JP2019097230A - Charging device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

To charge a vehicle in such a manner that an allowable current of a breaker is not exceeded, without performing construction or the like upon a charging facility.SOLUTION: In a case where charging is performed at an upper limit value of a charging current without exceeding an allowable current of a breaker at a charging place where a vehicle is charged for the first time, a control part stores only positional information of the charging place (S130). In a case where the allowable current of the breaker is exceeded equal to or lower than the upper limit of the charging current at the charging place where the vehicle is charged for the first time, the control part correspondingly stores the positional information of the charging place and the charging current (S140). In a case where the charging current corresponding to the positional information is stored (YES in S150) when next performing charging at the same charging place, the control part charges the vehicle with a charging current lower than a stored charging current value.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present disclosure relates to a charging device for a vehicle that travels using power stored in a power storage device configured to be able to receive power from the outside.

  JP-A-2013-138535 (Patent Document 1) discloses a power monitoring device and a charge control device between a breaker included in a charging facility for charging a storage device mounted on an electric vehicle and the electric vehicle. A charging system provided is disclosed. The power monitoring device monitors the current flowing through the breaker and causes the charge control device to control the charging current of the power storage device mounted on the electric vehicle so that the current flowing through the breaker does not exceed the allowable current of the breaker.

JP, 2013-138535, A

  By using the charging system disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is mounted on an electric vehicle such as an electric car or a plug-in hybrid car (hereinafter, also simply referred to as a "vehicle") so as not to exceed the allowable current of the breaker of the charging facility. In order to control the charging current of the storage device, it is necessary to provide a charging control device and a power monitoring device in the charging facility. Performing such a work can be a heavy burden for the installer of the charging equipment.

  The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to enable charging of a vehicle without exceeding the allowable current of a breaker without performing work on a charging facility or the like. It is.

  The charging device for a vehicle according to the present disclosure is a charging device for a vehicle that receives power supplied from a charging facility outside the vehicle and charges a power storage device mounted on the vehicle. The charging facility includes a breaker that shuts off the power supply to the vehicle when the current exceeding the allowable value is externally supplied. The charging device includes a control unit that controls the charging current of the power storage device, and a storage unit that stores information. The control unit cuts off the power supply when the power supply is interrupted by the breaker at the time of charging of the power storage device, when the charging place where the power storage device is charged using the charging facility is not stored in the storage unit. The charging current and charging location are stored in the storage unit in association with each other, and the charging location is stored in the storage unit when the supply of power is not cut off by the breaker when the storage device is charged. When the charging location is stored in the storage unit, and the charging current associated with the charging location is stored in the storage unit, the control unit charges the storage device with a charging current smaller than the charging current. Do.

  According to the above configuration, if the storage unit does not store the charging place for charging the power storage device mounted on the vehicle (hereinafter, also simply referred to as "charging of the vehicle"), the charging for charging the vehicle this time It is assumed that the place is the first charging place to charge the vehicle. In the following, charging of a vehicle at a charging location where charging of the vehicle is performed for the first time is also referred to as “initial charging”.

  When the power supply is interrupted by the breaker at the time of initial charge, it is presumed that the charging current at the time of the interruption of the power supply is the allowable current of the breaker. In this case, the vehicle associates the charging current and the charging place when the supply of power is cut off and stores them in the storage unit. On the other hand, when the supply of power is not cut off by the breaker at the time of the first charge, the vehicle stores the charging place in the storage unit.

  When the charging place for charging the vehicle is stored in the storage unit, it is assumed that the charging place for charging the vehicle this time is the charging place for charging the vehicle in the past. In the following, charging of the vehicle at a charging place where the vehicle has been charged in the past is also referred to as "repeat charging".

  When the charging current associated with the charging place is stored in the storage unit at the time of repeat charging, it is understood that the charging current stored is the allowable current of the breaker at this charging place. Therefore, the vehicle charges the vehicle with a charging current smaller than the stored charging current. Thus, at the time of repeat charging, the vehicle controls the charging current so as not to exceed the allowable current of the breaker. As a result, the vehicle can be charged so as not to exceed the allowable current of the breaker without performing work on the charging facility.

  According to the present disclosure, it is possible to charge a vehicle so as not to exceed the allowable current of the breaker without performing work on the charging facility.

It is a whole lineblock diagram concerning this embodiment. FIG. 7 schematically shows an example of changes in charging current at the time of initial charge and repeat charge of a vehicle at a certain charging location (part 1). FIG. 8 schematically shows an example of changes in charging current at the time of initial charge and repeat charge of a vehicle at a certain charging location (part 2). It is a flowchart which shows the process performed by a control part, when charging a vehicle.

  Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding portions are denoted by the same reference characters and description thereof will not be repeated.

  FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram according to the present embodiment. Vehicle 1 travels by driving a traveling motor (not shown) using the electric power stored in power storage device 100. In the present embodiment, an example in which vehicle 1 is an electric vehicle will be described, but vehicle 1 may be any vehicle that travels using power stored in a storage device configured to be able to receive power from the outside, For example, it may be a plug-in hybrid car.

  Vehicle 1 includes an electric storage device 100 for storing direct current power for driving a traveling motor, and an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 300 for controlling the vehicle.

  Vehicle 1 also uses power supplied from charging facility 500 connected via power supply (hereinafter also referred to as “external power supply”) 510 provided outside vehicle 1 via charging cable 400 to power storage device 100. It is configured to be chargeable.

  Specifically, vehicle 1 includes an inlet 220 configured to be connectable to charging connector 410 of charging cable 400, and a charger 200 disposed between inlet 220 and power storage device 100. In the present embodiment, the inlet 220 is disposed on the rear side surface of the vehicle body. Charger 200 converts external power (AC power) received by inlet 220 into power (DC power) that can charge power storage device 100 and outputs the power to power storage device 100.

  The inlet 220 is usually covered by the charging lid 2. When the charging lid 2 is opened, the user can connect the charging connector 410 of the charging cable 400 to the inlet 220.

  Charging cable 400 includes a charging connector 410, a plug 420, and an AC power line 440. Plug 420 is configured to be connectable to charging facility 500. AC power line 440 connects charging connector 410 and plug 420.

  Charging facility 500 includes a breaker 550 for interrupting the power supply from external power supply 510 to vehicle 1 when a current exceeding the allowable value is supplied from external power supply 510.

  For example, the breaker 550 may be a fuse such as a current fuse that melts when a current equal to or greater than the allowable current flows, or disconnects the relay when a current equal to or greater than the allowable current is detected by a current sensor or the like. It may be like that.

  ECU 300 includes a communication unit 310, a storage unit 320, a control unit 330, and a position information acquisition unit 340. Each configuration is communicably connected by a communication bus 360.

  Communication unit 310 communicates with an external device such as a device (not shown) that monitors the charging state of power storage device 100 from the outside via a communication network such as the Internet or a telephone line. In addition, when the charging facility 500 includes the communication unit, communication may be performed with the communication unit of the charging facility 500.

  The storage unit 320 includes a large capacity storage device such as a non-volatile memory, a hard disk or a solid state drive. The storage unit 320 stores information on the charging place where the vehicle 1 has been charged, information on the charging current, and the like.

  The position information acquisition unit 340 is configured to acquire the current position of the vehicle 1. The position information acquisition unit 340 acquires the current position of the vehicle 1 using, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System). The position information acquisition unit 340 periodically transmits the acquired position information indicating the current position of the vehicle 1 to the control unit 330. Further, the position information acquisition unit 340 transmits position information to the control unit 330 in response to a request from the control unit 330.

  The control unit 330 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 330a, a memory (ROM and RAM) 330b, and an input / output port (not shown) for inputting / outputting various signals. The control unit 330 is configured to execute predetermined arithmetic processing based on the information stored in the storage unit 320 and the information acquired via the communication unit 310.

  The control unit 330 acquires the value detected from the current sensor 16 provided in the charger 200. Current sensor 16 detects a charging current for charging power storage device 100 flowing into charger 200.

  Further, the control unit 330 causes the storage unit 320 to store the position information acquired from the position information acquisition unit 340. As described later, the control unit 330 determines whether the place specified by the position information acquired from the position information acquisition unit 340 is the same as the place specified by the position information stored in the storage unit 320. Determine In the following, the above determination is also simply referred to as “determination as to whether or not the acquired position information is stored in the storage unit”.

  Further, as described later, control unit 330 sets a charging current for charging power storage device 100 based on the determination result of the above-described position information and the like.

  In the present embodiment, when an operation to charge the vehicle 1 is performed, the vehicle 1 acquires position information. The vehicle 1 determines whether the acquired position information is included in the position information of the charging place where the vehicle 1 has been charged in the past, which is stored in the storage unit 320 (the acquired position information is stored) Determination of whether or not Then, when the acquired position information is not stored in storage unit 320, vehicle 1 determines that the charging of vehicle 1 at the charging place where the vehicle 1 is charged is the first time this time.

