JP2019139911A - Electric vehicle charging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an electric vehicle charging apparatus capable of always accurately determining a connection state between a charging connector and a charging port provided in an electric vehicle.SOLUTION: The electric vehicle charging apparatus according to the present invention comprises a charging connector 13A and a connection state determination unit that determines a connection state between the charging connector 13A and a charging port provided in an electric vehicle. The charging connector 13A includes a posture detection unit that detects the posture (posture angle θ) of the charging connector 13A. Then, the connection state determination unit determines, as one of determination criteria, the connection state using the posture (posture angle θ) detected by the posture detection unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a charging device for an electric vehicle having a function of determining whether or not a charging connector is connected to a charging port provided in the electric vehicle.

  With the spread of electric vehicles such as electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHV), charging devices for electric vehicles have recently been installed in public facilities and parking lots such as large shopping malls. Increasing cases are being installed. However, the number is not sufficient because the introduction and maintenance costs are expensive. For this reason, if the charging device for an electric vehicle continues to be occupied even after the charging is completed, the opportunity for charging another electric vehicle that requires charging may be lost.

  In this regard, the charging device for an electric vehicle compliant with the CHAdeMO standard is configured to receive a DC voltage for confirming the connection state from the charging port when the charging connector is connected to the charging port of the electric vehicle (for example, non Patent Document 1). Therefore, this type of electric vehicle charging device can determine whether or not it is continuously connected to the electric vehicle (that is, whether or not it is continuously occupied) based on whether or not a DC voltage is received.

"Chademo Association-EV Fast Charging Organization" Technical Overview "", [online], CHAdeMO Council, [Search January 10, 2018], Internet <URL: https://www.chademo.com/en/technology / technology-overview />

  However, the electric vehicle does not always output the DC voltage for checking the connection state even after the charging is completed. Therefore, depending on only the DC voltage, it may not be possible to accurately determine whether or not the electric vehicle that has been charged continues to be occupied.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the problem is that charging for an electric vehicle that can always accurately determine the connection state between the charging connector and the charging port provided in the electric vehicle. To provide an apparatus.

  In order to solve the above problems, a charging device for an electric vehicle according to the present invention includes a charging connector and a connection state determination unit that determines a connection state between the charging connector and a charging port provided in the electric vehicle. The charging connector includes an attitude detection unit that detects the attitude of the charging connector, and the connection state determination unit determines the connection state using the attitude detected by the attitude detection unit as one of the determination criteria. Features.

  A charging connector conforming to a specific charging standard such as the CHAdeMO standard has substantially the same posture when connected to a charging port of an electric vehicle regardless of the vehicle type. Therefore, the connection state between the charging connector and the charging port provided in the electric vehicle can be accurately determined by setting the posture of the charging connector as one of the determination criteria.

  When the charging connector of the electric vehicle charging device is configured to receive a DC voltage for confirming the connection state from the charging port when the charging connector is connected to the charging port, the connection state determination unit is configured so that the charging connector is a direct current. It is preferable to determine the connection state based on whether or not a voltage is received as one of the determination criteria.

  When the charging connector of the electric vehicle charging device has a latch portion that engages with a concave portion or a convex portion provided in the charging port when the charging connector and the charging port are connected. The connection state determination unit preferably determines the connection state based on whether the latch unit is engaged or not as one of the determination criteria.

  According to these configurations, it is possible to more accurately determine the connection state between the charging connector and the charging port provided in the electric vehicle, as compared with the case where the determination is based only on the posture of the charging connector. In addition, these structures can be used together.

  As a specific configuration of the connection state determination unit of the electric vehicle charging device, for example, (1a) when the charging connector receives a DC voltage, and (1b) the charging connector does not receive the DC voltage, When the latch portion is engaged and the posture is a predetermined posture, it is determined that the charging connector is connected to the charging port, (2a) the charging connector does not receive a DC voltage, If the latch portion is not engaged, and (2b) the charging connector does not receive DC voltage and the posture is not a predetermined posture, the charging connector is not connected to the charging port. The configuration of determining is conceivable.

  Further, when the electric vehicle charging device further includes a connector housing portion for housing an unused charging connector, the connector housing portion has a posture different from that when connected to the charging port. It is preferable that the charging connector is accommodated.

  According to this structure, the state accommodated in the accommodating part and the state connected to the charging port of the electric vehicle can be distinguished, and erroneous determination can be prevented.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the charging device for electric vehicles which can always determine correctly the connection state of a charging connector and the charging port provided in the electric vehicle can be provided.

