JP2016082826A - Charger and charger connector removal determination method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To determine removal of the charging connector of the charging cable of a charger that charges a battery pack and also determine disconnection with, for example, a connector determination signal line of a charging cable.SOLUTION: A charger 10 includes a charging connector 24 that connects three types of electric wire to a battery pack 30, the three types of electric wires being an electric power line 21 for supplying charging current to a battery pack 30, a connector detection signal line 23 for detecting connection with the battery pack 30, and a communication wire 22 for transmitting a communication signal to be communicated with the battery pack 30. The charger comprises a removal determination section 124 that determines, through monitoring by the connector detection signal line 23, the removal of the charging connector 24 when non-connection with the battery pack 30 is detected and also when communication through the communication wire 22 has not been carried out normally.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a charging device and a charging connector disconnection determination method for determining whether or not a charging connector for connecting a charging cable to a battery pack containing a rechargeable battery is connected.

  When charging a battery such as a rechargeable lithium-ion battery built in a battery pack mounted on an electric forklift, hybrid vehicle, electric vehicle or the like from an external charging device, connect the charging connector on the charging cable of the charging device. The battery pack is inserted into the charging connector of the battery pack, and the charging device and the battery pack are connected by a charging cable.

  In addition to the power line that supplies the charging current, the charging cable includes a connector detection signal line for detecting that the charging device and the battery pack are connected and disconnected by the charging cable. A connector connection detection circuit is incorporated in the charging device or the battery pack, and when the charging cable is connected to the battery pack by the charging connector, a voltage or current exceeding a predetermined value is output to the connector detection signal line. Is done.

  The voltage or current of the connector detection signal line is monitored by the charging device and the battery pack, and when a voltage or current exceeding a predetermined level is detected, it is determined that the charging device and the battery pack are connected by the charging cable. When the voltage or current is not detected, it is determined that the charging device and the battery pack are not connected.

  When it is detected that the charging device and the battery pack are connected via the charging cable and the charging connector, the charging device and the battery pack are charged by transmitting and receiving a confirmation signal and a command signal for starting charging via the communication line in the charging cable. An operation sequence is started, and charging current is supplied from the charging device to the battery pack through the power line in the charging cable.

  Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2 discloses a charging cable provided with a notification line connected to a battery pack, a signal line for detecting disconnection of a cable, and the like in addition to a power line. In addition to the power line in the charging cable, a communication line for transmitting a communication signal such as CAN (Controller Area Network) communication performed between the battery pack monitoring device and the charging device is disclosed in Patent Document 3. Etc. are known.

JP 2011-109872 A Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-2946 JP 2012-120383 A

  In a charging device connected to a battery pack by a charging cable having a power line, a connector detection signal line, and a communication line, connection / disconnection of the charging cable and the battery pack is detected by monitoring the voltage or current of the connector detection signal line. In the conventional technology, when the voltage or current of the connector detection signal line indicates a disconnection state, the disconnection is caused by a normal disconnection operation of the charging connector performed by the user, or the connector detection signal line is disconnected. Depending on the conditions when the charging connector is disconnected, it is mistakenly determined that the charging connector is disconnected or not, such as disconnection of the connector detection signal line. However, there are problems such as executing stop processing due to an abnormality.

  In view of the above-mentioned problems, is the present invention based on the normal disconnection operation of the charging connector performed by the user when the connection with the battery pack is in a state indicating non-connection by monitoring the connector detection signal line? It is possible to easily determine whether the connector detection signal line is caused by an abnormality such as disconnection.

  In addition, the disconnection of the charging connector, disconnection of the connector detection signal line, disconnection of the communication line for communication with the battery pack, disconnection of the power line supplying the charging current to the battery of the battery pack, or output abnormality of the power supply unit Can be easily determined.

  A charging device according to one aspect of the present invention includes a power line for supplying a charging current to the battery pack, a connector detection signal line for detecting that the battery pack is connected, and the battery pack. A charging device having a charging connector for connecting three types of electric wires of a communication line for transmitting a communication signal communicated between the battery pack, and monitoring the connector detection signal line with the battery pack. A disconnection determination unit is provided that determines that the charging connector has been disconnected when a non-connected state is detected and it is detected that communication via the communication line is not normally performed.

