JP2013089317A - Storage battery unit, display system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To limit temperature rise in a storage battery unit.SOLUTION: The storage battery unit includes a storage battery, a housing for storing the storage battery, an intake port provided in the rear of the housing, exhaust ports provided in both side surfaces of the housing, a plurality of fans provided near the exhaust ports in the housing, a plurality of temperature measurement members provided in the housing in order to measure the temperature, and a control unit for controlling the fans. The control unit determines which of the plurality of fans are driven, based on the temperature measurement results of the plurality of temperature measurement members.

Description

  The present invention relates to a display system including a storage battery unit. In particular, the present invention relates to a display system including a display device driven by a solar cell and commercial power.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, large display devices called digital signage that are arranged outdoors and display advertisements and various information are becoming widespread (Patent Documents 1 and 2, etc.).

JP 2009-294284 A JP 2009-296105 A

  Further, the applicant is developing a display system including a solar cell for digital signage (for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-147775 (filed on June 3, 2010), Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-266333 (November 2010). 30 days application)). In this system, a solar cell is provided above the display device (large monitor), and the display device and the solar cell are integrated. The system is also equipped with a storage battery unit so that the power generated by the solar cell during the daytime can be used at night. In this storage battery unit, in addition to the storage battery, an inverter that converts DC power from the storage battery into AC power is housed in the case.

  However, the temperature in the case increases due to the heat generated by the inverter, and as a result, the guaranteed temperature of the storage battery may be exceeded. In order to prevent heat from being trapped in the case, it may be possible to arrange an inverter or a storage battery outside the case, but this is not preferable from the viewpoint of dust prevention. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems.

  The storage battery unit of the present invention includes a storage battery, a housing for storing the storage battery, an intake port provided on the back surface of the housing, an exhaust port provided on both side surfaces of the housing, and in the vicinity of the exhaust port in the housing. A plurality of provided fans, a plurality of temperature measuring members provided in the housing, for measuring the temperature, and a control unit for controlling the fans, wherein the control unit displays the temperature measurement results of the plurality of temperature measuring members. Based on this, it is determined which of the plurality of fans is to be driven.

  The display system of the present invention includes a solar cell and a display device in addition to the above-described storage battery unit, and the storage battery unit generates power from the solar cell according to the amount of power generated by the solar cell and the power consumption of the display device. It is further provided with the 2nd control part which controls the rate which should supply electric power to a storage battery and a display.

  According to the present invention, the temperature rise in the storage battery unit can be suppressed.

1 is a diagram showing a display system 100. FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a storage battery unit 10. FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the storage battery unit 10. FIG. It is a front perspective view of the storage battery unit 10 when the front door 21 is opened. It is a back perspective view of storage battery unit 10 when back lid 22 is removed. It is a back perspective view of storage battery unit 10 when back lid 22 is removed. 3 is a side view of the storage battery unit 10. FIG. It is a side view of the storage battery unit 10 when the side lid 27L is removed. 3 is a schematic diagram of cooling inside the case 20 of the storage battery unit 10. FIG. 3 is a control block diagram relating to cooling of the storage battery unit 10. FIG. It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the storage battery unit 80 which concerns on another aspect.

(First embodiment)
First, FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a display system 100. The display system 100 includes a solar cell unit 1, a display device 2, and a storage battery unit 10. The display device 2 is stored in the storage box 400. The solar cell unit 1 has a solar panel in the upper part, and has a structure which supports this solar panel with a support | pillar. Note that the solar panel is provided on the slope of the triangular prism portion in FIG. 1 (the slope on the side opposite to the display device), and is provided in a hidden position in the figure.

  The display device 2 includes a display that displays information, and is typically an LCD display that includes a liquid crystal panel. The display device 2 is provided with waterproof, dustproof, and heat-resistant measures so as to be prepared for outdoor placement. Further, a touch panel for receiving input from the user may be provided on the front side of the display panel.

  The storage battery unit 10 has a storage battery that stores electric power generated by the solar battery of the solar battery unit 1. Therefore, in this display system 100, for example, while the display device 2 is driven using the power generated by the solar battery during the daytime, the surplus power is stored in the storage battery, and the power stored in the storage battery is stored at night when the solar battery cannot generate power. It can be used to drive the display device 2.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, it is assumed that the solar cell unit 1 and the display device 2 are arranged outdoors or in a public place, and the storage battery unit 10 is measured to be arranged in an indoor non-public place. For example, the solar cell unit 1 and the display device 2 are arranged in a park, a station, a hall of a building, or the like. On the other hand, the storage battery unit 10 is deployed indoors, for example, in a space managed by a facility manager that is not normally accessible to ordinary people. Therefore, since the storage battery unit 10 is disposed at a position away from the solar cell unit 1 and the display device 2, communication between the storage battery unit 10, the solar cell unit 1, and the display device 2 for power lines and control. A line will be laid.