  At the time of initial charge, vehicle 1 does not recognize the allowable current of breaker 550. Therefore, at the time of the first charge, the charging current is increased by a predetermined amount from the initial value until the upper limit value of the charging current is reached or the supply of power is cut off by the breaker 550.

  When the power supply is interrupted by the breaker 550 because the charge current exceeds the allowable current of the breaker 550 before the charge current reaches the upper limit value, the charge current when the power supply is interrupted is the breaker allowable. It is presumed that it is a current. In this case, the vehicle 1 stores the charging current when the power supply is interrupted and the position information of the charging place in the storage unit 320 in association with each other. In the following, the fact that the supply of power is interrupted by the breaker 550 because the charging current exceeds the allowable current of the breaker 550 is also simply referred to as “breaking of the breaker 550”.

  On the other hand, if the supply of power is not cut off by the breaker even if the charging current reaches the upper limit value, the vehicle stores the position information of the charging place in the storage unit 320.

  The “upper limit value of the charging current” is an upper limit value of the charging current capable of charging the power storage device 100 of the vehicle 1. In the present embodiment, the upper limit value of the charging current is set to the limit current value of power storage device 100. Further, the upper limit value of the charging current may be set to the limited current value of charger 200 when the limited current value of charger 200 is smaller than the limited current value of power storage device 100.

  When vehicle 1 stores the acquired position information in storage unit 320, it is determined that charging of vehicle 1 at the charging place for charging vehicle 1 has been performed in the past (repeat charging) this time Do.

  When the charging current associated with the position information of the charging place is stored in storage unit 320 at the time of repeat charging, breaker 550 is used when charging vehicle 1 with the charging current stored at the time of initial charge. It can be seen that the Therefore, the vehicle 1 charges the vehicle 1 with a charging current smaller than the charging current stored in the storage unit 320. On the other hand, when only the position information of the charging place is stored at the time of the repeat charge, it can be understood that the breaker 550 is not shut off at the time of the first charge. Therefore, the vehicle 1 charges the vehicle 1 at the upper limit value of the charging current.

  As described above, by controlling the charging current in accordance with the charging place in the vehicle 1, the vehicle 1 can be charged so as not to exceed the allowable current of the breaker 550 without performing work on the charging facility or the like. .

  FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing an example of a change in charging current at the time of initial charge and at the time of repeat charge of the vehicle 1 at a certain charging place. Time is shown on the horizontal axis of FIG. 2 and charging current is shown on the vertical axis. The “upper limit value” in FIG. 2 is the upper limit value of the charging current.

  FIG. 2 shows a change in charging current when charging can be performed without interrupting the supply of power by breaker 550 at the time of initial charging.

  At the time of the first charge, as described above, the charging current is increased from the initial value by a predetermined amount until the upper limit value of the charging current is reached or the supply of power is interrupted by the breaker 550. If the charging current is increased to the upper limit value of the charging current without exceeding the allowable current of the breaker 550, the charging of the vehicle 1 is continued at the upper limit value of the charging current.

  At the time of repeat charge, charge of the vehicle 1 is performed from the beginning with the upper limit value of the charge current. The graph at the time of repeat charge is shown by "next time" in FIG.

  As described above, at the time of the first charge, the process of increasing the charging current from the initial value by a predetermined amount is performed until the upper limit value of the charging current is reached or the power supply is interrupted by the breaker 550. This is because the vehicle 1 does not recognize the allowable current of the breaker 550 at the time of the first charge. At the charging place where the vehicle 1 can be charged with the upper limit value of the charging current at the time of the first charging, it can be estimated that the allowable current of the breaker 550 is larger than the upper limit value of the charging current. Therefore, at the time of repeat charging, the charging current is not increased by a predetermined amount from the initial value, and the vehicle 1 is charged from the beginning with the upper limit value of the charging current.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing an example of a change in charging current at the time of initial charge and at the time of repeat charge of the vehicle 1 at a certain charging place. The time is shown on the horizontal axis of FIG. 3 and the charging current is shown on the vertical axis. The “upper limit value” in FIG. 3 is the same as in FIG. 2 and is the upper limit value of the charging current.

  FIG. 3 shows a change in charging current when the supply of power is interrupted by the breaker 550 at the time of initial charge.

  At the time of the first charge, as described above, the charging current is increased from the initial value by a predetermined amount until the upper limit value of the charging current is reached or the supply of power is interrupted by the breaker 550. The graph at the time of the first charge shows that the power supply is interrupted before reaching the upper limit of the charging current at time T1, that is, the allowable current of the breaker 550 is exceeded at the charging current below the upper limit of the charging current. It shows.

