JP2011223689A - Charge completion notification method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a charge completion notification method capable of recognizing charge completion of an on-vehicle battery without observing a display unit installed in a cabin.SOLUTION: When an on-vehicle battery reaches a charge completion state by quick charge, a first operation device is activated. When the battery reaches a charge completion state by ordinary charge, a second operation device different from the first operation device is activated. A driver near a vehicle recognizes that charge of the on-vehicle battery is completed by quick charge, for example, by hearing of a beep sound. Moreover, by confirming the operation of a door mirror, charge completion of the on-vehicle battery by ordinary charge is recognized.

Description

  The present invention relates to a charging completion notification method for notifying completion of charging of an on-vehicle battery of an electric vehicle, particularly an electric vehicle.

  Generally, there are two types of charging for a battery for running an electric vehicle: normal charging for charging using a commercial power source for household use, and quick charging for charging a battery directly from a dedicated quick charger. In an electric vehicle or the like, it is considered that a display device for displaying a charging state of a battery is installed in a room so that the charging state of the battery can be confirmed while traveling. However, in normal charging or quick charging, it takes time to enter the vehicle compartment each time to confirm the completion of charging. Therefore, there are known an invention for notifying the completion of charging indoors using a remote controller of a hot water supply device, and an invention for notifying the completion of charging using an opening / closing operation of a door mirror provided in a vehicle.

JP 2009-240008 A

  However, normal charging and rapid charging differ greatly in the time required for charging. In normal charging, the time required for completion of charging is about 7 to 10 hours. Therefore, in many cases, a vehicle is placed in a home parking lot and charged at night. Therefore, in normal charging, the next morning, the driver sees a display device that displays charging completion and confirms that charging is complete.

  On the other hand, rapid charging takes about several tens of minutes to complete charging (about 80% of full charge). Since quick charging requires a dedicated quick charger, it seems that the mainstream is to park it at a charging stand or the like. At the charging stand, since a plurality of people use the charger in turn, it is necessary to quickly move the charged vehicle from the charging space for the next vehicle. Thus, during rapid charging, the driver is likely to be in the vicinity of the vehicle and wait for charging to complete.

  As described above, since the situation when the charging is completed is greatly different between the normal charging and the rapid charging, there is a problem that it is difficult to confirm the completion of the charging even if the charging completion is notified by the same method.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a charging completion notification method that can be easily recognized in both quick charging and normal charging and can reliably check the completion of charging.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention configures a charging completion notification method as follows.

  The quick charging process is performed by directly supplying power from an external power supply to a battery mounted on the vehicle. The normal charging process is performed by supplying a current smaller than the charging current in the quick charging process. In the quick charging process, when the charging of the on-vehicle battery is completed, the first operating device provided in the vehicle is operated. On the other hand, when charging of the in-vehicle battery is completed in the normal charging process, the in-vehicle battery charging completion notification method is configured to operate the second operating device different from the first operating device.

The charging completion notification method according to the present invention has the following effects.
It is easy to recognize the normal charging and quick charging because the operation device at the time of charging is different. In particular, in quick charging in which a person is in the vicinity of a vehicle and is waiting for charging, it is easy to recognize the completion of charging when a horn is blown. Further, in normal charging in which charging is completed at night, it is not preferable to blow a horn, and it is preferable to open and close the door mirror. If it is a door mirror, since it is comparatively easy to see, and since it is not an instantaneous operation | movement and it does not restore | restore even if time passes, it can judge charge completion easily and reliably.

It is a block diagram which shows one Example of the vehicle which implements the charge completion notification method concerning this invention. It is a flowchart which shows one Embodiment of the charge completion notification method. It is a flowchart which shows other embodiment of the charge completion notification method. It is a flowchart which shows other embodiment of the power reception completion notification method. It is a perspective view which shows the vehicle in a charging state.

