JP2011155794A - Drive device, and vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a drive device that easily and effectively suppresses a downward slip of a vehicle stopped on a slope, and to provide a vehicle including the same. <P>SOLUTION: The drive device 1 includes a battery 11 for supplying power, an inverter 12 for converting the power supplied from the battery 11, a motor 13 for generating motive power to drive a vehicle by the power supplied from the inverter 12, an inverter control section 14 for controlling power conversion in the inverter 12, a speed measuring section 15 for measuring a vehicle speed, a gradient measuring section 16 for measuring a vehicle gradient, and a weight measuring section 17 for measuring vehicle weight. The inverter control section 14 calculates a downward force along a slope applied to a vehicle on the basis of the vehicle weight measured by the weight measuring section 17 and the gradient measured by the gradient measuring section 16 and controls the inverter 12 so as to generate a force canceling the downward force by the motor 13. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a drive device including a motor driven by electric power, and a vehicle including the drive device.

  When the vehicle exists on a slope inclined from a horizontal plane such as a slope, a downward force is applied to the vehicle along the slope. Therefore, if the user performs an inappropriate operation such as loosening the brake on a vehicle parked on the slope, there arises a problem that the vehicle slides down and collides with another vehicle or an object.

  In order to solve the above problem, for example, Patent Document 1 proposes a drive device that causes a motor to generate power in a direction opposite to the direction in which the vehicle is moving when the vehicle is moving at a slow speed. Further, for example, in Patent Document 2, when a clutch is provided between a motor and a drive wheel and the vehicle is stopped on a slope, a drive device that controls the power transmission capacity of the clutch so that the vehicle speed becomes zero is disclosed. Proposed.

JP-A-2-65604 JP-A-5-252612

  If configured like the driving device of Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2, it is possible to suppress the vehicle from sliding down. However, the drive device proposed in Patent Document 1 is problematic because the vehicle vibrates back and forth despite the vehicle being stopped, leading to a deterioration in riding comfort and an increase in power consumption. On the other hand, with the drive device proposed in Patent Document 2, it is possible to prevent the vibration of the vehicle when the vehicle is stopped. However, since the clutch is indispensable, it causes a problem of increasing the size of the drive device and the complexity of the configuration.

  Then, an object of this invention is to provide the drive device which suppresses the vehicle stopped on the slope easily and effectively, and a vehicle provided with the said drive device.

  In order to achieve the above object, a drive device according to the present invention is a drive device that drives a vehicle, and a motor that generates power for driving the vehicle by supplied power, and power that supplies power to the motor. A power supply unit, a weight measurement unit that measures the weight of the vehicle, and a slope measurement unit that measures the slope of the vehicle, and when the vehicle stops on a slope, the power supply unit includes: Obtaining a downward force along the slope applied to the vehicle based on the weight of the vehicle measured by the weight measuring unit and the inclination of the vehicle measured by the inclination measuring unit; It is characterized in that a stopping assistance operation is performed in which power is supplied to the vehicle to generate power that cancels the force.

  In the following embodiments, a battery, an inverter, and an inverter control unit are described as an example of the power supply unit. Further, the power that cancels the downward force along the slope applied to the vehicle is, for example, upward along the slope (substantially parallel to and opposite to the force), and approximately equal to the force. .

  The drive device having the above-described configuration may further include a speed measurement unit that measures the speed of the vehicle, and the power supply unit may have a vehicle speed measured by the speed measurement unit that is equal to or less than a predetermined magnitude. In addition, it may be determined that the vehicle is stopped.

  If comprised in this way, it will become possible to confirm easily whether the vehicle has stopped.

  Further, in the drive device having the above-described configuration, the speed measurement unit may measure the speed of the vehicle based on information on the rotation speed of the motor acquired from the power supply unit.

  If comprised in this way, since a speed measurement part will measure the speed of a vehicle only by acquiring information from an electric power supply part, it becomes possible to simplify the structure of a drive device. In addition, the information regarding the rotation speed of a motor is information which shows the electric power which an electric power supply part supplies to a motor, for example.

  The drive device having the above-described configuration further includes a drive instruction input unit that receives a drive instruction for driving the vehicle from a user, and the drive instruction is input to the drive instruction input unit when performing the stop assist operation. If so, the power supply unit performs a start assisting operation to supply power to the motor so that power obtained by adding auxiliary power to the driving power set according to the driving instruction is generated from the motor, The auxiliary power until the first time elapses from the start of the departure assist operation may be substantially the same as the power generated by the motor in the stop assist operation.

