention. The drive device 20 of the first embodiment is a drive device mounted on an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle. As shown in the drawing, the drive device 20 can be driven as a generator and a known synchronous generator motor that can be driven as an electric motor. Two motors MG1 and MG2 that are configured to output driving power and a transistor as a gate-type switching element, and a rotating magnetic field is applied to the three-phase coils (U-phase, V-phase, and W-phase) of the motors MG1 and MG2. Inverters 24 and 25 configured as well-known inverters that can rotate the motors MG1 and MG2 by supplying phase currents for forming the battery, and chargeable / dischargeable two batteries such as lithium ion batteries and nickel metal hydride batteries. A battery 22 as a DC power source configured as a secondary battery, and a cooling device for cooling the battery 22 And a cooling fan 23 that changes the cooling level according to the amount of air blown, and boosts the voltage of the battery 22 and supplies it to the inverters 24 and 25, or lowers the voltage of the inverters 24 and 25 and supplies it to the battery 22 side. The boost converter 30 is connected to the inverters 24 and 25 in parallel to the boost converter 30 to smooth the boost side voltage, and the voltage before the boost is connected to the battery 22 in parallel to the boost converter 30. A smoothing capacitor 46 for smoothing and an electronic control unit 50 for controlling the entire apparatus are provided.

  Boost converter 30 includes two gate type switching elements (for example, transistors) Tr1, Tr2 arranged in series so as to be parallel to smoothing capacitor 42 on the positive and negative buses of inverters 24, 25, and switching elements Tr1, A known diode composed of two diodes D1 and D2 attached to hold a voltage in parallel with Tr2, and a reactor 32 attached between the two switching elements Tr1 and Tr2 and the positive side of the battery 22 Boost converter.

  The electronic control unit 50 is configured as a microprocessor centered on the CPU 52. In addition to the CPU 52, a ROM 54 that stores processing programs, a RAM 56 that temporarily stores data, input / output ports and communication ports (not shown), and the like. Is provided. The electronic control unit 50 is input with the boost side voltage VH from the voltage sensor 44 attached between the terminals of the smoothing capacitor 42, the reactor temperature Tr from the temperature sensor 33 attached to the reactor 32, and the like through the input port. ing. Further, the electronic control unit 50 outputs a switching signal to the switching elements Tr1 and Tr2 of the boost capacitor 30 from the output port. The electronic control unit 50 also functions as a drive control unit for the two motors MG1 and MG2 for traveling. Therefore, the electronic control unit 50 is applied to the rotational position of the rotor from a rotational position sensor (not shown) attached to the motors MG1 and MG2 and to the motors MG1 and MG2 from a current sensor (not shown) attached to the inverters 24 and 25. Phase current and the like are input via the input port, and switching signals and the like to the inverters 24 and 25 are output from the electronic control unit 50 via the output port.

  The drive device 20 configured in this manner is basically electronically controlled so that the boost side voltage VH becomes the voltage command VH * in order to smoothly exchange power between the battery 22 and the two motors MG1, MG2. The unit 50 performs on / off control of the switching elements Tr1 and Tr2 of the boost converter 30.

  Next, the operation of the drive device 20 of the first embodiment configured as described above, particularly the operation in cooling the battery 22 will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of a cooling control routine executed by the electronic control unit 50 for cooling the battery 22. This routine is repeatedly executed every predetermined time (for example, every second or every few seconds).

  When the cooling control routine is executed, the CPU 52 of the electronic control unit 50 first inputs the reactor temperature Tr detected by the temperature sensor 33 attached to the reactor 32 of the boost converter 30 (step S100). Subtracting the reactor temperature Tr input when the routine was last executed from the reactor temperature Tr (hereinafter referred to as the previous reactor temperature Tr) to increase the temperature per unit time with the activation frequency of the routine of the reactor 32 as a unit time A process of calculating the rate ΔTr (step S110) is executed. Then, the inputted reactor temperature Tr is compared with the threshold value Tref1 (step S120), and the calculated temperature increase rate ΔTr is compared with the threshold value ΔTref1 (step S130). Here, the threshold value Tref1 is the temperature of the reactor 32 that is expected to reach a predetermined required cooling temperature as a relatively high temperature within the allowable temperature range, and is determined by an experiment or the like. Can do. The threshold value ΔTref1 is a rate of temperature increase per unit time of the reactor 32 that is expected to reach the cooling required temperature or higher in a short time although the temperature of the battery 22 is lower than the cooling required temperature, and may be determined by experiments or the like. it can.