  The vehicle 1 associates and stores the position information of the charging place and the charging current when the power supply is interrupted by the breaker 550. Then, at the time of repeat charging, charging of the vehicle 1 is performed with a charging current less than the charging current stored in the vehicle 1 in association with the position information of the charging place. In the present embodiment, charging is performed with a charging current smaller than the charging current stored in the vehicle 1 by a predetermined amount. The graph at the time of repeat charge is shown by "next time" in FIG.

  As described in FIG. 2, at the time of initial charge, the process of increasing the charging current from the initial value by a predetermined amount is performed until the upper limit value of the charging current is reached or the supply of power is interrupted by the breaker 550. The reason is that the vehicle 1 does not recognize the allowable current of the breaker 550 at the time of the first charge. When the power supply is interrupted by the breaker 550 at a charging current less than the upper limit value of the charging current, the charging current at that time is estimated to be the allowable current of the breaker at this charging location. Therefore, at the time of repeat charge, instead of increasing the charge current from the initial value every predetermined amount, charge is performed with a charge current less than the charge current stored in the vehicle 1 from the beginning in association with position information of the charge location. To be done.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing executed by control unit 330 when charging vehicle 1. The flowchart shown in FIG. 4 is executed each time the vehicle 1 is charged. Although each step shown in the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 is realized by software processing by control unit 330, a part of it may be realized by hardware (electric circuit) manufactured in control unit 330. .

  When an operation to charge the vehicle 1 is performed, the control unit 330 of the vehicle 1 acquires position information from the position information acquisition unit 340 (step 100; hereinafter, step is abbreviated as “S”). The operation of charging the vehicle 1 includes, for example, an operation of opening the charging lid 2 and an operation of connecting the charging connector 410 of the charging cable 400 to the inlet 220.

  The control unit 330 determines whether the position information acquired in S100 is stored in the storage unit 320 (S105). Specifically, control unit 330 determines the place specified by the position information acquired from position information acquisition unit 340 (the charging place of vehicle 1) by the place specified by the position information stored in storage unit 320. It is determined whether or not it is the same place. The determination as to whether or not the same place is made is determined, for example, by whether or not the position information acquired by control unit 330 is included in a predetermined area of the place specified by the position information stored in storage unit 320. Ru. The inside of the predetermined area is, for example, an area within a predetermined circle centered on the place specified by the position information. The size of the predetermined area is arbitrarily set to such an extent that the positions of charging facility 500 for charging vehicle 1 and other charging facilities can be distinguished.

  When the position information acquired in S100 is not stored in storage unit 320 (NO in S105), control unit 330 determines that the charging place is a charging place where vehicle 1 is charged for the first time (first charge). . In this case, control unit 330 starts charging of vehicle 1 with the initial value of the charging current set in advance (S110). The initial value is generally set to a small value that is assumed not to exceed the allowable current of the breaker 550.

  The control unit 330 determines whether or not the supply of power is interrupted by the breaker 550 because the allowable current of the breaker 550 is exceeded when the vehicle 1 is charged (S115). The determination that the supply of power is interrupted by breaker 550 is, for example, the supply of power when the detection value periodically acquired by control unit 330 from current sensor 16 decreases beyond a predetermined reference value. Is judged to be blocked. When charging facility 500 includes a communication unit, control unit 330 may obtain information on the interruption of the power supply from the communication unit of charging facility 500 via communication unit 310.

  If control unit 330 determines that breaker 550 has been disconnected (YES in S115), control unit 330 causes storage unit 320 to associate the charging current at the time of disconnection of breaker 550 with the position information of the charging location (S140). ).

  As described above, the vehicle 1 is charged with a charging current smaller than the charging current stored at the time of repeat charging by correlating and storing the position information of the charging place and the charging current at the time when the breaker 550 is disconnected. Can do. Therefore, appropriate charging can be performed without exceeding the allowable current of the breaker 550.

  When control unit 330 determines that breaker 550 has not been disconnected (NO in S115), it determines whether the current charging current is the upper limit value (S120). When control unit 330 determines that the current charging current is not the upper limit (NO in S120), charging current is increased by a predetermined amount (S125), and charging of vehicle 1 is continued. Then, the control unit 330 returns the process to S115. The predetermined amount is set to increase the charging current stepwise in order to detect the charging current that is the threshold of the allowable current of the breaker 550, and is set to an arbitrary value.

