JP2012200103A - Charge control apparatus and charge control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a charge control apparatus and a charge control system that can stop feeding in the case of fire.SOLUTION: The charge control system includes a charge control apparatus 1 and a fire alarm 2, and charges an electric vehicle parked in a home garage or the like. The charge control apparatus 1 includes: an apparatus body 10 storing a control circuit 3, a reception section 4, a relay 7 and the like; and a feeding plug 11 extended from the apparatus body 10. When a detection section 22 of the fire alarm 2 detects smoke continuously, a control section 21 of the fire alarm 2 outputs a fire alarm signal to the charge control apparatus 1. If the reception section 4 of the charge control apparatus 1 receives the fire alarm signal while an electric vehicle is charged, the control circuit 3 opens the relay 7 to stop charging the electric vehicle.

Description

  The present invention relates to a charge control device and a charge control system using the charge control device.

  In recent years, electric vehicles using an electric motor as a power source, such as a storage battery type electric vehicle (EV) and a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHV), are being put into practical use. Such an electric vehicle is equipped with an in-vehicle charger for receiving power supplied from an external power source such as a commercial 100V AC power source and charging a built-in traveling battery. When connecting this in-vehicle charger to an external power supply, the power supply to the electric vehicle is cut off when an electric leakage occurs, in order to prevent overcurrent from flowing in the in-vehicle charger due to leakage on the vehicle side. A charging control device is used (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  When charging such an electric vehicle, with the electric vehicle parked in a residential garage or the like, a power supply plug provided in the charge control device is connected to a power supply socket of the electric vehicle, and the charge control device The power from the external power source is supplied to the vehicle-mounted charger via.

JP 2010-166679 A

  By the way, if a fire occurs in the surroundings while charging a battery for running an electric vehicle using the charge control device, and the fire spreads to the charge control device, malfunction of the charge control device or electric leakage may occur. It was.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above reasons, and an object of the present invention is to provide a charge control device and a charge control system capable of stopping power supply when a fire occurs.

  To achieve the above object, the charging control device of the present application receives signals from an open / close control unit that opens and closes a power supply path from a power source to a charging device mounted on an electric vehicle, and a fire alarm that detects a fire. A signal receiving unit, and when the signal receiving unit receives a fire notification signal for notifying the occurrence of a fire, the open / close control unit controls the opening of the power feeding path.

  In this charging control device, after the fire detection signal is received and the power supply path is controlled to open, when the signal receiving unit receives a fire stop signal for stopping the fire notification, the open / close control unit controls to close the power supply path. Is preferred.

  Moreover, it is preferable to provide the alerting | reporting part which alert | reports generation | occurrence | production of a fire when a signal receiving part receives a fire detection signal.

  The charge control system of the present application includes the above-described charge control device and a fire alarm that detects the occurrence of a fire and transmits a fire notification signal to the charge control device.

  In this charging control system, the fire alarm has a communication unit that transmits and receives an interlocking signal to and from other fire alarms, and transmits an interlocking signal to other fire alarms when the occurrence of a fire is detected, It is preferable to send a fire notification signal to the charging control device, and when other fire alarms receive the interlock signal, it is preferable to notify the occurrence of a fire. In this case, the other fire alarms receive charge signal when the interlock signal is received. A fire notification signal may be transmitted to the device.

  Moreover, in the above charging control system, the fire alarm has a communication unit that transmits and receives an interlock signal to and from other fire alarms, and transmits an interlock signal to other fire alarms when the occurrence of a fire is detected. When the charging control device receives the interlock signal as a fire notification signal, it is preferable that the opening / closing control unit controls the opening of the power feeding path.

  According to the charge control device and the charge control system of the present application, it is possible to stop power supply when a fire occurs.

It is a schematic block diagram which shows the charge control system concerning Embodiment 1 of this application. It is an external view which shows the charge control apparatus which comprises the charge control system. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the charge control system. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the charge control system. (1) And (2) is an external view which shows another example of the charge control apparatus which comprises the charge control system. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the charge control system concerning Embodiment 2 of this application.

  Embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
As shown in FIG. 1, the charge control system according to the present embodiment includes a charge control device 1 and a fire alarm device 2 as its components. The charge control system according to the present embodiment is a system for charging an electric vehicle (not shown) such as a storage battery electric vehicle (EV) or a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHV) parked in a garage of a house. is there.

  The charging control device 1 is a wall-mounted device that is installed on a construction surface such as a wall surface, for example. As shown in FIG. The derived power supply cable CB1 and power supply cable CB2 are provided.

  The apparatus main body 10 is made of a resin molded product formed in a vertically long rectangular parallelepiped shape, and is used by being attached to a construction surface. On the front surface of the apparatus main body 10, a holding portion 12 that holds a power supply plug 11 provided in the power supply cable CB2 and a plurality of light emitting diodes LD1 to LD3 are provided. The charging control device 1 displays the operating state of the charging device 1 based on the lighting states (lighting, extinguishing, blinking, etc.) of the light emitting diodes LD1 to LD3.

  The power supply plug 11 is detachably connected to a power receiving socket (not shown) of the electric vehicle, and an on-vehicle charger (not shown) in which electric power for charging supplied via the power supply cable CB2 is mounted on the electric vehicle. ). The power supply plug 11 is configured to be held by the holding unit 12 in a state where a part of the power supply plug 11 is inserted into the holding unit 12. When the electric vehicle is not charged, the power supply cable CB2 and the power supply plug 11 are connected. It can be prevented from being damaged by stepping on it. During charging of the electric vehicle, the power supply plug 11 is provided with a lock mechanism (not shown) that prevents the power supply plug 11 from being removed from the power receiving socket by a control signal from the control circuit 3. When the charging to the electric vehicle is completed or stopped, the lock mechanism is unlocked by receiving a control signal from the control circuit 3, and the user can remove the power supply plug 11. As a result, it is possible to prevent the power supply plug 11 from coming out of the power receiving socket while the electric vehicle is being charged and the power supply plug 11 is dropped, and to prevent charging from being stopped unintentionally.

  The power cable CB1 is connected to an external power source such as a commercial 100V AC power source, for example, and includes two electric wires L1 and L2 having voltage poles and a ground line L3 shown in FIG. The power feeding cable CB2 includes the above-described electric wires L1, L2 and a grounding wire L3, and an electric wire L4 for exchanging signals between the on-vehicle charger and a control circuit 3 described later. Here, the power supply cable CB1 and the power supply cable CB2 (the electric wires L1, L2 and the ground line L3) form a power supply path from the external power supply to the in-vehicle charger of the electric vehicle.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the charging control device 1 mainly includes a control circuit 3, a reception unit 4, an operation unit 5, a notification unit 6, a relay 7, and a zero-phase current transformer (hereinafter referred to as ZCT) 8. These are provided as various configurations and are housed in the apparatus main body 10.

  The receiving unit 4 is composed of, for example, a specific low power wireless module and receives a signal transmitted from the fire alarm device 2 by radio. When the fire alarm signal for notifying the occurrence of a fire or the fire stop signal for stopping the fire alarm is input from the fire alarm device 2, the receiver 4 outputs the signal to the control circuit 3. Note that communication between the receiving unit 4 and the fire alarm device 2 is not limited to wireless communication, but may be wired communication (communication via a dedicated line or power line carrier communication).

  The operation unit 5 is composed of a plurality of switches (not shown) provided with operation parts on the surface of the apparatus body 10, and is controlled according to operation inputs such as a start operation and a stop operation for charging an electric vehicle. An operation input signal is output to the circuit 3.

  The notification unit 6 includes the above-described light emitting diodes LD1 to LD3, a speaker (not shown), and the like, and notifies that a fire has occurred by sound or light according to a signal input from the control circuit 3.

  The relay 7 has a relay contact inserted in the internal conductive path connected to the electric wires L1 and L2 described above. The relay contact is switched on / off in accordance with a control signal from the control circuit 3, and an external power supply Open and close the power supply path from the vehicle to the on-vehicle charger of the electric vehicle.