  The disconnection determination unit detects the non-connection state with the battery pack over a predetermined time by monitoring the connector detection signal line, and uses the communication line over the predetermined time. When it is detected that communication is not normally performed, it is determined that the charging connector has been removed.

  When the disconnection determining unit detects that the battery pack is not connected by monitoring the connector detection signal line and detects that communication with the communication line is normally performed, the connector It is determined that a disconnection has occurred in the detection signal line.

  The disconnection determination unit detects the state of connection with the battery pack by monitoring the connector detection signal line, and detects that communication by the communication line is not normally performed. It is characterized in that it is determined that a disconnection has occurred.

  The disconnection determination unit detects that the connection state with the battery pack by the connector detection signal line is detected, and detects that communication by the communication line is normally performed, and the power line When supply of a charging current is not detected, it is determined that a disconnection has occurred in the power line or that an abnormality has occurred in the output of a power supply unit that supplies the charging current.

  According to the present invention, the charging connector is disconnected based on detection of connection / disconnection with the battery pack by monitoring the connector detection signal line and detection of normality / non-normality of communication through the communication line with the battery pack. By discriminating, it is possible to easily discriminate whether the charging connector is disconnected or disconnected from the connector detection signal line.

  Also, it is determined whether or not the charging connector is disconnected based on detection of connection / disconnection to the battery pack by monitoring the connector detection signal line and normal / unnormal detection of communication via the communication line with the battery pack. As a result of the disconnection of the charging connector, disconnection of the connector detection signal line, disconnection of the communication line for communication with the battery pack, disconnection of the power line supplying the charging current to the battery of the battery pack, or output abnormality of the power supply unit Can be easily determined.

It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the charging device of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the table | surface of the discrimination condition in an extraction discrimination | determination part. It is a figure which shows an example of the operation | movement for prevention of the misjudgment with respect to the momentary disconnection of a connector detection signal line. It is a figure which shows an example of the circuit structure of the power supply unit and control unit of a charging device. It is a figure which shows an example of operation | movement of the charging device of this embodiment.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of the charging device of the present embodiment. The charging device 10 includes a charging cable 20. When the charging connector 24 at the tip of the charging cable 20 is inserted into the connector 33 on the battery pack 30 side, the charging cable 20 is connected from the power supply unit 11 of the charging device 10. The charging current is output to the rechargeable battery 31 such as the lithium ion battery of the battery pack 30 via the, and charging is started.

  The charging cable 20 includes a power line 21 for supplying a charging current to the battery 31, a communication line 22 for transmitting a communication signal such as CAN communication communicated between the battery control unit 32 of the battery pack 30, and a battery. The connector detection signal line 23 for detecting that it is connected to the pack 30 consists of three types of electric wires. The charging cable 20 may be a single multi-core cable in which these three types of electric wires are bundled, or may be two or three cables including those three types of electric wires.

  The charging device 10 includes a power supply unit 11 that generates a charging current and supplies it to the battery pack 30, and a control unit 12 that controls a charging operation. The control unit 12 includes a charge monitoring unit 121, a communication monitoring unit 122, a connector detection signal line monitoring unit 123, and a disconnection determination unit 124.

  The charge monitoring unit 121 monitors the charging operation including the output voltage and output current of the power supply unit 11. The communication monitoring unit 122 monitors whether communication via the communication line 22 such as CAN communication is normally performed between the control unit 12 of the charging apparatus 10 and the battery control unit 32 of the battery pack 30.

  The connector detection signal line monitoring unit 123 monitors the voltage or current of the connector detection signal line 23 and is output to the connector detection signal line 23 when the charging device 10 and the battery pack 30 are connected by the charging cable 20. It is monitored whether or not the above voltage or current is detected.

  As will be described later, the disconnection determination unit 124, based on the monitoring results of the communication monitoring unit 122 and the connector detection signal line monitoring unit 123, disconnects the charging connector 24, disconnects the connector detection signal line 23, and disconnects the communication line 22. The disconnection and the disconnection of the power line 21 are determined.