  With this configuration, it is possible to suppress the vehicle from sliding down or suddenly accelerating when the user inputs an incorrect driving instruction when the vehicle is departed from the stop assistance operation. Become. Therefore, the vehicle can be started smoothly. In particular, the power generated from the motor during the stop assist operation in the first half of the departure assist operation (that is, the power that cancels the downward force along the slope applied to the vehicle) is set as the assist power. In the same way as described above, the vehicle can be started smoothly and smoothly only by inputting a drive instruction to the drive instruction input unit.

  In the drive device having the above-described configuration, the auxiliary power from the first time to the end of the departure assist operation may gradually approach 0 as time elapses.

  If comprised in this way, it will become possible to suppress that the motive power which a motor generate | occur | produces changes in the latter stage of vehicle departure assistance operation | movement. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the vehicle from suddenly accelerating or stopping.

  Moreover, the vehicle of this invention is equipped with said drive device, and is driven by the said drive device, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  If it is set as the structure of this invention, when a vehicle stops on a slope, a drive device will perform stop assistance operation | movement. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the vehicle from sliding down. In particular, it is possible to easily and effectively prevent the vehicle from sliding down by generating power from the motor that cancels the downward force along the slope applied to the vehicle as the stopping assistance operation.

  The significance or effect of the present invention will be further clarified by the following description of embodiments. However, the following embodiment is merely one of the embodiments of the present invention, and the meaning of the terminology of the present invention or each constituent element is limited to those described in the following embodiments. is not.

These are block diagrams which show the structure of the drive device of 1st Example. These are the schematic diagrams which show the force concerning the vehicle stopped on the slope. These are block diagrams which show the structure of the drive device of 2nd Example. These are block diagrams which show the structure of the drive device of 3rd Example. These are graphs which show an example of operation | movement of the drive device of 3rd Example. These are graphs which show another example of operation | movement of the drive device of 3rd Example.

  Embodiments of the driving apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the embodiments can be implemented in any combination as long as there is no contradiction.

<First embodiment>
First, a first embodiment of the drive device will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the driving apparatus of the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the drive device 1 includes a battery 11 that supplies stored power, an inverter 12 that converts DC power supplied from the battery 11 into AC, and AC that is supplied from the inverter 12. A motor 13 that generates power for driving the vehicle with the electric power of the motor, an inverter control unit 14 that controls conversion of electric power in the inverter 12, a speed measuring unit 15 that measures the speed of the vehicle, and a degree of inclination of the vehicle (that is, a road surface). A slope measuring unit 16 that measures the weight of the vehicle, and a weight measuring unit 17 that measures the weight of the vehicle. Also, solid arrows connecting the blocks in the figure indicate power exchange, and broken arrows indicate information exchange.

  The battery 11 is charged by, for example, commercial power or electric power generated from the vehicle (for example, electric power generated by regeneration). The inverter 12 converts direct current power supplied by the discharge of the battery 11 into alternating current and supplies the alternating current to the motor 13. The motor 13 rotates the axle of the vehicle by the electric power supplied from the inverter 12 and drives the vehicle.

  The inverter control unit 14 controls the power generated by the motor 13 by controlling the power supplied to the motor 13 by controlling the power conversion operation by the inverter 12. Note that the motor 13 operates with three-phase AC power, and the inverter control unit 14 controls the duty ratio of each of the three-phase pulses output from the inverter 12 (PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control). Therefore, the AC power of each of the three phases supplied to the motor 13 may be controlled.

  As a measurement method executed by each of the speed measurement unit 15, the gradient measurement unit 16, and the weight measurement unit 17, any known measurement method can be applied. For example, the speed measurement unit 15 may measure the speed based on the number of rotations of the axle. For example, the inclination measuring unit 16 may measure the inclination of the vehicle based on the pendulum or the inclination of the liquid level. Further, for example, the weight measuring unit 17 may measure the weight of the entire vehicle (total weight including passengers, luggage, etc. in addition to the vehicle main body) based on the pressure applied to each part of the vehicle. In addition, said measuring method is only an example and each measuring part 15-17 may apply measuring methods other than the above. Further, for example, the weight measurement unit 17 or the like may be configured so that the user can specify or correct the measurement value.