  The ZCT 8 detects an unbalanced current flowing in the electric wires L1 and L2 that is generated at the time of electric leakage, and outputs the detection result to the control circuit 3.

  The control circuit 3 includes, for example, a microcomputer as a constituent element, operates with an external power supply as its operating power, and controls the charge control device 1 in an integrated manner. The control circuit 3 controls the opening and closing of the relay 7 based on a signal input from the in-vehicle charger via the electric wire L4 and an operation input from the operation unit 5, thereby supplying power from the external power source to the in-vehicle charger. Turn on / off. Further, when the control circuit 3 detects the unbalanced current generated in the electric wires L1 and L2 by the ZCT 8, the control circuit 3 opens the relay 7 and cuts off the power supply from the external power source to the in-vehicle charger. Further, as described above, the control circuit 3 outputs a control signal for locking the lock mechanism of the power supply plug 11 when charging of the electric vehicle is started, and controls for unlocking the lock mechanism when charging is stopped. Output a signal.

  In addition, when a fire notification signal is input from the receiving unit 4, the control circuit 3 opens the relay 7 to cut off the power supply from the external power source to the in-vehicle charger, and notifies that a fire has occurred around the control circuit 3. Notification is made using the unit 6. At this time, a control signal for releasing the lock mechanism of the power supply plug 11 is output from the control circuit 3, and the power supply plug 11 can be removed from the electric vehicle. Thereafter, when a fire stop signal is input from the receiving unit 4 with the power supply plug 11 connected to the power receiving socket, the control circuit 3 closes the relay 7 again to connect the external power source to the in-vehicle charger. Recharge the electric vehicle by supplying power. At this time, the control circuit 3 stops the notification by the notification unit 6 and outputs a control signal for locking the lock mechanism of the power plug 11 to lock the power plug 11 to the electric vehicle.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the fire alarm device 2 includes a control unit 21, a detection unit 22, a notification unit 23, an operation unit 24, and a communication unit 25 as main components. The fire alarm 2 is attached to a high place such as a ceiling surface of a building, for example, detects a fire based on heat and smoke generated when a fire occurs in the surroundings, and notifies that a fire has occurred. It is.

  The detection unit 22 detects, for example, the presence or absence of smoke around the fire alarm device 2 at regular time intervals, and outputs the detection result to the control unit 21.

  The notification unit 23 includes, for example, a speaker (not shown) and notifies the fact that a fire has occurred in the surroundings by voice or the like according to a control signal from the control unit 21.

  The operation unit 24 is composed of a switch (not shown) and a drawstring switch (not shown) provided on the surface of the fire alarm device 2, and when smoke generated due to a cause other than a fire is erroneously detected as a fire. When the user operates, a fire stop signal for stopping the fire notification is output to the control unit 21.

  The communication unit 25 transmits a communication signal to a wired or wirelessly connected device (in this embodiment, the charging control device 1), and notifies the connected charging control device 1 of the occurrence of a fire or a fire alarm stop. It is a communication interface.

  When there is smoke detection input for a predetermined number of times from the detection unit 22, the control unit 21 determines that a fire has occurred around the control unit 21 and causes the notification unit 23 to notify the surroundings of the occurrence of a fire. At the same time, the communication unit 25 transmits a fire notification signal to the charge control device 1 to notify the charge control device 1 of the occurrence of a fire.

  In addition, the control unit 21 notifies when the smoke detection input from the detection unit 22 is reduced or when the operation unit 24 is stopped by the housekeeper while the fire is being notified. The notification by the unit 23 is stopped. At the same time, a fire stop signal is transmitted to the charging control device 1 connected by the communication unit 25 to notify the stop of the fire notification.

  Here, operation | movement of this charge control system is demonstrated based on the operation | movement flow of FIG.3 and FIG.4. As an initial state, the relay 7 of the charging control device 1 is set to an open state, and the notification unit 6 displays that charging is stopped (step S0 in FIG. 3).