  An embodiment of a quick charge completion notification method according to the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 5 shows the vehicle 10. The vehicle 10 includes an in-vehicle battery 12 for traveling, an electric motor 14 (both see FIG. 1), and a quick charging port 16 for quick charging, and the in-vehicle battery 12 is charged, and the electric vehicle travels with the electric power. It is. FIG. 5 shows a state where the vehicle 10 is parked in the charging space 60 of the quick charger 50 and the quick charge nozzle 52 is connected to the quick charge port 16. As shown in the figure, a headlamp (headlight) 20, a direction indicator lamp (blinker) 22, a door mirror 24, and the like are provided in front of the vehicle 10.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of the vehicle 10. The vehicle 10 includes wheels 26 at four corners. The wheel 26 includes a front wheel 26a provided in front of the vehicle and a rear wheel 26b provided in the rear. In front of the vehicle 10, a horn 28 is provided in addition to the headlamp 20, the direction indicator lamp 22, and the door mirror 24 described above.

  The headlamp 20 is an illumination lamp that irradiates the front of the vehicle 10. The direction indicator lamps 22 are illumination lamps provided on the front, rear, left, and right sides of the vehicle 10 to indicate the turning direction of the vehicle 10 and the like. The door mirror 24 is a mirror for the driver to confirm the rear of the vehicle, and is attached in the vicinity of the front door 54 (see FIG. 5). The door mirror 24 can be electrically stored and deployed. The horn 28 is a sound generator that generates a sound outside the vehicle.

  The in-vehicle battery 12 is a rechargeable battery having a sufficient capacity for vehicle travel. The vehicle battery 12 includes various sensors such as a temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the vehicle battery 12, an ammeter that measures the current flowing through the vehicle battery 12, and a voltmeter that measures the voltage of the vehicle battery 12 (none of which are shown). The values of these sensors are sent to the battery control unit 30. The battery control unit 30 measures the state of charge of the in-vehicle battery 12 based on the values from the sensors, and controls the amount of charge to the in-vehicle battery 12 based on the value.

  An electric motor 14 is provided behind the vehicle 10. The electric motor 14 is a traveling motor and is connected to the in-vehicle battery 12 via the power control unit 34. A reduction differential mechanism 32 is attached to the output shaft of the electric motor 14, and is connected to the rear wheel 26 b via a drive shaft (not shown) from the reduction differential mechanism 32.

  A normal charging port 18 is provided on the right side of the vehicle 10. The normal charging port 18 is a connection port for connecting a commercial power source for household use (AC 100V, 200V or the like), and is connected to the in-vehicle battery 12 through the in-vehicle charger 36 and the DC-DC converter 38. In normal charging, the time required from the discharge state to the completion of charging is usually several hours to several tens of hours.

  The quick charging port 16 is provided on the left side of the vehicle 10 as shown in FIG. The quick charge port 16 is a connection port to which the quick charger 50 is connected, and is connected to the in-vehicle battery 12 without a voltage converter or the like. The quick charging port 16 is provided with a signal line terminal (none of which is shown) together with a power line terminal. When the quick charge nozzle 52 of the quick charger 50 is connected to the quick charge port 16 (see FIG. 5), the battery control unit 30 and the control unit of the quick charger 50 are connected via the signal line. Is sent to the control unit of the quick charger 50. The quick charger 50 supplies charging power to the in-vehicle battery 12 in accordance with a request signal from the battery control unit 30. In rapid charging, the time required from the discharge state to the completion of charging is usually about several tens of minutes.

  Further, the vehicle 10 includes a charge notification control unit 40 and an operation unit 42. When the charge notification control unit 40 is connected to the battery control unit 30 and receives a value related to the charge state of the in-vehicle battery 12 measured by the battery control unit 30, the charge completion of the in-vehicle battery 12 and the charging are performed based on the value. Calculate the completed charge completion time. When the charging notification control unit 40 calculates the charging completion time, the charging notification control unit 40 sends various instructions for notifying the completion of charging to the operating unit 42.