It is (A) front view and (B) side view which show the external appearance of the charging device for electric vehicles which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a block diagram of the charging device for electric vehicles which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is the (A) side view and (B) front view of a charging connector. It is a figure regarding the attitude | position detected by the attitude | position detection part of a charging connector. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the connection state determination part in an Example. It is a block diagram of the charging device for electric vehicles which concerns on the 1st modification of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the connection state determination part in a 1st modification. It is a block diagram of the charging device for electric vehicles which concerns on the 2nd modification of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the connection state determination part in a 2nd modification.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a charging device for an electric vehicle according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

[Example]
FIG. 1 shows a charging device 10A for an electric vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the electric vehicle charging apparatus 10A is provided with a box-shaped main body 11A, a cable 12A having one end provided on one side of the main body 11A, and also provided on one side of the main body 11A. A connector housing 19 and a charging connector 13A provided at the other end of the cable 12A are provided. In addition, the electric vehicle charging device 10A also includes a button for instructing charging start / stop, a display for displaying an operation state, and the like.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the main body 11A of the electric vehicle charging apparatus 10A includes a power supply unit 14, a communication unit 15, and a connection state determination unit 16A.

  The power supply unit 14 supplies relatively high voltage DC power to the battery 23 mounted on the main body unit 22 of the electric vehicle 20 via pins P1 and P2 provided on the charging connector 13A. Charge. The communication unit 15 communicates with the battery management unit 24 mounted on the main body 22 of the electric vehicle 20 via pins P3 and P4 provided on the charging connector 13A, and when the power supply unit 14 charges the battery 23. Exchange necessary information. The connection state determination unit 16A will be described later.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the charging connector 13 </ b> A has a grip portion 13 </ b> A- 1 that is gripped when the user attaches / detaches the charging connector 13 </ b> A to the charging port 21 of the electric vehicle 20, and a shape when viewed from the front. It consists of a substantially circular tip 13A-2. The distal end portion 13A-2 includes an attitude detection unit 17 and a latch unit 18. The tip portion 13A-2 also has pins P1 to P10 for electrical connection with the charging port 21. However, illustration and description in the specification of the pins P6 to P10 not related to the present invention are omitted.

  The latch portion 18 is biased so as to protrude from the outer peripheral surface of the distal end portion 13A-2. When the charging connector 13A is inserted into the charging port 21, the latch portion 18 engages (latches) with the concave portion or convex portion while being pushed by the concave portion or convex portion provided on the charging port 21 side.

  In addition, the latch unit 18 outputs a signal regarding whether or not it is engaged to the connection state determination unit 16A. It can be said that the signal output from the latch unit 18 indicates whether or not the charging connector 13 </ b> A is connected to the charging port 21.

  The posture detection unit 17 includes a low acceleration sensor built in an appropriate position of the distal end portion 13A-2. The posture detection unit 17 detects the posture of the charging connector 13A and outputs a signal corresponding to the detected posture to the connection state determination unit 16A. For example, the posture detection unit 17 outputs a signal indicating “posture angle θ = 0 °” when the latch unit 18 is at the 12 o'clock position. In other words, the posture detection unit 17 outputs a signal indicating “posture angle θ = 0 °” when the direction from the latch unit 18 toward the center of the tip portion 13A-2 coincides with the vertical direction (gravity direction). (See FIG. 4B). Similarly, the posture detection unit 17 outputs a signal indicating “posture angle θ = −10 °” when the direction from the latch unit 18 toward the center of the tip portion 13A-2 and the vertical direction form −10 °. However, when these make + 10 °, a signal indicating “attitude angle θ = + 10 °” is output (see FIG. 4C).

  As will be described in detail later, the connection state determination unit 16A determines whether or not the charging connector 13A is connected to the charging port 21 using the posture angle θ as one of the determination criteria. For this reason, when the connector housing part 19 is connected to the charging port 21 in order to distinguish between the state in which the charging connector 13A is connected to the charging port 21 and the state in which the connector housing unit 19 is housed in the connector housing unit 19 It is preferable to accommodate the charging connector 13A so as to have different postures. In the present embodiment, the posture angle θ of the charging connector 13A when accommodated in the connector accommodating portion 19 is + 20 °.

  When connected to the charging port 21, the charging connector 13 </ b> A is configured to receive DC 12 [V], which is the output voltage of the auxiliary battery, via the pin P <b> 5. As described above, the pins P1 and P2 are pins for electrical connection between the power supply unit 14 and the battery 23, and the pins P3 and P4 are used for electrical connection between the communication unit 15 and the battery management unit 24. It is a pin for.