  Here, charging of the electric vehicle is started. First, the user connects the power supply plug 11 to the power receiving socket of the electric vehicle, and performs a charging start operation using the operation unit 5 of the charging control device 1 (step S1). In response to this start operation, the control circuit 3 closes the relay 7 to supply the electric power from the external power source to the on-vehicle charger of the electric vehicle and to display that the notification unit 6 is being charged (step S2). ). Thereby, charging of the electric vehicle is started. The detection unit 22 of the fire alarm periodically detects the presence or absence of ambient smoke, and outputs the detection result to the control unit 21 (step 3). In this state, no smoke is detected. The charging continues.

  Thereafter, when smoke is generated around the fire alarm device 2 (step S4), the smoke is detected by the detection unit 22, and a detection output indicating the generation of smoke is continuously output from the detection unit 22 to the control unit 21. (Step S5). As a result, the control unit 21 determines that a fire has occurred in the vicinity, notifies the occurrence of the fire by the notification unit 23 (step S6), and causes the communication control unit 25 to output a fire notification signal to the charge control device 1 ( Step S7).

  Next, the receiving unit 4 of the charging control device 1 receives the fire notification signal transmitted from the fire alarm device 2 (step S8). When the receiving unit 4 receives this fire notification signal, the control circuit 3 opens the relay 7 (step S9), unlocks the lock mechanism of the power supply plug 11, and the notification unit 6 generates a fire. This is notified (step S10). As a result, the user can easily remove the power supply plug 11 from the power receiving socket.

  Here, when the resident notices that smoke other than the fire has been mistakenly detected as a fire and stops the operation unit 24 of the fire alarm device 2 (step S11), the control unit 21 performs the stop operation of the operation unit 24. Accordingly, the fire notification by the notification unit 23 is stopped (step S12). Further, the communication unit 25 transmits a fire stop signal to the device (charge control device 1) connected to the communication unit 25 (step S13).

  When the receiving unit 4 of the charging control device 1 receives this fire stop signal (step S14), the control circuit 3 confirms that the charging plug 11 is connected to the power receiving socket and then closes the relay 7. (Step S15), and charging of the electric vehicle is resumed. The control circuit 3 stops the fire notification by the notification unit 6 and notifies the notification unit 6 that charging is in progress (step S16). Further, the control circuit 3 locks the locking mechanism of the charging plug 11 and prevents the charging plug 11 from coming out of the power receiving socket. In this way, the electric vehicle that was being charged when the occurrence of the fire was notified can be safely restarted without being operated by the user.

  In addition, after the occurrence of a fire is notified during charging of the electric vehicle and the charging control device 1 stops charging (steps S1 to S10), when the smoke around the fire alarm 2 is reduced, the detection unit 22 In response to the detection output from, the control unit 21 determines that there is no fire (step S21). Thereby, the control part 21 stops the alerting | reporting of the fire by the alerting | reporting part 23 similarly to the case where the operation part 24 is stop-operated (step S22), and transmits the fire stop signal to the communication part 25 (step S23). ). The receiving unit 4 of the charging control device 1 receives this fire stop signal (step S24), the control circuit 3 closes the relay 7 (step S25), stops the fire notification by the notification unit 6 and is charging. A notification is made (step S26), and charging of the electric vehicle is resumed.

  As described above, when the fire alarm device 2 detects a fire while charging the electric vehicle using the charging control device 1, the user can safely and quickly supply power to the electric vehicle without performing any operation. Can be stopped. Thereby, even if it is a case where it spreads to the circumference | surroundings of the charge control apparatus 1, since the charge control apparatus 1 has stopped electric power feeding, generation | occurrence | production of the malfunction of the charge control apparatus 1 and electric leakage can be reduced.

  Further, when a mechanism for locking the power supply plug 11 is provided during charging of the electric vehicle, the lock is released according to the fire notification signal. Therefore, the power supply plug 11 can be quickly removed even under a panic situation due to a fire, and it becomes easy to use the electric vehicle as an evacuation means or to move the electric vehicle that hinders the fire fighting activity.

  In addition, when the fire alarm 2 notifies the fire due to smoke other than fire, and the fire alarm stops due to operation input by the resident or smoke reduction, the charging control device 1 automatically resumes charging. It is possible to reduce unintentional shortage of electric vehicle charging.