  Further, when the solar cell unit 1 is in a state where the solar cell unit 1 cannot generate enough power for a short period of time, or when the power consumption of the display device 2 continues to be large, the power stored in the storage battery of the storage battery unit 10 cannot be covered only There is also a possibility. Therefore, the display system 100 is configured to be able to use power from commercial power as necessary.

  FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the storage battery unit 10. The storage battery unit 10 includes a case (housing) 20 that stores a storage battery 31 (see FIG. 6 and the like described later) and the like. A front door 21 and a keyhole 23 provided in the front door 21 are provided on the front surface of the case 20. The front door 21 can be opened and closed with its lower side as an axis. The keyhole 23 is for restricting the opening and closing of the front door 21. Also, casters 41 for facilitating movement of the storage battery unit 10 are provided in the vicinity of the four corners of the lower surface of the case 20. This is particularly useful when it is necessary to move the storage battery unit 10 for maintenance work or the like. Further, the side surface of the case 20 is provided with an exhaust port 27 (in the same figure, the exhaust port on the right side is referred to as the exhaust port 27R) and a lid 28R. An exhaust fan 51 is disposed inside the exhaust port 27 (see FIGS. 8 and 9 described later).

  FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of the storage battery unit 10. There is a rear lid 22 on the back of the case 20. Similar to the front door, the rear lid 22 is provided with a keyhole 23. Further, the rear lid is provided with a pair of left and right intake ports 24 (L, R), an outlet 25, and a terminal portion 26. The outlet 25 is provided not for the purpose of inputting commercial power, but conversely for the purpose of supplying power from the storage battery unit 10 to other devices.

  The terminal unit 26 is a power supply terminal for inputting power from the solar cell unit 1 and a communication line for transmitting a control signal to the display device 2 (or for receiving a signal from the display device 2). A communication terminal to which (such as those of RS232-C and RS-485 systems) is connected, a sensor input terminal for inputting a detection signal of the illuminance sensor, and the like are provided. In addition, information such as a storage state in the unit 10 can be transmitted to the display device 2 using a communication line connected to the terminal unit 26 and displayed on the screen of the display device 2. In addition, according to the above-mentioned RS-485 system interface, communication between points 1 km away is also possible, and thus, the degree of freedom of installation of the display device 2, the solar cell unit 1, and the storage battery unit 10 is increased. Increase.

  Said illuminance sensor is for measuring whether sunlight is irradiating. This detection result is utilized for battery (storage battery) control of the storage battery unit 10. In addition, it is also possible to know the power generation status of the solar cell by monitoring the output current of the solar cell without using an illuminance sensor. However, for this purpose, a circuit for current monitoring needs to be provided separately, which increases the circuit scale. Rather, since the method of detecting the power generation status of the solar cell based on the output of the illuminance sensor can be realized with a simple configuration and method, the display system 100 employs the illuminance sensor.

  In addition, since the storage battery unit 10 of the present embodiment is assumed to be installed indoors, no special waterproofing measures are taken. However, since it is not preferable for dust to enter the inside, a semi-hermetic structure is adopted as a measure against dust. In other words, ventilation (ventilation) inside and outside the case 20 is performed only through the intake port 24 and the exhaust port 27.

  As can be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3, in the storage battery unit 10, exhaust ports 27 are provided on both side surfaces (left and right side surfaces) of the case 20. That is, the storage battery unit 10 sucks air from the back side of the case 20. By exhausting from both sides, the structure is configured to ventilate (cool) the inside of the case 20. The storage battery unit 10 is provided with an intake port on the back side so that the back side is on the wall side. This is because it is assumed that it is installed, and it is not appropriate to provide an exhaust port through which hot air is discharged on the back side.

  FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of the storage battery unit 10 when the front door 21 is opened. As shown in the figure, inside the case 20 of the storage battery unit 10, storage batteries 31 </ b> A to 31 </ b> C, a protection unit 32, a PMU 33, and the like are stored in left and right racks (shelves).

