JP2017093246A - Charging controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To restrain external charging by timer charging from not being executed although timer charging is scheduled to be executed.SOLUTION: A vehicle is configured to be able to execute external charging to charge an on-vehicle power storage device by using power supplied from a charging cable outside a vehicle. An ECU of the vehicle is configured to be able to execute timer charging (reserved charging) to start external charging at scheduled time. If the charging cable is not connected to the vehicle although timer charging is set (timer charging is scheduled to be executed), the ECU of the vehicle transmits an email indicating the charging cable is not connected to the vehicle to a smart phone of a user.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a charge control device capable of notifying a user of information related to external charging for charging an in-vehicle power storage device with electric power supplied from outside the vehicle.

  Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2013-38933 (Patent Document 1) discloses a charge control device capable of executing external charging for charging a vehicle-mounted traveling battery using electric power supplied from a charging cable outside the vehicle. . This charging control device is configured to be able to execute timer charging (reserved charging) for starting external charging at a scheduled time. If the user is set to perform timer charging and the charging cable is connected to the vehicle, external charging is automatically started at the scheduled time.

JP 2013-38933 A

  However, if the user forgets to perform an operation of connecting the charging cable to the vehicle even though the user has set the timer charging, the timer charging is performed even when the timer charging is scheduled to start. External charging will not be executed.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and its object is to prevent external charging by timer charging from being performed even though timer charging is scheduled to be performed. is there.

  The charge control device according to the present invention can notify a user of information related to external charging for charging a power storage device mounted on a vehicle using electric power supplied from a charging cable outside the vehicle. The charging control device includes: a determination unit that determines whether or not timer charging that starts external charging at a scheduled time is scheduled; and a charging cable that is connected to the vehicle even though timer charging is scheduled to be performed. And a notification unit for notifying the user of information indicating that the charging cable is not connected to the vehicle.

  According to the above configuration, if the charging cable is not connected to the vehicle even though the timer charging is scheduled to be performed, the user is notified that the charging cable is not connected to the vehicle. Thereby, the user can be made aware that he has forgotten to connect the charging cable to the vehicle, and can be prompted to connect the charging cable to the vehicle. As a result, it is possible to prevent external charging by timer charging from being performed although timer charging is scheduled to be performed.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a vehicle charging system. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a vehicle. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen displayed on the display part of a navigation apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of ECU.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will not be repeated.

  FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a vehicle charging system 1 to which a charging control device according to the present embodiment is applied. The vehicle charging system 1 includes a vehicle 10, a power supply device (hereinafter referred to as “external power supply device”) 20 provided outside the vehicle 10, a cloud server 30, and a smartphone 40.

  The vehicle 10 includes an inlet 110 and a power storage device 130. Vehicle 10 is an electric vehicle (for example, a hybrid vehicle, an electric vehicle, or the like) that can travel using electric power stored in power storage device 130. The vehicle 10 is configured to be able to execute control (hereinafter also referred to as “external charging”) for charging the in-vehicle power storage device 130 using electric power supplied from the external power supply device 20. Specifically, the vehicle 10 is in a state where external charging is possible when the user connects the charging connector 22 provided at the tip of the charging cable 21 extending from the external power supply device 20 to the inlet 110 of the vehicle 10.

  The external power supply device 20 is a power supply that supplies charging power to the vehicle 10. The external power supply device 20 is fixed in a vehicle parking space or the like. Although FIG. 1 illustrates the case where the external power supply device 20 is provided on the ground, the external power supply device 20 may be embedded in the ground.

  The cloud server 30 is configured to be able to communicate with the vehicle 10 and the smartphone 40. The vehicle 10 can transmit information related to the vehicle 10 (including information related to external charging) to the smartphone 40 through the cloud server 30.

  The smartphone 40 is a communication terminal that can be carried by the user. The smartphone 40 includes a display and can display information received from the cloud server 30 on the display. Even when the user is in a place away from the vehicle 10, the content of information transmitted from the vehicle 10 through the cloud server 30 can be confirmed on the display of the smartphone 40.

  In addition, in this Embodiment, although the case where information is indirectly transmitted to the smart phone 40 through the cloud server 30 from the vehicle 10 is illustrated, information is directly transmitted to the smart phone 40 from the vehicle 10 without passing through the cloud server 30. It may be configured to transmit.