  Furthermore, since the charging control device 1 notifies the occurrence of a fire in conjunction with the fire alarm device 2, the occurrence of the fire can be notified to the surroundings at an early stage. In addition, since the charging control device 1 is installed outside the house, it can be expected to notify a nearby resident about the occurrence of a fire and urge evacuation, or promptly notify a nearby resident to a fire department or the like.

  In the present embodiment, the wall-mounted charge control device 1 has been described as an example, but a portable charge control device 1 as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B may be used. Good. As shown in FIG. 5A, the charging control device 1 includes a power plug 14 that is detachably connected to an outlet (A in FIG. 5A) provided on a construction surface such as a wall surface. The charging of the electric vehicle (B in FIG. 5A) is controlled. The charging control device 1 can hold the charging control device 1 on the wall surface by attaching the locking portion 13 provided on the device main body 10 to a hook (not shown) provided on the wall surface or the like. As a result, when the charging control device 1 is not used, the charging control device 1 can be removed from the outlet A and held on a wall or the like, and the charging control device 1 can be prevented from being stepped on by a vehicle or a person. it can.

(Embodiment 2)
As shown in FIG. 6, the charge control system according to the present embodiment includes a charge control device 1, a fire alarm device 2a disposed at a position relatively close to the charge control device 1, and the fire alarm device 2a. A fire alarm device 2b is provided at a position where communication by radio signal can be performed. In the fire alarm device 2a, 2b according to the first embodiment, the fire alarm device 2a, 2b transmits and receives an interlocking signal by wireless communication with the other fire alarm device 2 (2a, 2b) by the communication unit 25. A notification operation or the like is performed according to the interlocking signal. Except for this point, the second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment, and therefore, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted. In addition, in this Embodiment, although the communication part 25 transmits / receives the interlocking | linkage signal and a fire alert signal by radio | wireless communication, it may be wired communication (communication via a dedicated line, power line carrier communication). .

  The control unit 21 of each fire alarm device 2 (2a, 2b) determines that a fire has occurred in the surroundings as in the first embodiment when there is a smoke detection input from the detection unit 22 a predetermined number of times. Then, the notification unit 23 notifies the surroundings of the occurrence of a fire. Here, the control unit 21 causes the notification unit 23 to notify the occurrence of a fire, and simultaneously transmits to the other fire alarm device 2 (2a, 2b) a communication signal including fire information that means the occurrence of a fire by the communication unit 25. In addition, a fire notification signal is transmitted to the charging control device 1.

  Further, when the communication unit 25 receives the interlock signal from another fire alarm device 2, the control unit 21 of each fire alarm device 2 controls the notification unit 23 and the communication unit 25 according to the information included in the interlock signal. To do. Here, when the control unit 21 receives the interlock signal including the fire information indicating the occurrence of the fire, the notification unit 23 notifies the surroundings of the occurrence of the fire, and the communication unit 25 transmits the fire notification signal to the charging control device 1. Send it. Moreover, when the interlocking signal containing the stop information meaning the stop of fire alerting | reporting is received, while notifying the fire alerting by the alerting | reporting part 23, the charging control apparatus 1 is made to transmit a fire stop signal.

  For example, in the fire alarm device 2a, when the detection unit 22 continuously detects smoke for a predetermined number of times, the control unit 21 of the fire alarm device 2a notifies the occurrence of a fire to the surroundings by the notification unit 23. The control unit 21 of the fire alarm device 2a transmits an interlocking signal including fire information to the fire alarm device 2b and transmits a fire notification signal to the charging control device 1. When the charging control device 1 receives this fire notification signal, charging to the electric vehicle is stopped.

  When the communication unit 25 of the fire alarm device 2b receives the interlock signal transmitted from the fire alarm device 2a, the control unit 21 of the fire alarm device 2b notifies the occurrence of a fire to the surroundings by the notification unit 23. At this time, even if the control unit 21 of the fire alarm device 2b transmits a fire alarm signal to the charging control device 1, the fire alarm signal from the fire alarm device 2a does not reach the charging control device 1, The charging of the electric vehicle by the charging control device 1 can be stopped.