  The determination conditions in the removal determination unit 124 are shown in a table in FIG. Based on the monitoring results of the communication monitoring unit 122 and the connector detection signal line monitoring unit 123, the disconnection determination unit 124 determines whether the charging connector 24 is disconnected or the connector detection signal line 23 according to the determination conditions shown in the table of FIG. Whether the communication line 22 is disconnected, or the power line 21 is disconnected.

  That is, the connector detection signal line monitoring unit 123 does not detect a voltage or current higher than a predetermined value in the connector detection signal line 23, detects a state of being disconnected from the battery pack 30, and the communication monitoring unit 122 detects the communication line 22. When it is detected that the communication by is not normally performed, it is determined that the charging connector 24 is disconnected.

  Further, the connector detection signal line monitoring unit 123 detects a voltage or current greater than or equal to a predetermined value in the connector detection signal line 23, detects the connection state with the battery pack 30, and the communication monitoring unit 122 performs communication via the communication line 22. When it is detected that the charging is normally performed, it is charged that a predetermined voltage or current for charging is not output from the power supply unit 11 to the power line 21 even though the state of the charging device 10 is being charged. When detected by the monitoring unit 121, it is determined that this is a phenomenon in which the power line 21 is disconnected or an abnormality such as an output abnormality of the power supply unit 11 has occurred.

  Further, the connector detection signal line monitoring unit 123 does not detect a voltage or current higher than a predetermined value in the connector detection signal line 23, detects a non-connection state with the battery pack 30, and the communication monitoring unit 122 detects the communication line 22. When it is detected that the communication by is normally performed, it is determined that the connector detection signal line 23 is abnormal such as disconnection.

  Further, the connector detection signal line monitoring unit 123 detects a voltage or current greater than or equal to a predetermined value in the connector detection signal line 23, detects the connection state with the battery pack 30, and the communication monitoring unit 122 performs communication via the communication line 22. Is detected as being a phenomenon in which an abnormality such as a disconnection has occurred in the communication line 22.

  Here, due to the influence of noise or the like on the connector detection signal line 23, the connector detection signal line monitoring unit 123 does not instantaneously detect a voltage or current exceeding a predetermined value in the connector detection signal line 23, and the connector detection signal line 23 Due to the disconnection, it may be erroneously determined that the charging connector 24 has been removed or that an abnormality such as disconnection has occurred in the connector detection signal line 23.

  In order to prevent such a disconnection of the charging connector due to a momentary disconnection of the connector detection signal line 23 and an erroneous determination of disconnection of the connector detection signal line 23, the disconnection determination unit 124 is configured to monitor the battery pack 30 by monitoring the connector detection signal line 23. The occurrence of an abnormality such as disconnection of the charging connector 24 or disconnection of the connector detection signal line 23 is determined on the condition that the non-connected state has been detected for a predetermined time or more.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of an operation for preventing erroneous determination with respect to a momentary disconnection of the connector detection signal line 23. 3A shows the voltage of the connector detection signal line 23, FIG. 3B shows the communication signal of the communication line 22 such as CAN communication, and FIG. 3C shows the output current of the power line 21. FIG. 3D shows the output voltage of the power line 21.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, when the charging connector 24 is removed or the connector detection signal line 23 is disconnected, the voltage of the connector detection signal line 23 becomes lower than the predetermined voltage V1, and the battery pack The removal determination unit 124 detects the time T1 when the voltage indicating the non-connection to the voltage 30 is reached.

  The disconnection determination unit 124 is in a state in which the voltage of the connector detection signal line 23 is lower than the predetermined voltage V1 for a predetermined time t1 or more from the time T1 when the voltage indicating disconnection from the battery pack 30 is reached. It is detected that the battery pack 30 is not connected, and communication such as CAN communication is not normally performed for a predetermined time t1 or more, and no communication signal is transmitted or received (bus off). Then, it is determined that the charging connector 24 has been removed.

  When the control unit 12 determines that the charging connector 24 is removed at time T2, the control unit 12 transmits a signal for stopping the output of the charging current to the microcomputer of the power supply unit 11. Then, the microcomputer of the power supply unit 11 stops the final non-insulated DC-DC converter.