  When the reactor temperature Tr is equal to or higher than the threshold value Tref1 or when the temperature increase rate ΔTr is equal to or higher than the threshold value ΔTref1 even if the reactor temperature Tr is lower than the threshold value Tref1, it is determined that the battery 22 needs to be cooled, and the value 1 is set in the cooling flag F At the same time (step S140), the level Lc is set according to a predetermined map so that the level becomes higher as the duration after the cooling flag F is set to 1 (step S150), and according to the set level Lc. Then, the cooling fan 23 is driven so that the air flow becomes the same (step S160), and this routine is finished. Since power transfer between battery 22 and motor MG1 or motor MG2 is performed via boost converter 30, temperature Tr of reactor 32 of boost converter 30 rises according to the power transfer. Since the reactor 32 is smaller in size than the battery 22, the temperature rise of the reactor 32 is faster than the temperature rise of the battery 22. In the first embodiment, paying attention to the fact that the temperature rise of the reactor 32 is faster than the temperature rise of the battery 22, the reactor temperature Tr is equal to or higher than the threshold Tref1, or the temperature rise rate per unit time of the reactor temperature Tr. When ΔTr is equal to or greater than the threshold value ΔTref1, it is determined that the temperature of the battery 22 rises after the temperature rise of the reactor 32, and the cooling fan 23 is driven and controlled prior to the temperature rise of the battery 22. Thereby, cooling of the battery 22 can be performed more appropriately.

  On the other hand, when the reactor temperature Tr is less than the threshold value Tref1 and the temperature increase rate ΔTr is less than the threshold value ΔTref1, it is determined that cooling of the battery 22 is unnecessary, the value 0 is set in the cooling flag F (step S170), and the cooling fan 23 Is stopped (step S180), and this routine is terminated.

  According to the drive device 20 of the first embodiment described above, the temperature Tr of the reactor 32 of the reactor 32 when the temperature Tr of the reactor 32 of the boost converter 30 is equal to or higher than the threshold Tref1 or even when the temperature Tr of the reactor 32 is lower than the threshold Tref1. When the temperature increase rate ΔTr per unit time is equal to or greater than the threshold value ΔTref1, it is determined that the battery 22 needs to be cooled, and the cooling that cools the battery 22 so that the air flow rate becomes higher as the time during which this determination continues is longer. By driving the fan 23, the battery 22 is cooled without causing a delay in cooling the battery 22, increasing the size of the cooling fan 23, or increasing the power consumption of the cooling fan 23 more than necessary. Can do. That is, the battery 22 can be cooled more appropriately.

  In the driving device 20 of the first embodiment, the cooling fan 23 that drives the cooling of the battery 22 is driven so that the air flow rate becomes higher as the time during which the determination that the cooling of the battery 22 is necessary is continued is longer. However, the setting of the level Lc is not necessary when using a cooling fan whose air flow rate cannot be changed.

  FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of the configuration of the drive device 20B as the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the drawing, the driving device 20B of the second embodiment is configured such that the temperature sensor 33 is not attached to the reactor 32, and the temperature sensors 26 and 27 are attached to the motor MG1 and the motor MG2. The configuration is the same as that of the driving device 20 of the first embodiment illustrated in FIG. Therefore, in order to avoid overlapping description, the same reference numerals are given to the same components as those of the drive device 20 of the first embodiment among the configurations of the drive device 20B of the second embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted. .

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a cooling control routine executed by the electronic control unit 50 in the drive device 20B of the second embodiment for cooling the battery 22. This routine is repeatedly executed every predetermined time (for example, every second or every few seconds).

  When the cooling control routine is executed, the CPU 52 of the electronic control unit 50 in the driving device 20B of the second embodiment firstly detects the motor temperature T1, which is detected by the temperature sensors 26, 27 attached to the motor MG1 and the motor MG2. While inputting T2 (step S200), the motor temperatures T1 and T2 (hereinafter referred to as previous motor temperatures T1 and T2) input when this routine was executed last time are subtracted from the input motor temperatures T1 and T2, and the motor is subtracted. A process of calculating temperature increase rates ΔT1 and ΔT2 per unit time (step S210) using the activation frequency of this routine of MG1 and motor MG2 as a unit time is executed. The inputted motor temperatures T1 and T2 are compared with the threshold value Tref2 (step S220), and the calculated temperature increase rates ΔT1 and ΔT2 are compared with the threshold value ΔTref2 (step S230). Here, the threshold value Tref2 is a temperature of the motor MG1 or the motor MG2 that is expected to reach a predetermined required cooling temperature or higher as a relatively high temperature within the allowable temperature range. Can be determined. The threshold value ΔTref2 is a rate of temperature increase per unit time of the motor MG1 and the motor MG2 that is expected to reach the cooling required temperature or higher in a short time although the temperature of the battery 22 is lower than the cooling required temperature. Can be determined.

  When either of the motor temperatures T1 and T2 is equal to or higher than the threshold value Tref2, or when either of the motor temperatures T1 and T2 is lower than the threshold value Tref2, when any of the temperature increase rates ΔT1 and ΔT2 is equal to or higher than the threshold value ΔTref2, It is determined that cooling is necessary, a value 1 is set in the cooling flag F (step S240), and the level is determined by a predetermined map so that the level becomes higher as the duration after the cooling flag F is set to 1 Lc is set (step S250), the cooling fan 23 is driven so as to obtain an air flow rate corresponding to the set level Lc (step S260), and this routine is terminated. Since most of the charging / discharging of the battery 22 is performed by the power generation / drive of the motor MG1 and the motor MG2, the temperatures T1 and T2 of the motor MG1 and the motor MG2 rise according to the power generation / drive of the motor MG1 and the motor MG2. Since the motor MG1 and the motor MG2 are smaller in size than the battery 22, the temperature rise of the motor MG1 and the motor MG2 is faster than the temperature rise of the battery 22. In the second embodiment, paying attention to the fact that the temperature rise of the motor MG1 and the motor MG2 is faster than the temperature rise of the battery 22, either of the motor temperatures T1 and T2 is equal to or higher than the threshold value Tref2, or the motor temperature T1. , T2 when the rate of temperature increase ΔT1 or ΔT2 per unit time is equal to or greater than the threshold value ΔTref2, it is determined that the temperature of the battery 22 increases after the temperature increase of the motor MG1 or the motor MG2, and the temperature of the battery 22 increases. The cooling fan 23 is driven and controlled in advance. Thereby, cooling of the battery 22 can be performed more appropriately.