  FIG. 2 schematically shows a configuration of vehicle 10 shown in FIG. The vehicle 10 includes a charger 120, a power storage device 130, a drive device 140, an ECU (Electric Control Unit) 150, a DCM (Data Communication Module) 160, navigation, in addition to the inlet 110 and the power storage device 130 described above. A device 170 and an ignition (IG) switch 190 are provided.

  The inlet 110 is configured such that a charging connector 22 provided at the tip of the charging cable 21 can be connected. When the charging connector 22 is connected to the inlet 110, a signal indicating that the charging connector 22 is connected to the inlet 110 (hereinafter also referred to as “connection signal”) is output from the inlet 110 to the ECU 150.

  Charger 120 is controlled by ECU 150, converts the power received from inlet 110 (the power of external power supply device 20) into power that can be charged in power storage device 130, and outputs the power to power storage device 130. The charger 120 includes, for example, a rectifier and an inverter.

  The power storage device 130 can store the power received from the charger 120 and supply the stored power to the driving device 140. The power storage device 130 includes, for example, a secondary battery such as a nickel metal hydride battery or a lithium ion battery, an electric double layer capacitor, and the like. The power storage device 130 can also store electric power regeneratively generated by the drive device 140 during braking while the vehicle is running.

  The driving device 140 generates driving force for driving the vehicle 10 by driving driving wheels (not shown). Although not particularly illustrated, drive device 140 includes a converter and an inverter that receive supply of electric power from power storage device 130, a motor that is driven by the inverter and drives the drive wheels, and the like. Drive device 140 may include a generator that generates electric power for charging power storage device 130 and an engine that can drive the generator.

  ECU 150 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory, an input / output buffer, and the like (all not shown), and performs various controls in vehicle 10.

  The ECU 150 collects information related to the vehicle 10 and transmits it to the cloud server 30 (see FIG. 1) through the DCM 160. ECU 150 also monitors the amount of power stored in power storage device 130 (hereinafter also simply referred to as “SOC (State Of Charge)”).

  The DCM 160 is a communication device that can wirelessly communicate with the cloud server 30. The DCM 160 transmits information on the vehicle 10 collected by the ECU 150 to the cloud server 30, receives information transmitted from the cloud server 30, and outputs the information to the ECU 150.

  The navigation device 170 specifies the current position of the vehicle 10 using GPS (Global Positioning System), and outputs information indicating the current position to the ECU 150. In addition, the navigation device 170 includes a display unit that can display various information.

  The IG switch 190 is a power switch for supplying operating power to each device of the vehicle 10. When the user performs an operation to close the IG switch 190 in order to use the vehicle 10, the power is supplied to each device (vehicle power-on state). When the user performs an operation to open the IG switch 190 in order to stop using the vehicle 10, the power supply to each device is cut off (vehicle power off state). Even in the vehicle power-off state, the equipment related to external charging is maintained in an operable state. Therefore, it is possible to perform external charging even when the vehicle power is off.

<Timer charging settings>
ECU 150 can execute control (hereinafter also referred to as “timer charging”) that starts the above-described external charging at a preset time. The time for starting the timer charging is set in advance based on the scheduled start time or the scheduled departure time input by the user. The user uses a combination meter (not shown) or a screen displayed on the navigation device 170 to set timer charging (setting whether to perform timer charging, scheduled start time of timer charging, scheduled departure time) Input).

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed on the display unit of the navigation device 170. The screen shown in FIG. 3 is a screen for setting timer charging. The display screen of the navigation device 170 is a so-called touch panel, and the user can set timer charging by pressing a button or the like displayed on the screen shown in FIG. Note that the screen shown in FIG. 3 is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to this.

  On the display screen of the navigation device 170, an add button 180, schedule bars 181, 182 and the like are displayed.

  The add button 180 is a button for newly adding timer charging settings. By pressing the add button 180, the user can newly add a schedule bar indicating the setting contents of timer charging. In the example shown in FIG. 3, an example in which two schedule bars 181 and 182 are already registered is shown.

  The schedule bars 181 and 182 are bars indicating currently registered information related to timer charging (specifically, the day of the week for timer charging, the scheduled start time for timer charging, the scheduled departure time for sunrise for performing timer charging, etc.). is there.