  In this way, the fire alarms 2a and 2b operate in conjunction with the interlock signal, so that the occurrence of a fire is informed to the surroundings, and the charging control device 1 stops the power supply to the electric vehicle and charges. The malfunction of control device 1 and the occurrence of electric leakage can be reduced.

  In addition, in this Embodiment, although it demonstrated by the structure which linked 2 units | sets of the fire alarm 2 (2a, 2b), the number of the fire alarms 2 is not limited and it is three or more units. There may be. In this case, when the occurrence of a fire is detected in the fire alarm device 2a, the fire alarm device 2a transmits an interlocking signal including fire information to the other fire alarm device 2, and other fires that have received this interlocking signal. The alarm device 2 performs the same operation as the above-described fire alarm device 2b. As a result, even if there are three or more fire alarms 2, as in the case of two fire alarms 2, the occurrence of a fire is notified to the surroundings and at the same time charging to the electric vehicle is stopped. The occurrence of a fire can be notified in conjunction with the fire alarm 2. Note that the fire alarm device 2 that has received the interlock signal may transmit an interlock signal to another fire alarm device 2 to be interlocked with another fire alarm device 2.

  Further, in the charge control system according to the present embodiment, the charge control device 1 controls the opening and closing of the power supply path to the on-vehicle charger of the electric vehicle based on the interlocking signal transmitted and received between the fire alarms 2. May be. In this case, when the receiving unit 4 receives an interlocking signal including fire information indicating the occurrence of a fire, the relay 7 is opened by the control circuit 3 and the electric vehicle is received in the same manner as when the fire notification signal is received. Power supply to is stopped. Further, when an interlocking signal including stop information indicating stoppage of fire notification is received, the relay 7 is closed by the control circuit 3 and charging is resumed as in the case of receiving the fire stop signal. By doing in this way, the process concerning signal transmission in the fire alarm device 2 can be reduced.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Charge control apparatus 2 Fire alarm 3 Control circuit (opening-closing control part)
4 receiver (signal receiver)
5 Operation part 6 Notification part 7 Relay (opening / closing control part)
8 Zero-phase current transformer (ZCT)
10 Device body

Claims (7)

  An open / close control unit that opens and closes a power supply path from a power source to a charging device mounted on an electric vehicle, and a signal reception unit that receives a signal from a fire alarm that detects a fire, and the signal reception unit generates a fire When the fire notification signal for notifying is received, the open / close control unit controls the opening of the power feeding path.   After the fire detection signal is received and the power supply path is controlled to open, when the signal receiving unit receives a fire stop signal for stopping the fire notification, the open / close control unit controls to close the power supply path. The charge control device according to claim 1, wherein   3. The charging control device according to claim 1, further comprising a notification unit that notifies the occurrence of a fire when the signal reception unit receives the fire detection signal. 4.   Charge control comprising: the charge control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3; and a fire alarm that detects the occurrence of a fire and transmits the fire notification signal to the charge control device. system.   The fire alarm has a communication unit that transmits and receives an interlock signal to and from another fire alarm, and when the occurrence of a fire is detected, transmits the interlock signal to the other fire alarm, and the charging control device 5. The charging control system according to claim 4, wherein the fire notification signal is transmitted to the other fire alarm and the other fire alarm notifies the occurrence of a fire when the interlock signal is received.   The fire alarm has a communication unit that transmits and receives an interlocking signal to and from other fire alarms. When the occurrence of a fire is detected, the fire alarm is transmitted to the other fire alarms, and the other fire alarms Then, when the interlock signal is received, the fire notification signal is transmitted to the charge control device. 6. The charge control system according to claim 4, wherein the fire notification signal is transmitted to the charge control device. The fire alarm has a communication unit that transmits and receives an interlocking signal to and from another fire alarm, and when the occurrence of a fire is detected, transmits the interlocking signal to the other fire alarm,
The charging control system according to claim 4, wherein the charging control device controls the opening of the power feeding path by the opening / closing control unit when receiving the interlock signal as the fire notification signal.

Images