  5 and 6 are rear perspective views of the storage battery unit 10 when the rear lid 22 is removed. As shown in the figure, inside the case 20 of the storage battery unit 10, in addition to the storage batteries 31A to 31C, the protection unit 32, and the PMU 33 in two racks, an inverter 34, an AC / DC (AC / DC) conversion circuit 35 are also provided. The fan control AC / DC conversion circuit 36 is accommodated.

  As shown in FIG. 6, storage batteries 31 </ b> B and 31 </ b> A are arranged in order from the bottom in the right rack (as viewed from the back), and an inverter 34 is provided at the top. The reason why the inverter 34 is arranged in the uppermost stage is that the amount of heat generated by the inverter 34 is larger than the amount of heat generated by the storage battery 31. If the inverter 34 having a large calorific value is disposed below the storage battery 31, the storage battery 31 is overheated by the heat of the inverter 34 due to the nature of the natural law that heat is transmitted upward. Therefore, the storage battery unit 10 houses the inverter 34 on the upper side.

  Further, the space on the right rack has a space between the storage battery 31A and the inverter 34 because heat is transferred upward according to the law of nature, but because the upper side of the case 20 is closed, part of the heat is It is also transmitted to the lower side of the inverter 34. In order to prevent the storage battery 31 from being overheated by this heat, the storage battery 31 is arranged one step away.

  Next, functions and the like of each component member housed in the storage battery unit 10 will be described. The storage batteries 31A to 31C are, for example, lithium ion batteries. The protection unit 32 has a function of protecting the storage battery 31 by shutting off the storage battery 31 from the power line when overcharge or overdischarge of the storage battery 31 is detected. The PMU (Power Management Unit) 33 performs control for charging the storage battery 31 with power from either the power from the solar cell unit 1 or the commercial power. The inverter 34 converts power (DC) charged in the storage battery 31 into AC power and outputs the AC power to an external device (for example, the display device 2). The AC / DC conversion circuit 35 converts commercial power that is alternating current into direct current in order to charge the storage battery 31. The fan control AC / DC conversion circuit 36 performs rotation control of the fan 51.

  For example, electric power (direct current) generated by the solar cell unit 1 is first input to the PMU 33 and charged to the storage battery 31 via the protection unit 32. On the other hand, commercial power (alternating current) is converted into direct current by the AC / DC conversion circuit 35 and then input to the PMU 33, and the storage battery 31 is charged via the protection unit 32. Further, the power charged in the storage battery 31 is supplied to the display device 2 via the protection unit 32 and the inverter 34.

  The PMU 33 is a first switch (or switch group) for selectively inputting either the power from the solar cell unit 1 or the power from the AC / DC conversion circuit 35, and the power to the protection unit 32. A second switch for switching whether to input to 32, a third switch for selectively supplying any of the power from the protection unit 32 or the AC / DC conversion circuit 35 to the inverter 34, and the like. These switches are appropriately controlled according to the power generation status of the solar cell unit 1, the charging status of the storage battery 31, and the operating status of the display device 2. This control operation is described in detail in another patent application filed by the present applicant. By switching between these switches, for example, nighttime power can be charged on a daily basis, supplied by a timer during daytime power peaks, and used to reduce peak power and charges.

  In the storage battery unit 10, the front door 21 on the front side of the case 20 can be opened and closed with the lower side as an axis, whereas the rear lid 22 of the case 20 is detachable because of a member such as the storage battery 31. This is for the purpose of facilitating the work of inserting the battery into the case 20. The storage battery 31 is relatively heavy. If the front door 21 is opened downward as shown in FIG. 4, when an operator inserts the storage battery 31 into the case, it is necessary to place a scaffold in front of the opened front door 21, The storage battery 31 cannot be stored in the case 20 unless the storage battery 31 is held in a state of being greatly extended or the waist is bent forward. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the rear lid 22 is configured to be detachable from the case 20. Then, the worker can place the scaffold near the case 20, so that the storage battery 31 can be stored in the case 20 or removed from the case 20 without extending his hand or bending his waist. Can be. In other words, in the storage battery unit 10, the rack in the case 20 is designed so that members such as the storage battery 31 can be removed from the back side of the case 20.

  The storage battery unit 10 has a simple rectangular parallelepiped box with a front and rear doors to facilitate installation and maintenance, and is equipped with casters at the bottom. In order to make effective use of the installation space, the so-called low board style is used, and the upper surface is a flat free space.

  FIG. 7 is a side view of the storage battery unit 10. As shown in the figure, an exhaust port 27 is provided on the side surface of the case 20 of the storage battery unit 10. The exhaust port 27 has a configuration in which a large number of small holes are provided in a mesh shape in order to prevent entry of dust (which is relatively large). FIG. 7 is a side view as viewed from the right side, but an exhaust port 27 is similarly provided on the left side surface of the case 20.