  The operating unit 42 is connected to the charging notification control unit 40, and via the signal line 44, the actuators (not shown) of the headlamp 20, the direction indicator lamp 22, the door mirror 24, and the horn 28 as operating points. ) Is connected. Upon receiving various instructions from the charge notification control unit 40, the operation unit 42 sends operation signals to the actuators such as the headlamp 20, the direction indicator lamp 22, the door mirror 24, and the horn 28 in accordance with the instructions, and appropriately transmits them. Operate.

  Next, the effect | action of the charge completion notification method is demonstrated using the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, as shown in FIG. 5, the vehicle 10 is parked in the charging space 60 of the quick charger 50. The lid of the quick charge port 16 is opened, and the quick charge nozzle 52 is connected to the quick charge port 16. When the connection of the quick charging nozzle 52 to the quick charging port 16 is detected by the battery control unit 30, it is determined by the charge notification control unit 40 whether or not the quick charging nozzle 52 is securely connected (S-100). When the connection of the quick charging nozzle 52 is confirmed by the charging notification control unit 40, the vehicle control unit or the like (not shown) determines whether or not there is a vehicle failure (S-102). If it is confirmed that there is no failure in the vehicle 10, the battery control unit 30 connects the power line of the quick charge nozzle 52 to the in-vehicle battery 12 (S-104). Thereby, the quick charge to the vehicle-mounted battery 12 is started (S-106).

  The battery control unit 30 measures the charge state of the in-vehicle battery 12 from values such as the temperature of the in-vehicle battery 12 and the voltage of the in-vehicle battery 12 sent from various sensors. Then, the battery control unit 30 sends a power supply instruction to the control unit of the quick charger 50 based on the state of charge. The quick charger 50 supplies predetermined power to the vehicle 10 based on a request signal from the battery control unit 30.

  Further, the battery control unit 30 sends the charge state of the in-vehicle battery 12 to the charge notification control unit 40. The charge notification control unit 40 is based on the charge state of the in-vehicle battery 12 sent from the battery control unit 30, for example, the amount of charge of the in-vehicle battery 12, the time variation of the charge amount, the temperature change, etc. (Remaining charging time) is calculated (S-108). Here, the completion of charging means a fully charged state in rapid charging. The full charge state in the quick charge is usually about 80% of the full charge of the in-vehicle battery 12 in the normal charge. When the remaining charging time until the completion of charging is calculated, the initial calculation value of the remaining charging time is stored.

  Next, the charging notification control unit 40 determines whether or not the calculation result, that is, the remaining charging time is 10 minutes or less (S-110). If it is determined in step 110 that the remaining charge time is not less than 10 minutes, the process returns to step S-108, and the charge notification control unit 40 calculates the remaining charge time again (S-108). It is determined whether the time is 10 minutes or less.

  On the other hand, when the charging notification control unit 40 determines that the remaining charging time is 10 minutes or less at step 110, the charging notification control unit 40 determines whether or not the stored calculation initial value has exceeded 10 minutes. (S-112). If the charging notification control unit 40 determines in step 112 that the calculation initial value has exceeded 10 minutes, the charging notification control unit 40 sends a predetermined instruction to the operation unit 42. In accordance with the instruction, the operating unit 42 causes the horn 28 to blow once briefly, causes the headlamp 20 to blink once, and causes the direction indicator lamp 22 to blink once (S-114).

  By seeing the flashing of the headlight 20 and the flashing of the hazard, or by listening to the sound of the horn 28, the driver in the vicinity of the vehicle 10 recognizes that the remaining 10 minutes have elapsed until the charging is completed. it can.

  When the notification of the first charging state is completed, the charging notification control unit 40 calculates the remaining charging time again (S-116), and determines whether the remaining charging time is 5 minutes or less (S-118). If the charging notification control unit 40 determines that the remaining charging time is 5 minutes or less, the charging notification control unit 40 sends a predetermined instruction to the operating unit 42, and the operating unit 42 causes the horn 28 to blow twice shortly in accordance with the instruction. 20 is blinked twice briefly, and the hazard blinking by the direction indicator lamp 22 is further performed twice (S-120).