  Next, determination of the connection state by the connection state determination unit 16A will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the connection state determination unit 16 </ b> A determines whether or not the charging connector 13 </ b> A receives the DC voltage 12 [V] for connection state confirmation from the charging port 21 as in the conventional connection determination ( Step S1-1). When the charging connector 13A receives the DC voltage 12 [V], the connection state determination unit 16A determines that the determination result is “connected” (step S1-2). On the other hand, when the charging connector 13A does not receive the DC voltage 12 [V], the connection state determination unit 16A executes Step S1-3.

  In step S1-3, the connection state determination unit 16A determines whether or not the latch unit 18 is engaged. When the latch unit 18 is engaged, the connection state determination unit 16A executes Step S1-4. On the other hand, when the latch unit 18 is not engaged, the connection state determination unit 16A determines that the determination result is “not connected” (step S1-5).

  In step S1-4, the connection state determination unit 16A determines whether or not the posture of the charging connector 13A is a predetermined specific posture. In this embodiment, it is determined that the posture is a specific posture when the posture angle θ is ± 0 °. When the posture of the charging connector 13A is the specific posture, the connection state determination unit 16A determines that the determination result is “connected” (step S1-2). On the other hand, when the posture of the charging connector 13A is not the specific posture, the connection state determination unit 16A determines that the determination result is “not connected” (step S1-5).

  The specific posture may include a predetermined “play”. For example, the connection state determination unit 16A may determine that the posture is a specific posture when the posture angle θ is within a range of ± 5 °. By setting the allowable range in the specific posture, it is possible to avoid erroneous determination of the connection state caused by the parking position of the electric vehicle 20 being not horizontal. In addition, the connection state determination unit 16A avoids erroneous determination of the connection state when the posture angle θ remains within the allowable range for a predetermined time (for example, several seconds to several tens of seconds). It is preferable that the determination result is “connected” only for the above case.

  As described above, according to the electric vehicle charging device 10A according to the present embodiment, whether or not the latch portion 18 is engaged and the charging connector even if the charging connector 13A does not receive the DC voltage for confirming the connection state. Based on whether or not the posture of 13A is the specific posture, it is possible to determine the connection state between the charging connector 13A and the charging port 21.

  In addition to determining whether or not the posture is a specific posture (step S1-4), it is determined whether or not the latch unit 18 is engaged (step S1-3). This is to prevent an erroneous determination that the charging connector 13A is “connected” when the charging connector 13A happens to be in a specific posture when the hand 13A is held in the hand. On the other hand, only by determining whether or not the latch portion 18 is engaged, the charging connector 13A is connected to a socket (engagement port) that is not the charging port 21 but has the same shape as the charging port 21 provided in the electric vehicle 20. In this case, it is determined that the latch portion 18 is engaged, and as a result, an erroneous determination that “(connected to the electric vehicle 20)” is always made. As described above, by adding whether or not the posture of the charging connector 13A is a specific posture to one of the determination criteria, this erroneous determination can be prevented except when the posture is the same.

  Subsequently, a modification of the charging device for an electric vehicle according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

[First Modification]
FIG. 6 shows a charging device 10B for an electric vehicle according to a first modification of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the electric vehicle charging device 10B includes a main body 11B, a cable 12B, and a charging connector 13B. The main body 11B differs from the main body 11A in that it includes a connection state determination unit 16B instead of the connection state determination unit 16A, and the cable 12B differs from the cable 12A in that it does not include a signal line related to the latch unit 18. However, the charging connector 13B is different from the charging connector 13A in that the signal line related to the latch portion 18 is not drawn, but the electric vehicle charging device 10B is common to the electric vehicle charging device 10A in other points. .

  As illustrated in FIG. 7, the connection state determination unit 16B performs the charging connector 13B by executing Step S2-1 corresponding to Step S1-1 and Step S2-3 corresponding to Step S1-4 in the embodiment. It is determined whether or not is connected to the charging port 21. In other words, the connection state determination unit 16B does not determine whether the latch unit 18 is engaged as one of the determination criteria.

  According to the electric vehicle charging device 10B according to this modification, even if the charging connector 13B does not receive the DC voltage for confirming the connection state, based on whether or not the posture of the charging connector 13B is a specific posture, The connection state between the charging connector 13B and the charging port 21 can be determined.

  However, in this modification, when the user holds the charging connector 13B in his hand, if the posture of the charging connector 13B happens to be in a specific posture, an erroneous determination of “connected” is made, so care should be taken It is.