  Then, the current and voltage output from the power supply unit 11 to the power line 21 decrease as shown in (c) and (d) of FIG. If the voltage of the connector detection signal line 23 returns to the predetermined voltage V1 or more within the predetermined time t1, the control unit 12 recognizes that the charging connector 24 is disconnected and the charging connector 24 is inserted again. Start the charging sequence from the beginning and resume charging.

  The disconnection of the power line 21, the disconnection of the communication line 22 such as CAN communication, and the disconnection of the connector detection signal line 23 are determined under the condition that an abnormality is detected only in each electric wire and the other electric wires are normal. By determining that an abnormality has occurred in each electric wire when it continues for a period of time, it is possible to prevent erroneous determination in which detection of instantaneous interruption due to noise or the like is determined as disconnection.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of the circuit configuration of the power supply unit 11 and the control unit 12 of the charging apparatus 10. The power supply unit 11 includes a PFC circuit (AC / DC circuit) 111, an insulated DC / DC converter circuit 112, a non-insulated DC / DC converter circuit 113, and a power supply unit microcomputer 114.

  The PFC circuit (AC / DC circuit) 111 converts the alternating current supplied from the alternating current power line 40 into a direct current having a constant voltage. The insulation type DC / DC converter circuit 112 transforms the direct current from the PFC circuit (AC / DC circuit) 111 into a direct current of a desired voltage. The non-insulated DC / DC converter circuit 113 further transforms the direct current from the isolated DC / DC converter circuit 112 into a direct current having a desired voltage, and outputs the direct current to the power line 21 of the charging cable 20.

  In the isolated DC / DC converter circuit 112, the input-side reference potential line and the output-side reference potential line are completely insulated, whereas in the non-insulated DC / DC converter circuit 113, the input-side reference potential line. And the output side reference potential line are electrically connected. By using an isolated converter, the power source and the reference potential between the input and output can be completely separated, so that unnecessary currents that pass through the power source line or the reference potential line can be prevented.

  The PFC circuit (AC / DC circuit) 111, the insulated DC / DC converter circuit 112, and the non-insulated DC / DC converter circuit 113 constitute a charging current supply circuit 110. The power supply unit microcomputer 114 controls the PFC circuit (AC / DC circuit) 111, the isolated DC / DC converter circuit 112, and the non-insulated DC / DC converter circuit 113, and the output voltage and output current of each circuit. When the occurrence of an abnormality is detected, for example, by monitoring a state such as temperature or temperature by a sensor (not shown) and the values are out of a predetermined allowable range, the control unit 12 is notified of identification information of the power supply unit 11 in which the abnormality has occurred. It has a function.

  Note that a “microcomputer” is a computer system or processor mounted on an integrated circuit, and is called a microcomputer or a microcontroller (MCU: Micro Control Unit). It is simply written as “microcomputer”.

  On the other hand, the control unit 12 includes an AC / DC circuit 125, a control unit microcomputer 126, a non-volatile memory (EEPROM, etc.) 127, and a status display lamp lighting unit 128. The AC / DC circuit 125 converts the alternating current from the alternating current power line 40 into a direct current having a voltage suitable for the control unit microcomputer 126, and supplies the direct current to the control unit microcomputer 126.

  The control unit microcomputer 126 has functions of the above-described charging monitoring unit 121, communication monitoring unit 122, connector detection signal line monitoring unit 123, and disconnection determination unit 124, and also has a communication function with the power supply unit microcomputer 114. A charge control signal including start / stop of the charging operation is transmitted to the power supply unit microcomputer 114.

  When the control unit microcomputer 126 receives an error code indicating the occurrence of an abnormality from the power supply unit microcomputer 114, the control unit microcomputer 126 has a function of storing the error code in the nonvolatile memory 127 as error log information. When the control unit microcomputer 126 receives an error code from the power supply unit microcomputer 114, the control unit microcomputer 126 has a function of controlling the status display lamp lighting unit 128 to turn on or blink an abnormal lamp indicating the occurrence of an abnormality.

  The status display lamp lighting unit 128 controls lighting / extinguishing of several status display lamps that display the status of the charging device 10 in accordance with a command from the control unit microcomputer 126. The status display lamp is provided on the outer surface of the casing of the charging device 10.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of the operation of the charging device of this embodiment. The removal determination unit 124 determines whether or not the result of monitoring the connector detection signal line 23 by the connector detection signal line monitoring unit 123 detects the state of connection with the battery pack 30 (S51).