  As a result, the driver or the like in the vicinity of the vehicle 10 can recognize that the remaining 5 minutes have been reached until the charging is completed. Note that the driver may terminate the rapid charging and drive the vehicle 10 from the charging space 60 when the remaining charging time has been confirmed to be 10 minutes or 5 minutes.

  When the notification of the second charging state is completed, the charging notification control unit 40 calculates the remaining charging time again (S-122), and determines whether or not the remaining charging time is 0 minutes (S-124). . When the charging notification control unit 40 determines that the remaining charging time is 0 minutes, that is, the charging is completed, the charging notification control unit 40 sends a predetermined instruction to the operating unit 42, and the operating unit 42 blows the horn 28 shortly three times according to the instruction, The headlamp 20 is blinked three times briefly, and the direction indicator lamp 22 is blinked three times (S-126). Further, the battery control unit 30 stops the rapid charging in accordance with the above operation (S-128), and cuts off the connection of the power line between the rapid charging nozzle 52 and the in-vehicle battery 12 (S-130).

  By seeing the flashing of the headlight 20 and the flashing of the hazard 3 times as described above, or by listening to the sound of the whistle 28 three times, the driver in the vicinity of the vehicle 10 can confirm that the charging has been completed. I can recognize it.

  On the other hand, when the charging notification control unit 40 determines in step 112 that the stored calculation initial value is less than 10 minutes, the process proceeds to step S-122 and is operated in the same manner as described above. That is, the charge notification control unit 40 calculates the remaining charge time again (S-122), and if it is determined that the remaining charge time is 0 minute, that is, the charge is completed (S-124), a predetermined instruction is given to the operating unit 42. Send. In accordance with the instruction, the actuating unit 42 blows the horn 28 briefly three times, causes the headlamp 20 to blink three times briefly, and further causes the direction indicator lamp 22 to blink hazard three times (S-126). Further, the quick charge is stopped (S-128), and the connection of the power line between the quick charge nozzle 52 and the in-vehicle battery 12 is cut off (S-130).

  Even if there is no flashing once or twice by seeing such flashing of the headlight 20 or flashing of the hazard three times or listening to the sound of the whistle 28 three times, the same as described above. A driver or the like in the vicinity of the vehicle 10 can recognize that charging has been completed.

  FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of a charge completion notification in another example. In this example, the completion of charging is determined from the state of charge (SOC) of the in-vehicle battery 12 instead of the remaining charging time. In this example, a different part from the example demonstrated using FIG. 2 is demonstrated, and description of the same part is abbreviate | omitted.

  From the start to step S-206 is the same operation as step 106 in the above example. In step S-208, the battery control unit 30 measures the state of charge (SOC) of the in-vehicle battery 12. Moreover, the initial value of the measured charge state is stored. The battery control unit 30 continuously measures the charge state and sends it to the charge notification control unit 40.

  The charge notification control unit 40 compares the state of charge sent from the battery control unit 30 with the threshold SOC1 (S-210). The SOC1 is, for example, 80% of the completion of charging. If the state of charge is less than SOC1, the process returns to step S-208 to measure the state of charge (SOC) of the in-vehicle battery 12 and perform comparison.

  On the other hand, if the state of charge is greater than or equal to SOC1 in step S-210, the process proceeds to step S-212 to determine whether or not the initial value of SOC is less than SOC1. If the initial value is not less than SOC1, the process proceeds to step S-220. If the initial value is less than SOC1, the horn 28 or the like is blown once as described above (S-214).

  Then, the same processing is performed for the next threshold value SOC2 (S-216) (S-218). SOC2 is, for example, 90% of the completion of charging. Finally, SOC is 100%. That is, it is determined whether or not the charging is completed (S-220), and if it is 100%, the horn 28 is blown three times (S-222).