  FIG. 7 is a side view of the storage battery unit 10. As shown in the figure, an exhaust port 28 is provided on the side surface of the case 20 of the storage battery unit 10. The exhaust port 28 has a configuration in which a large number of small holes are provided in a mesh shape in order to prevent entry of dust (which is relatively large). FIG. 7 is a side view as seen from the left side, but the right side surface of the case 20 is similarly provided with an exhaust port 28. In the figure, the exhaust port 28L is shown, but this is given a sign with the intention of the exhaust port 28 provided on the left side surface.

  FIG. 8 is a side view of the storage battery unit 10 when the side lid 27L (of FIG. 7) is removed. As shown in the figure, three exhaust fans 51A to 51C are arranged in order from the top inside the exhaust port 28L. Similarly, the right side surface of the case 20 has a removable side lid 27R (not shown), and three exhaust fans 51D to 51F (not shown) are provided inside the exhaust port 27R.

  FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of cooling inside the case 20 of the storage battery unit 10. In the figure, the arrangement of the respective members when the storage battery unit 10 is assumed to be viewed from the back side is simply described. For this reason, the fans 51A to 51C arranged on the left side surface of the case 20 are shown on the right side in FIG. Hereinafter, regarding the left and right, the display in FIG. 9 is used as a reference.

  The fans 51A to 51C are arranged from the top in the order of the fans 51A, B, and C. The fan 51 </ b> A is disposed at the lower right position of the inverter 34. Fan 51B is arranged at the upper right of storage battery 31A. Fan 51C is arranged at the lower right of storage battery 31A and at the upper right of storage battery 31B. That is, the fan 51C is arranged so that wind flows in the space between the storage batteries 31A and 31B. Fan 51B is arranged so that the wind flows above storage battery 31A. The fan 51 </ b> A is arranged so that the wind flows below the inverter 34.

  The fans 51D to F are arranged from the top in the order of the fans 51D, E, and F. The fan 51D is disposed at the lower left position of the fan control AC / DC conversion circuit 36 and at the upper left position of the PMU 33. The fan 51E is disposed at the lower left of the PMU 33 and at the upper left of the protection unit 32. The fan 51F is disposed at the lower left of the protection unit 32 and at the upper left of the storage battery 31C. That is, the fan 51 </ b> D is arranged so that wind flows in the space between the fan control AC / DC conversion circuit 36 (or AC / DC conversion circuit 35) and the PMU 33. The fan 51E is disposed so that the wind flows through the space between the PMU 33 and the protection unit 32. The fan 51F is arranged so that wind flows through the space between the protection unit 32 and the storage battery 31C.

  Further, the thermistors 61 </ b> A to 61 </ b> G functioning as sensors for measuring the temperature are arranged inside the case 20. As an example, the thermistors 61A, B, and C are provided in the vicinity of the inverter 34 and the storage batteries 31A and 31B, respectively. The thermistors 61D to 61G are respectively disposed in the vicinity of the fan control AC / DC conversion circuit 36, the PMU 33, the protection unit 32, and the storage battery 31C. Although details will be described later, in the storage battery unit 10, the fan 51 is selectively driven according to the temperature detected by each thermistor 61.

  FIG. 10 is a circuit block diagram of the storage battery unit 10. This figure is a block diagram described with particular attention to cooling control. Actually, the storage battery unit 10 also performs various other controls such as power supply control, but these are not mentioned here.

  The fan control AC / DC conversion circuit 36 drives the fans 51A to 51F. In order to drive these fans, it is naturally necessary to supply power to the fan control AC / DC conversion circuit 36. This power is supplied from the inverter 34 in the form of AC power. As already described, the inverter 34 supplies power to the display device 2 and converts DC power from the storage battery 31 or the like into AC. In the figure, the power from the solar cell unit 1 and the AC / DC conversion circuit 35 is shown as if it is directly input to the protection circuit 32, but actually it is input to the protection circuit 32 via the PMU 33. You may do it.