  When the state of connection with the battery pack 30 is not detected (NO in S51), the removal determination unit 124 determines whether normal communication on the communication line such as CAN communication by the communication monitoring unit 122 is detected. Monitor (S52). If normal communication on the communication line is not detected (NO in S52), the removal determination unit 124 determines that the charging connector 24 has been removed (S53).

  When normal communication on the communication line is detected in step S52 described above (YES in S52), the disconnection determination unit 124 determines that an abnormality such as disconnection of the connector detection signal line 23 has occurred (S54). .

  When the connection state with the battery pack 30 is detected in step S51 described above (YES in S51), the disconnection determination unit 124 performs normal communication on the communication line such as CAN communication by the communication monitoring unit 122. Is detected (S55). If normal communication on the communication line is not detected (NO in S55), the removal determining unit 124 determines that an abnormality such as disconnection of the communication line such as CAN communication has occurred (S56).

  When normal communication on the communication line is detected in step S55 described above (YES in S55), the removal determination unit 124 determines whether the output voltage or current of the power line 21 is normally output. (S57). When the output voltage or current of the power line 21 is not normally output (NO in S57), it is determined that an abnormality such as disconnection or an output abnormality of the power supply unit 11 has occurred in the power line 21 (S58). When the output voltage or current of the power line 21 is normally output (YES in S57), the process returns to step S51, and the same operation is repeatedly executed during a period other than the standby state of the charging device 10.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to embodiment described above, A various structure or embodiment can be taken in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention. .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Charging apparatus 11 Power supply unit 12 Control unit 121 Charge monitoring part 122 Communication monitoring part 123 Connector detection signal line monitoring part 124 Disconnection determination part 20 Charging cable 21 Power line 22 Communication line 23 Connector detection signal line 24 Charging connector 30 Battery pack 31 Battery 32 Charge control unit 33 Battery pack side connector

Claims (6)

A power line for supplying a charging current to the battery pack, a connector detection signal line for detecting that the battery pack is connected, and a communication line for transmitting a communication signal communicated with the battery pack. A charging device including a charging connector for connecting three types of electric wires to the battery pack,
When it is detected that the battery pack is not connected by monitoring the connector detection signal line and it is detected that the communication via the communication line is not normally performed, the charging connector is disconnected. A charging device, comprising: an unloading / recognizing section for determining that the battery has been removed. The disconnection determination unit detects the non-connection state with the battery pack over a predetermined time by monitoring the connector detection signal line, and uses the communication line after the predetermined time elapses. The charging device according to claim 1, wherein when it is detected that communication is not normally performed, it is determined that the charging connector has been removed. When the disconnection determining unit detects that the battery pack is not connected by monitoring the connector detection signal line and detects that communication with the communication line is normally performed, the connector The charging device according to claim 1, wherein it is determined that a disconnection has occurred in the detection signal line. The disconnection determination unit detects the state of connection with the battery pack by monitoring the connector detection signal line, and detects that communication by the communication line is not normally performed. It is discriminate | determined that the disconnection has generate | occur | produced in. The charging device of Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. The disconnection determination unit detects a connection state with the battery pack by monitoring the connector detection signal line, detects that communication with the communication line is normally performed, and the power line. 2. When the supply of the charging current by is not detected, it is determined that a disconnection has occurred in the power line, or that an abnormality has occurred in the output of the power supply unit that supplies the charging current. The charging device described in 1. A power line for supplying a charging current from the charging device to the battery pack, a connector detection signal line for detecting that the charging device and the battery pack are connected, and between the charging device and the battery pack Charging connector removal determination method for determining that the charging connector on the charging device side connecting the three types of electric wires of the communication line for transmitting the communication signal communicated by the battery is disconnected from the connector on the battery pack side Because
When the connector detection signal line is monitored to detect that the battery pack is not connected, and when it is detected that communication via the communication line is not normally performed, the charging connector is disconnected. A method for determining whether or not a charging connector is removed.

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