  The drive device 1 according to the present embodiment performs a stop assist operation that suppresses sliding of the vehicle when the vehicle is stopped on a slope. Hereinafter, the stop assistance operation will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the force applied to the vehicle stopped on the slope. In FIG. 2, a four-wheeled vehicle (ordinary vehicle) is shown as an example of the vehicle, but the vehicle in the present application is not limited to the four-wheeled vehicle. For example, a motorcycle (motorcycle, bicycle) and the like can also be included in the vehicle of the present application.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a vertically downward gravity G (weight of the vehicle C × gravity acceleration) is applied to the vehicle C that stops on the slope (inclination θ from the horizontal plane). Then, due to the gravity G, a downward force Gs (gravity G × sin θ) is applied to the vehicle C along the slope. As described above, the slope measuring unit 16 measures the slope slope θ and the weight measuring unit 17 measures the weight of the vehicle C. Therefore, the inverter control unit 14 can obtain the downward force Gs along the slope by using these measurement results.

  Although FIG. 2 illustrates the case where the front of the vehicle (the direction to be advanced when the motor 13 rotates forward; the same applies hereinafter) is on the upper side of the slope, the case where the front of the vehicle is on the lower side of the slope is also illustrated. Similarly, a downward force Gs is applied to the vehicle C along the slope.

  Further, the inverter control unit 14 can determine whether or not the vehicle C is stopped based on the measurement result of the speed measurement unit 15. Specifically, when the speed of the vehicle C becomes a predetermined magnitude or less, it is determined that the vehicle C is stopped. And when the inverter control part 14 determines with the vehicle C stopping on the slope, stop stop operation | movement is performed.

  When the stop assist operation is performed, the inverter control unit 14 controls the inverter 12 so that the motor 13 generates power that cancels the downward force Gs along the slope. At this time, the motive power generated by the motor 13 is, for example, upward along the slope (substantially parallel to and opposite to the force Gs) and has a magnitude approximately equal to the force Gs. The inverter control unit 14 controls the inverter 12 so that the power is continuously generated from the motor 13 while the vehicle C is stopped.

  If comprised as mentioned above, when the vehicle C stops on a slope, the drive device 1 will perform stop assistance operation | movement. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the vehicle C from sliding down. In particular, since the motor 13 generates power that cancels the downward force Gs along the slope applied to the vehicle C as a stop assisting operation, it is possible to easily and effectively prevent the vehicle C from sliding down. .

<Second embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment of the drive device will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the driving apparatus of the second embodiment, and corresponds to FIG. 1 showing the first embodiment of the driving apparatus. 3 that are the same as those in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals, and detailed descriptions thereof are omitted. Also, the description regarding FIG. 1 can be applied to FIG. 3 as long as there is no contradiction.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the drive device 1 a includes a battery 11, an inverter 12, a motor 13, an inverter control unit 14, a speed measurement unit 15 a, a slope measurement unit 16, and a weight measurement unit 17. Prepare. However, the method of measuring the vehicle speed by the speed measuring unit 15a is different between the first embodiment and the present embodiment.

  The speed measurement unit 15a of this embodiment measures the speed of the vehicle by acquiring information related to the rotation speed of the motor 13 from the inverter 12. Specifically, for example, the speed measurement unit 15a measures the speed of the vehicle by checking the number of revolutions of the motor 13 (the number of revolutions of the axle) based on the electric power supplied from the inverter 12 to the motor 13.

  If comprised as mentioned above, since the speed measurement part 15a will measure the speed of a vehicle only by acquiring information from the inverter 12, it becomes possible to simplify the structure of the drive device 1a.

<Third embodiment>
Next, a third embodiment of the drive device will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the driving device of the third embodiment, and corresponds to FIG. 1 showing the first embodiment of the driving device. 4 that are the same as those in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals, and detailed descriptions thereof are omitted. The description related to FIG. 1 can be applied to FIG. 4 as long as there is no contradiction.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the drive device 1b includes a battery 11, an inverter 12, a motor 13, an inverter control unit 14b, a speed measurement unit 15, a slope measurement unit 16, a weight measurement unit 17, and a user. Drive instruction input unit 18 to which an instruction to drive the vehicle is input.

  The drive instruction input unit 18 is, for example, an instruction that is input by a user's operation, such as an accelerator or a throttle, and particularly an instruction that drives (accelerates) the vehicle. Further, the inverter control unit 14 b controls the inverter 12 so that electric power corresponding to a user's drive instruction input via the drive instruction input unit 18 is supplied to the motor 13.