  On the other hand, when both of the motor temperatures T1 and T2 are less than the threshold value Tref1, and both of the temperature increase rates ΔT1 and ΔT2 are less than the threshold value ΔTref2, it is determined that the cooling of the battery 22 is unnecessary, and the value 0 is set in the cooling flag F. It is set (step S270), stops when the cooling fan 23 is driven (step S280), and this routine is finished.

  According to the driving device 20B of the second embodiment described above, when any of the temperatures T1, T2 of the motor MG1 and the motor MG2 is equal to or higher than the threshold Tref2, or both of the temperatures T1, T2 of the motor MG1 and the motor MG2 are thresholds. Even if the temperature is less than Tref2, if any of the temperature increase rates ΔT1 and ΔT2 per unit time of the temperatures T1 and T2 of the motor MG1 and the motor MG2 is equal to or greater than the threshold value ΔTref2, it is determined that the battery 22 needs to be cooled. By driving the cooling fan 23 that cools the battery 22 such that the longer the duration is, the cooling fan 23 is cooled, so that the cooling of the battery 22 is delayed or the size of the cooling fan 23 is increased. The battery 22 can be cooled without increasing the power consumption of 23 more than necessary. That is, the battery 22 can be cooled more appropriately.

  The correspondence between the main elements of the embodiment and the main elements of the invention described in the column of means for solving the problems will be described. In the first embodiment, the correspondence relationship with the first drive device of the present invention is that the motor MG1 and the motor MG2 correspond to “motor”, the battery 22 corresponds to “secondary battery”, and has a reactor 32. Boost converter 30 corresponds to a “boost circuit”, a cooling device having cooling fan 23 to cool battery 22 corresponds to “cooling means”, and temperature sensor 33 that detects temperature Tr of reactor 32 includes “temperature detection”. The electronic control unit 50 that corresponds to “means” and executes the cooling control routine of FIG. 2 corresponds to “cooling control means”. In the second embodiment, the correspondence relationship with the second drive device of the present invention is that the motor MG1 and the motor MG2 correspond to “motor”, the battery 22 corresponds to “secondary battery”, and the battery 22 is cooled. Therefore, the cooling device having the cooling fan 23 corresponds to “cooling means”, and the temperature sensors 26 and 27 for detecting the temperatures T1 and T2 of the motor MG1 and the motor MG2 correspond to “temperature detection means”. The electronic control unit 50 that executes the cooling control routine corresponds to “cooling control means”.

  The correspondence between the main elements of the embodiment and the main elements of the invention described in the column of means for solving the problem is the same as that of the embodiment described in the column of means for solving the problem. Therefore, the elements of the invention described in the column of means for solving the problems are not limited. That is, the interpretation of the invention described in the column of means for solving the problems should be made based on the description of the column, and the examples are those of the invention described in the column of means for solving the problems. It is only a specific example.

  As mentioned above, although the form for implementing this invention was demonstrated using the Example, this invention is not limited at all to such an Example, In the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention, it is with various forms. Of course, it can be implemented.

  The present invention can be used in the manufacturing industry of drive devices.

  20, 20B drive device, 22 battery, 23 cooling fan, 24, 25 inverter, 26, 27 temperature sensor, 30 boost converter, 32 reactor, 33 temperature sensor, 42 smoothing capacitor, 44 voltage sensor, 50 electronic control unit, 52 CPU 54 ROM, 56 RAM, Tr1, Tr2 switching elements.

Claims (2)

In a drive device comprising: a drive motor; a secondary battery; a booster circuit that has a reactor and boosts the power of the secondary battery to supply the secondary battery; and a cooling unit that cools the secondary battery. ,
Temperature detecting means for detecting a reactor temperature which is a temperature of the reactor;
Cooling that controls the cooling means so that the secondary battery is cooled when the detected reactor temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature or when the rate of increase of the detected reactor temperature per unit time is equal to or higher than a predetermined rate of increase. Control means;
A drive device comprising: In a driving apparatus comprising: a driving motor; a secondary battery that supplies power to the motor; and a cooling unit that cools the secondary battery.
Temperature detecting means for detecting a motor temperature which is a temperature of the motor;
Cooling for controlling the cooling means so that the secondary battery is cooled when the detected motor temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature or when the rate of increase of the detected motor temperature per unit time is equal to or higher than a predetermined rate of increase. Control means;
A drive device comprising:

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