The fan control AC / DC conversion circuit 36 also performs control to selectively drive any one of the fans 51A to F in accordance with the temperature detection result of each thermistor 61. For example, the following control is performed.
(1) Considering that the upper limit of the operation guarantee temperature of the storage battery 31 is 40 ° C., for example, when the temperature detected by the thermistor 61B provided in the vicinity of the storage battery 31A becomes, for example, about 35 ° C., the fan 51B And 51C is turned ON, and cooling is performed by flowing air to the upper side and the lower side of the storage battery 31A.
(2) When the temperature of the inverter 34 rises and the detected temperature of the thermistor 61 </ b> A is high, the fan 51 </ b> A is driven, and cooling is performed by flowing air below the inverter 34.
(3) When the temperature of the place (room) where the storage battery unit 10 is installed is high and the detection temperatures of all the thermistors 61 are high (for example, 35 ° C. or more), all the fans 51 are driven.
(4) When the thermistors 61C and 61G detect that the temperature in the vicinity of the storage batteries 31B and 31C is high, the fans 51C and 51F are driven.
(5) When the thermistor 61C detects that the temperature in the vicinity of the storage battery 31B is high, but the thermistor 61G detects that the temperature in the vicinity of the storage battery 31C is not high (for example, only the storage battery 31B is operating, the storage battery 31C In principle, only the fan 51C needs to be driven, such as when not operating or when the environmental temperature on the right side of the case 20 is high. However, since it is considered that driving the fans 51C and 51F in pairs can improve the wind speed above the storage battery 31B, the fan 51F on the storage battery 31C side is also driven even if the temperature of the storage battery 31C is not high. May be.

  The above controls (1) to (5) are executed based on a control program or the like stored in the CPU in the PMU 33.

  As described above, in the storage battery unit 10, the fan is selectively driven in accordance with the heat generation part, so that appropriate cooling in the case 20 can be performed while reducing power consumption by the fan.

  Further, the fan may be controlled not only to simply turn on / off, but also to change the rotation speed stepwise.

(Second Embodiment)
The storage battery unit 10 of the first embodiment has two racks (storage units) inside the case 20, and each member is stored in each rack. Instead, the storage battery unit shown in FIG. A configuration in which each member is accommodated in one rack as shown in FIG. By adopting a tower-type configuration, the installation floor area of the storage battery unit can be reduced (simply, it can be approximately half of the storage battery unit 10), and space saving can be achieved.

  As shown in FIG. 11, storage batteries 21A, 31B, 31C, a protection unit 32, a PMU 33, and an inverter 34 are stored in the storage rack in the storage battery unit 80 from the bottom. A thermistor 61 and a fan 51 are provided on the left and right of each member. The reason why the inverter 34 is arranged at the top is that, similarly to the storage battery unit 10 of the first embodiment, the amount of heat generated by the inverter 34 is larger than that of the storage battery 31 and the like.

  In the storage battery unit 80, as in the storage battery unit 10, the fan 51 is selectively driven according to the heat generation part. For example, when the thermistor 61 detects that the temperature near the inverter 34 is high, the pair of fans 51A and 51F are driven.

  According to this structure, since it is what is called a tower type structure, in addition to saving installation space, the distance between the left and right side surfaces of the case can be made smaller than the storage battery unit 10, and the distance between the pair of left and right fans is shortened. Accordingly, even when a fan having the same performance as that of the storage battery unit 10 is driven at the same rotational speed, the wind speed can be increased, so that the cooling efficiency can be improved.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but the scope of the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

  In the above description, the storage battery unit is described as supplying power to the display device, but it may be supplied to other units. Furthermore, not only a specific device such as the display device 2 is used. For example, what is used as a unit for performing control for supplying power to a home or a building is also included in the category of the present invention.

  In addition, as an application mode of the storage battery unit, the power generated by the solar battery is used for driving the display device and charging the storage battery during the day, and the display device is driven using the power of the storage battery at night. There are other modes of use. For example, once a high-capacity secondary battery (storage battery) built in the case is charged from an external power generator such as a power line (commercial system) or a solar battery, and a power failure occurs suddenly due to a disaster, a certain amount of time ( It can also be used as a unit that can supply power to other devices.

Claims (2)

A storage battery,
A housing for storing the storage battery;
An air inlet provided on the back of the housing,
Exhaust vents provided on both sides of the housing,
A plurality of fans provided near the exhaust port in the housing;
A plurality of temperature measuring members provided in the housing for measuring temperature;
A control unit for controlling the fan,
The control unit determines which of the plurality of fans is to be driven based on a temperature measurement result of the plurality of temperature measurement members.
A display system comprising the storage battery unit according to claim 1, further comprising a solar battery,
A display device,
The storage battery unit further includes a second control unit that controls a rate at which the generated power of the solar battery should be supplied to the storage battery and the display device according to the amount of power generated by the solar cell and the power consumption of the display device. , Display system.