  Similarly to the driving device 1 of the first embodiment and the driving device 1a of the second embodiment, the driving device 1b of the present embodiment can also perform a stopping assistance operation. However, the drive device 1b according to the present embodiment performs the departure assist operation when a drive instruction is input from the user via the drive instruction input unit 18 during the execution of the stop assist operation. Hereinafter, the details of the departure assistance operation will be described with reference to the drawings.

  The operation example shown in FIG. 5 is for a case where a vehicle stopped with the front as shown in FIG. 2 as the upper side of the slope is going to advance toward the upper side of the slope. Hereinafter, the power generated when the motor 13 rotates forward (the power of the motor 13 that moves the vehicle forward) is positive, and the power generated when the motor 13 rotates backward (the power of the motor 13 that moves the vehicle backward) is negative. Express. The speed when the vehicle moves forward is expressed as positive, and the speed when the vehicle moves backward is expressed as negative.

  In the operation example shown in FIG. 5, the stop assistance operation described above is performed from time 0 to time t1. At this time, the inverter control unit 14b controls the inverter 12 so that the positive output power m1 (thick solid line in the figure) that cancels the downward force along the slope applied to the vehicle is continuously output from the motor 13. To do. As a result, the speed of the vehicle becomes 0 (stopped state).

  Next, at time t1, the user starts to input a driving instruction. Then, the drive device 1b starts a departure assist operation. When the departure assistance operation is performed, the output power (thick solid line in the figure) obtained by adding the auxiliary power (fine broken line in the figure) to the driving power (rough broken line in the figure) set according to the drive instruction is the motor 13. The inverter control unit 14b controls the inverter 12 so as to generate from the above.

  Specifically, auxiliary power substantially equal to the output power m1 output in the stop assistance operation is set between the start time t1 and the time t2 of the departure assistance operation (previous term). As a result, output power of m1 or more is generated from the motor 13, and the vehicle speed becomes positive (departs). Further, during the time t2 from the time t2 to the end time t3 of the departure assist operation (late stage), auxiliary power that gradually approaches m1 from 0 with the passage of time from the time t2 is set. As a result, the output power generated from the motor 13 approaches the driving power as time passes.

  After time t3, the driving device 1b performs a traveling operation. When the traveling operation is performed, the inverter control unit 14b controls the inverter 12 so that the output power (thick broken line in the figure) substantially equal to the driving power is output from the motor 13.

  The same applies to a case where a vehicle parked with the front side below the slope is going to advance toward the bottom side of the slope. An example of the operation in this case is shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a graph showing another example of the operation of the driving apparatus of the third embodiment.

  In the operation example shown in FIG. 6, the stop assistance operation described above is performed from time 0 to time t4. At this time, the inverter control unit 14b controls the inverter 12 so that the negative output power m4 (thick solid line in the figure) that cancels the downward force along the slope applied to the vehicle is continuously output from the motor 13. To do. As a result, the speed of the vehicle becomes 0 (stopped state).

  Next, at time t4, the user starts to input a driving instruction. Then, the drive device 1b starts a departure assist operation. When the departure assistance operation is performed, the output power (thick solid line in the figure) obtained by adding the auxiliary power (fine broken line in the figure) to the driving power (rough broken line in the figure) set according to the drive instruction is the motor 13. The inverter control unit 14b controls the inverter 12 so as to generate from the above.

  Specifically, auxiliary power substantially equal to the output power m4 output in the stop assistance operation is set between the start time t4 and the time t5 of the departure assistance operation (previous term). As a result, power of m4 or more is generated from the motor 13, and the vehicle speed becomes positive (departs). In addition, during the period from the time t5 to the end time t6 of the departure assist operation (late stage), auxiliary power that gradually approaches m4 to 0 with the passage of time from the time t5 is set. As a result, the output power generated from the motor 13 approaches the driving power as time passes.

  After time t6, the driving device 1b performs a traveling operation. When the traveling operation is performed, the inverter control unit 14b controls the inverter 12 so that the output power (thick broken line in the figure) substantially equal to the driving power is output from the motor 13.

  With the configuration described above, when the user stops driving stop operation and starts the vehicle, the user inputs an incorrect driving instruction (that is, the output power generated from the motor 13 is excessive or insufficient), Can be prevented from sliding down or rapidly accelerating. Therefore, the vehicle can be started smoothly.

  In particular, in the first half of the departure assist operation, the power that cancels the downward force along the slope applied to the vehicle is set as the assist power. As a result, the user can easily and smoothly start the vehicle just by inputting a driving instruction to the driving instruction input unit 18 in the same manner as on a flat ground.