  In the example shown in FIG. 3, the schedule bar 181 indicates that the scheduled start time of timer charging is 10:00 am on each day of the month, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The schedule bar 182 indicates that the scheduled departure time of the user on each day of the month, Friday and Saturday is 10:00 pm. When the scheduled departure time is registered by the user, ECU 150 presets the scheduled start time of timer charging so that power storage device 130 is fully charged before the scheduled departure time.

  The schedule bar 181 displays a change button 181A and a setting button (ON button) 181B. The user can change the content of the timer charging displayed on the schedule bar 181 by pressing the change button 181A. By pressing the setting button 181B, the user can set whether or not to make the timer charging displayed on the schedule bar 181 valid (whether or not to execute). The brightness of the schedule bar 181 is bright when it is in the valid state, and the brightness of the schedule bar 181 is dark when it is in the invalid state. The user can confirm whether or not the timer charging displayed on the schedule bar 181 is in an effective state by confirming the brightness of the schedule bar 181.

  Similarly to the schedule bar 181, a change button 182A and a setting button (ON button) 182B are also displayed on the schedule bar 182. Since functions of change button 181A and setting button 181B are the same as those of change button 182A and setting button 182B described above, detailed description will not be repeated.

<Notification that the charging cable is not connected to the vehicle>
As described above, the vehicle 10 is configured to be able to perform timer charging that starts external charging at a scheduled time.

  However, the user forgot to perform the operation of connecting the charging connector 22 of the charging cable 21 to the inlet 110 of the vehicle 10 even though the timer charging is set (timer charging is scheduled to be executed). In this case, external charging by timer charging will not be executed even when the scheduled time for starting timer charging comes.

  Therefore, ECU 150 according to the present embodiment provides an e-mail indicating that charging cable 21 is not connected to vehicle 10 when charging cable 21 is not connected to vehicle 10 even though timer charging is set. (Hereinafter also referred to as “charging cable non-connection notification mail”) is transmitted to the user's smartphone 40 through the cloud server 30. Accordingly, the user can be notified that the charging cable 21 has been forgotten to be connected to the vehicle 10, and the user can be prompted to connect the charging cable 21 to the vehicle 10. As a result, it is possible to prevent external charging by timer charging from being performed even though timer charging is set.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure performed by ECU 150 when a charging cable disconnection notification mail is transmitted. This flowchart is repeatedly executed at a predetermined cycle.

  In step (hereinafter, step is abbreviated as “S”) 10, ECU 150 determines whether timer charging is set (timer charging is scheduled to be executed) or not. If timer charging is not set (NO in S10), ECU 150 ends the process.

  If timer charging is set (YES in S10), ECU 150 determines in S11 whether charging connector 22 is connected to inlet 110 based on the state of the connection signal described above. If charging connector 22 is connected to inlet 110 (YES in S11), ECU 150 ends the process.

  When charging connector 22 is not connected to inlet 110 (NO in S11), ECU 150 transmits a charging cable disconnection notification mail in S12 to S15, so that charging cable 21 is not connected to vehicle 10. Notify the user to that effect.

  Specifically, at S12, ECU 150 determines from the state of IG switch 190 whether or not the vehicle power is off. If the vehicle power is not off (NO in S12), it is considered that the user is using the vehicle 10, and therefore the ECU 150 ends the process without sending the above-described charging cable disconnection notification mail. To do. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the charging cable disconnection notification mail from being transmitted until it is unnecessary.

  If the vehicle power is off (YES in S12), ECU 150 determines in S13 whether the SOC is less than predetermined value S1. This determination is performed to determine whether or not the SOC has decreased to a level that requires external charging. If the SOC is equal to or greater than the predetermined value S1 (NO in S13), it is considered that the SOC is high and external charging is unnecessary, and therefore ECU 150 ends the process without transmitting a charging cable disconnection notification mail. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the charging cable disconnection notification mail from being transmitted until it is unnecessary.

  If the SOC is less than predetermined value S1 (YES in S13), ECU 150 determines in S14 whether or not it is time to transmit a charging cable disconnection notification mail. The ECU 150 sets a predetermined timing (timing approaching the scheduled start time) before the scheduled start time of timer charging being set, for example, timings 30 minutes, 8 hours, and 12 hours before the scheduled start time. If it is, it is determined that it is time to transmit a charging cable disconnection notification mail.

  If it is not time to transmit the charging cable disconnection notification mail (NO in S14), ECU 150 ends the process without transmitting the charging cable disconnection notification mail.