  As described above, the reason that the charging current is increased by a predetermined amount is to detect the charging current that is the threshold of the allowable current of the breaker 550 at the time of the first charge. At the time of the first charge, the allowable current of breaker 550 at this charge location is not recognized. Therefore, while the charging current is increased by a predetermined amount from the initial value, the charging current serving as the threshold of the allowable current of the breaker 550 is detected.

  When control unit 330 determines that the current charging current is the upper limit value in S120 (YES in S120), it stores position information of the charging place (S130). And control part 330 continues charge of vehicles 1 by the upper limit of charge current (S135).

  As described above, with respect to the charging place where the vehicle 1 can be charged at the upper limit value of the charging current without interruption of the breaker 550, storing only the location information of the charging place allows the charging place at the time of repeat charging to be performed. Then, it can be seen that the vehicle 1 can be charged at the upper limit value of the charging current. Therefore, the vehicle 1 can be charged with the upper limit value of the charging current from the beginning, and the charging efficiency can be improved.

  When the position information acquired in S100 is stored in storage unit 320 in S105 (YES in S105), control unit 330 determines that charging of vehicle 1 at this charging location has been performed in the past. The process proceeds to S150 (repeat charge).

  Control unit 330 determines whether the charging current associated with the position information of the charging place is stored in storage unit 320 (S150). When control unit 330 determines that the charging current associated with the position information is not stored in storage unit 320 (only the position information is stored) (NO in S150), the upper limit value of the charging current Are set (S155), and the vehicle 1 is charged (S170).

  When control unit 330 determines that the charging current associated with the position information is stored in storage unit 320 (YES in S150), control unit 330 reads the charging current stored in storage unit 320 (S160). . The control unit 330 sets a current value equal to or less than the charging current read in S160 as the charging current (S165), and charges the vehicle 1 (S170).

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when the vehicle 1 is charged, it is first determined whether the charging place is the charging place where the vehicle 1 is charged for the first time.

  In the case of a charging place where the vehicle 1 is charged for the first time, charging is started from the initial value of the charging current and the charging current is increased by a predetermined amount until the breaker 550 is shut off or the upper limit of the charging current is reached. Let This makes it possible to detect a charging current that is a threshold of the allowable current of breaker 550 at this charging location.

  When the breaker 550 is disconnected, it is estimated that the charging current when the breaker 550 is disconnected is the allowable current of the breaker 550. In this case, the position information of the charging place and the charging current when the breaker 550 is disconnected are stored in association with each other. When the breaker 550 is not shut off, only the location information of the charging location is stored.

  When the vehicle 1 is charged next time at the same charging place, it is determined whether the position information and the charging current associated with the position information are stored. When only the position information is stored, charging of the vehicle 1 is started at the upper limit value of the charging current. When the position information and the charging current associated with the position information are stored, charging is started with a charging current smaller than the stored charging current.

  As a result, when the vehicle 1 is charged for the second time or later at the same charging place, the charging of the vehicle 1 is controlled based on the information that the vehicle 1 was charged for the first time. As described above, since control of charging at the charging place can be performed in the vehicle 1, appropriate charging can be performed without providing a device for separately controlling charging on the charging facility side.

  It should be understood that the embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative and non-restrictive in every respect. The scope of the present disclosure is indicated not by the description of the embodiments described above but by the claims, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the claims.

  Reference Signs List 1 vehicle, 2 charging lid, 16 current sensor, 100 power storage device, 120 storage unit, 130 control unit, 200 charger, 220 inlet, 300 ECU, 310 communication unit, 320 storage unit, 330 control unit, 340 position information acquisition unit , 360 communication bus, 400 charging cable, 410 charging connector, 420 plug, 440 AC power line, 500 charging equipment, 510 external power, 550 breaker.

Claims (1)

A charging device for the vehicle, which receives power supplied from a charging facility external to the vehicle and charges a power storage device mounted on the vehicle,
The charging facility includes a breaker that shuts off the power supply to the vehicle when the current exceeding the allowable value is externally supplied.
The charging device is
A control unit that controls a charging current of the power storage device;
And a storage unit for storing information;
When the power supply is interrupted by the breaker at the time of charging of the power storage device, the control unit may not store the charging place for charging the power storage device using the charging facility in the storage unit. The charge current when the supply of power is cut off is stored in the storage unit in association with the charge location, and when the supply of power is not cut off by the breaker at the time of charging of the power storage device, the charge location is Stored in the storage unit,
The control unit, when the charging place is stored in the storage unit, when the charging current associated with the charging place is stored in the storage unit, a charging current smaller than the charging current A charging device for a vehicle, which charges the power storage device.

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