  In addition, auxiliary power that approaches 0 with the passage of time is set in the later stage of the departure assist operation. As a result, it is possible to suppress a sudden change in the output power generated by the motor 13 (that is, the behavior of the vehicle). Therefore, it is possible to prevent the vehicle from suddenly accelerating or stopping.

  5 and 6 exemplify the case where the auxiliary power (the fine broken line in the figure) changes linearly, it may be changed non-linearly.

  Moreover, although the departure assistance operation in the case where the vehicle moves forward has been described as an example, the departure assistance operation can be performed also in the case where the vehicle moves backward. For example, when a vehicle parked with the front as the upper side of the slope is going to move backward toward the lower side of the slope, the motor 13 is shown in a graph in which the sign of the output power of the motor shown in FIG. 6 is reversed. To control. Further, for example, when a vehicle parked with the front as the lower side of the slope is going to move backward toward the upper side of the slope, the motor is shown in the graph in which the positive and negative of the output power of the motor shown in FIG. 5 is reversed. 13 is controlled.

  Further, in the first half of the departure assist operation, the inverter control unit 14 is configured so that the power obtained by adding the power based on the drive instruction to the power that the inverter 12 has supplied to the motor 13 during the stop assist operation is supplied to the motor 13. However, the inverter 12 may be controlled. Further, in the later stage of the departure assist operation, the power obtained by adding the power based on the drive instruction to the power that the inverter 12 supplied to the motor 13 during the stop assist operation asymptotically approaches 0 over time. The inverter control unit 14 may control the inverter 12 so as to be supplied to the motor 13.

  Further, the speed measurement unit 15 of the present embodiment may be used as the speed measurement unit 15a of the second embodiment.

<Modification>
In the drive device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the operation of some or all of the inverter control units 14 and 14b, the speed measurement units 15 and 15a, the inclination measurement unit 16, the weight measurement unit 17 and the drive instruction unit 18 is performed by a microcomputer. It may be performed by the control device. Further, all or part of the functions realized by such a control device is described as a program, and the program is executed on a program execution device (for example, a computer) to realize all or part of the functions. It doesn't matter if you do.

  In addition to the above-described case, the driving devices 1, 1a, and 1b shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4 can be realized by hardware or a combination of hardware and software. Further, when configuring a part of the driving devices 1, 1 a, and 1 b using software, a block for a part realized by software represents a functional block of the part.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment in this invention was described, the range of this invention is not limited to this, It can add and implement various changes in the range which does not deviate from the main point of invention.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for a drive device including a motor driven by electric power and a vehicle including the drive device.

1, 1a, 1b Driving device 11 Battery 12 Inverter 13 Motor 14, 14b Inverter control unit 15, 15a Speed measuring unit 16 Inclination measuring unit 17 Weight measuring unit C Vehicle

Claims (6)

A drive device for driving a vehicle,
A motor for generating power for driving the vehicle with supplied power;
A power supply unit for supplying power to the motor;
A weight measuring unit for measuring the weight of the vehicle;
An inclination measuring unit for measuring the inclination of the vehicle,
When the vehicle is stopped on a slope, the power supply unit is based on the weight of the vehicle measured by the weight measurement unit and the inclination of the vehicle measured by the inclination measurement unit. A driving apparatus that performs a stop assisting operation for obtaining a downward force along the slope applied to the vehicle and generating power that supplies electric power to the motor to cancel the force. A speed measuring unit for measuring the speed of the vehicle;
The said electric power supply part determines with the said vehicle having stopped when the speed of the said vehicle measured by the said speed measurement part becomes below a predetermined magnitude | size. Drive device.   The drive device according to claim 2, wherein the speed measurement unit measures the speed of the vehicle based on information about the rotation speed of the motor acquired from the power supply unit. A drive instruction input unit for inputting a drive instruction for driving the vehicle from a user;
When a driving instruction is input to the driving instruction input unit when performing the stopping assistance operation,
The power supply unit performs a vehicle-assisted operation to supply power to the motor so that power obtained by adding auxiliary power to drive power set according to the drive instruction is generated from the motor.
The auxiliary power until the first time elapses from the start of the departure assist operation is substantially equal to the power generated by the motor in the stop assist operation. 4. The drive device according to any one of 3.   5. The drive device according to claim 4, wherein auxiliary power from the first time to the end of the departure assist operation gradually approaches 0 as time elapses.   A vehicle comprising the drive device according to claim 1 and driven by the drive device.

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