[Second Modification]
FIG. 8 shows a charging device 10C for an electric vehicle according to a second modification of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the electric vehicle charging device 10C includes a main body 11C, a cable 12C, and a charging connector 13C. The main unit 11C is different from the main unit 11A in that it includes a connection state determination unit 16C instead of the connection state determination unit 16A, and the cable 12C does not include a signal line related to a DC voltage for connection state confirmation. Unlike the cable 12A, the charging connector 13C is different from the charging connector 13A in that a signal line related to a DC voltage for confirming the connection state is not drawn. In other points, the charging device 10C for an electric vehicle is electrically driven. Common to the vehicle charging device 10A.

  As illustrated in FIG. 9, the connection state determination unit 16C performs step S3-1 corresponding to step S1-3 and step S3-2 corresponding to step S1-4 in the embodiment, thereby performing charging connector 13C. It is determined whether or not is connected to the charging port 21. In other words, the connection state determination unit 16C does not make one of the determination criteria whether or not the charging connector 13C receives a DC voltage for connection state confirmation.

  According to the electric vehicle charging device 10C according to this modification, regardless of whether or not the charging connector 13C receives a DC voltage for confirming the connection state, whether or not the latch portion 18 is engaged and the charging connector 13C. The connection state between the charging connector 13C and the charging port 21 can be determined based on whether or not the posture is a specific posture.

[Other variations]
The means for detecting the postures of the charging connectors 13A, 13B, and 13C in the above-described embodiments and modifications are not limited to the low acceleration sensor. Further, the threshold value (± 5 °) of the posture angle θ in the above-described embodiments and modifications, and the posture angle θ (+ 20 °) of the charging connectors 13A, 13B, 13C when housed in the connector housing portion 19 are merely examples. Only.

  In addition, the present invention receives not only a charging device for an electric vehicle that charges a battery mounted on an electric vehicle via a charging connector, but also the discharge power of the battery mounted on the electric vehicle via a charging / discharging connector. Needless to say, the present invention can also be applied to an electric vehicle charging / discharging device having a function of supplying other loads (for example, household loads).

10A, 10B, 10C Electric vehicle charging devices 11A, 11B, 11C Main body parts 12A, 12B, 12C Cables 13A, 13B, 13C Charging connector 13A-1 Grip part 13A-2 Tip part 14 Power supply part 15 Communication parts 16A, 16B, 16C Connection state determination unit 17 Attitude detection unit 18 Latch unit 19 Connector housing unit 20 Electric vehicle 21 Charging port 22 Main unit 23 Battery 24 Battery management unit

Claims (6)

A charging device for an electric vehicle comprising: a charging connector; and a connection state determination unit that determines a connection state between the charging connector and a charging port provided in the electric vehicle,
The charging connector has an attitude detection unit that detects the attitude of the charging connector;
The connection state determination unit determines the connection state by using the posture detected by the posture detection unit as one of determination criteria. The charging connector is configured to receive a DC voltage for connection state confirmation from the charging port when connected to the charging port,
2. The electric vehicle charging device according to claim 1, wherein the connection state determination unit determines the connection state based on whether the charging connector receives the DC voltage as one of determination criteria. The charging connector has a latch portion that engages with a concave portion or a convex portion provided in the charging port when the charging connector and the charging port are connected,
The charging device for an electric vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the connection state determination unit determines the connection state based on whether or not the latch unit is engaged as one of determination criteria. The charging connector has a latch portion that engages with a concave portion or a convex portion provided in the charging port when the charging connector and the charging port are connected,
The charging device for an electric vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the connection state determination unit determines the connection state based on whether the latch unit is engaged or not as one of determination criteria. The connection state determination unit
(1a) When the charging connector receives the DC voltage, and (1b) The charging connector does not receive the DC voltage, the latch portion is engaged, and the posture is predetermined. If it is a posture, it is determined that the charging connector is connected to the charging port,
(2a) the charging connector does not receive the DC voltage and the latch part is not engaged; and (2b) the charging connector does not receive the DC voltage and the posture is previously set. 5. The charging device for an electric vehicle according to claim 4, wherein when the posture is not determined, it is determined that the charging connector is not connected to the charging port. 6. A connector housing for housing the charging connector that is not used;
The said connector accommodating part is comprised so that the said charging connector which has taken the attitude | position different from the time of being connected to the said charge port may be accommodated. The charging device for electric vehicles as described in a term.

Images