  Further, FIG. 4 will be used to explain the charge completion notification in normal charging using a flowchart. First, the vehicle 10 is parked in a home parking space (not shown), the cover of the normal charging port 18 is opened, and the normal charging nozzle (not shown) is connected to the normal charging port 18. When connection of the normal charging nozzle to the normal charging port 18 is detected by the battery control unit 30, it is determined by the charging notification control unit 40 whether or not the normal charging nozzle is securely connected (S-300). When the connection of the normal charging nozzle is confirmed by the charging notification control unit 40, the vehicle control unit or the like (not shown) determines whether or not there is a vehicle failure (S-302). If it is confirmed that there is no failure in the vehicle 10, the battery control unit 30 connects the power line of the normal charging nozzle to the in-vehicle battery 12 (S-304). Thereby, normal charge to the vehicle-mounted battery 12 is started (S-306).

  A household power supply, for example, an AC power supply of 100 V or 200 V is connected to the in-vehicle battery 12 via the in-vehicle charger 36 and the DC-DC converter 38, and the in-vehicle battery 12 is charged. When charging is performed, the battery control unit 30 monitors the state of charge (SOC) of the in-vehicle battery 12, and determines whether or not the actual measurement value is 100% (S-308). If it is determined that the measured value of the SOC has reached 100%, the door mirror 24 is stored (S-310).

  And the normal charge to the vehicle-mounted battery 12 is stopped (S-312), and a connection with a normal charge power supply device is interrupted | blocked (S-314). Accordingly, the driver or the like can confirm that the normal charging is completed by confirming that the door mirror 24 is stored in a parking lot at home.

  In the above example, the electric vehicle has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be applied to an external power source rechargeable hybrid vehicle. Moreover, the drive system etc. of the vehicle 10 are not limited. Moreover, you may apply not only to quick charge and normal charge but to other charge systems. For example, in a hybrid vehicle, it may be used to notify completion of charging by an in-vehicle generator.

  The present invention can be applied to an electric vehicle that performs quick charging and normal charging on a mounted battery.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Vehicle 12 ... Car-mounted battery 14 ... Electric motor 16 ... Rapid charge port 18 ... Normal charge port 20 ... Headlight 22 ... Direction indicator light 24 ... Door mirror 28 ... Horne 30 ... Battery control part 32 ... Deceleration differential mechanism 34 ... Power Control unit 36 ... In-vehicle charger 38 ... DC-DC converter 40 ... Charge notification controller 42 ... Actuator 44 ... Signal line 50 ... Quick charger 52 ... Quick charge nozzle 60 ... Charging space

Claims (5)

A quick charging process in which power is supplied directly from an external power supply to a battery mounted on the vehicle and charged;
A normal charging step of charging the battery by supplying a current smaller than a charging current in the quick charging step;
A quick charge completion confirmation step of determining whether or not charging of the battery in the quick charge step is completed based on a state of charge of the battery;
In the in-vehicle battery charging method, comprising: a normal charging completion confirmation process for determining whether or not charging of the battery in the normal charging process is completed based on a charging state of the battery,
A first operation step of operating a first operation device provided in the vehicle when the completion of charging of the battery is confirmed by the quick charge completion confirmation step;
A vehicle-mounted battery comprising: a second operating step for operating a second operating device different from the first operating device when the charging completion of the battery is confirmed by the normal charging completion checking step Charging completion notification method. The first actuating device returns to a state before the first actuating device is actuated after the first actuating device is actuated,
2. The battery charging completion notification method according to claim 1, wherein the second operating device maintains a state after the second operating device is operated after the second operating device is operated. In the quick charging process, the process includes a detection process before completion of quick charging for detecting a predetermined charging state before charging is completed,
When the predetermined charging state before the completion of charging is detected in the detection process before the completion of the quick charging, the first operating device is caused to perform a predetermined operation corresponding to the charging state before the completion of charging. The battery charging completion notification method according to claim 1 or 2.   4. The battery charging completion notification method according to claim 1, wherein the first operating device is a horn provided in the vehicle. 5.   5. The battery charge completion notification method according to claim 1, wherein the second operating device is an electric open / close door mirror provided in the vehicle. 6.

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