  On the other hand, when it is time to transmit the charging cable disconnection notification email (YES in S14), ECU 150 transmits the charging cable disconnection notification email to user's smartphone 40 through cloud server 30.

  As described above, the ECU 150 according to the present embodiment transmits a charging cable disconnection notification email to the user's smartphone 40 when the charging connector 22 is not connected to the inlet 110 even though timer charging is set. To do. Accordingly, the user can be notified that the charging cable 21 has been forgotten to be connected to the vehicle 10, and the user can be prompted to connect the charging cable 21 to the vehicle 10. As a result, it is possible to prevent external charging by timer charging from being performed although timer charging is scheduled to be performed.

<Modification>
The above-described embodiment can be modified as follows, for example.

  (1) In the above-described embodiment, the timing for transmitting the charging cable disconnection notification mail (hereinafter also simply referred to as “mail transmission timing”) is set to a predetermined timing before the scheduled start time of timer charging. .

  However, the mail transmission timing may be changed according to the scheduled start time of timer charging. For example, since it is assumed that even if the charging cable disconnection notification mail is transmitted at night, the user is sleeping and cannot respond, the night time zone may be excluded from the mail transmission timing.

  Further, the e-mail transmission timing may be changed according to a specific scene. For example, when the user sets the scheduled start time for timer charging at 23:00 in order to perform external charging in the late-night time zone (for example, the time zone from 23 hours to 7:00 on the next day) when the electricity rate is low, Considering the average return time (for example, 20:00), the mail transmission timing may be set to any timing between 20:00 and 22:00.

  Further, when the vehicle 10 is used for commuting and the user has set the departure time at 7:00, the user's average return time (for example, 20:00) and the user's average bedtime (for example, 24:00) In consideration of the above, the mail transmission timing may be set to any timing between 20:00 and 22:00.

  Further, when the vehicle 10 is used as a company car and the user sets the scheduled start time at 12:00 to charge at lunchtime, the e-mail transmission timing is set from 11:30 to 12:00. It may be set at any timing in between.

  (2) In the above-described embodiment, the case where the ECU 150 of the vehicle 10 transmits the charging cable disconnection notification mail has been described. However, the cloud server 30 may transmit the charging cable disconnection notification mail. Good. That is, the cloud server 30 determines whether or not the timer charging is set and the connection state of the charging cable 21 based on the information transmitted from the vehicle 10, and the charging cable 21 is connected to the vehicle 10 even though the timer charging is set. If it is determined that the charging cable is not connected to the charging cable, a charging cable disconnection notification mail may be transmitted to the user's smartphone 40.

  (3) In the above-described embodiment, the user is notified by e-mail that the charging cable 21 is not connected to the vehicle 10, but the notification method is not limited to e-mail. For example, an audio warning may be given from a speaker of the smartphone 40.

  (4) In the above-described embodiment, the determination of S12 (determination of whether or not the vehicle power supply is off) and the determination of S13 (determination of whether or not the SOC is less than the predetermined value S1) shown in FIG. It may be omitted. That is, if the charging connector 22 is not connected to the inlet 110 even though the timer charging is set, whether the SOC is less than the predetermined value S1 regardless of whether or not the vehicle power is off. Regardless of whether or not, a charging cable disconnection notification mail may be transmitted. Even in this case, the user can be notified that the charging cable 21 has been forgotten to be connected to the vehicle 10, and the user can be prompted to connect the charging cable 21 to the vehicle 10.

  The above-described embodiments and modifications can be combined as appropriate within a range where no technical contradiction arises.

  The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle charging system, 10 Vehicle, 20 External power supply device, 21 Charging cable, 22 Charging connector, 30 Cloud server, 40 Smartphone, 110 inlet, 120 charger, 130 Power storage device, 140 Drive device, 150 ECU, 170 Navigation device, 180 Add button, 181, 182 Schedule bar, 190 IG switch.

Claims (1)

A charging control device capable of notifying a user of information related to external charging for charging a power storage device mounted on a vehicle using electric power supplied from a charging cable outside the vehicle,
A determination unit that determines whether or not timer charging that starts the external charging at a scheduled time is scheduled to be performed;
A notification unit for notifying a user of information indicating that the charging cable is not connected to the vehicle when the charging cable is not connected to the vehicle even though the timer charging is scheduled to be performed; A charge control device.

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