JP2024017253A - vehicle charging device - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] It is possible to charge two vehicles simultaneously using multiple DC power supply units, and when starting charging the second vehicle, the combination of DC power supply units used to charge the first vehicle is required. Rebuild. [Solution] The two DC power supplies have a plurality of first DC power supplies 32 and a plurality of second DC power supplies 33 whose output capacity is smaller than the first DC power supplies 32, and supply current output from a DC power supply unit 3 to a vehicle M. It has a charging connector 6 and a control unit 9 that receives a request value of charging power from a vehicle M to which the charging connector 6 is connected and determines a combination of DC power supply units 3 to be used for vehicle charging. When starting charging a second vehicle using the other charging connector 6 while charging the first vehicle using one charging connector 6, the control unit 9 controls the DC power supply unit used for charging the first vehicle. After rebuilding the combinations of 3 to satisfy predetermined conditions, the DC power supply unit 3 to be used for charging the second vehicle is determined. [Selection diagram] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle charging device for charging a vehicle equipped with a storage battery such as an electric vehicle, and more particularly to a vehicle charging device that can charge two vehicles simultaneously.

There is a vehicle charging device that enables rapid charging of multiple vehicles. For example, Patent Document 1 includes a plurality of DC power supply units (power supply units) with the same output capacity and a plurality of charging connectors connected to the vehicle, and distributes power according to the state of the storage battery of the vehicle to be charged. A charging device that performs charging is disclosed.

JP2020-61880A

When the charging device of Patent Document 1 is used as a device for rapidly charging two vehicles, the first device cannot supply the charging power required by the vehicles by combining multiple DC power supply units. Ta.
However, if the entire charging device does not have sufficient output capacity, most or all of the output power of the DC power supply unit will be used to charge the first device, and the DC power supply unit used to charge the second device will not be sufficient. There were cases where there was no or no information. In this case, charging the second device took time even if rapid charging control was performed.

Possible solutions to this problem include increasing the output capacity of the DC power supply unit or increasing the number of DC power supply units, but this is undesirable because it increases the cost of the received power (basic charge, etc.).
On the other hand, when considering the output efficiency of a DC power supply unit, a configuration in which a plurality of DC power supply units are combined cannot always be combined with high output efficiency. Further, even if the efficiency is high at the start, the required charging power value of the vehicle changes over time. Therefore, if the initially set combination of DC power supply units was used, the output efficiency would decrease over time.

Therefore, in view of these problems, the present invention uses a plurality of DC power supply units to enable simultaneous charging of two vehicles, and when starting to charge the second vehicle, the first vehicle is charged. The present invention aims to provide a vehicle charging device that reconfigures the combination of DC power supply units used for vehicle charging.

In order to solve the above problem, the invention of claim 1 provides a vehicle charging device that charges a vehicle using a plurality of DC power supply units arranged in parallel, wherein the first DC power supply units have the same output capacity. and a second DC power supply unit whose output capacity is smaller than that of the first DC power supply unit, and two charging connectors that supply the current output by the DC power supply unit to the vehicle, and from the vehicle to which the charging connector is connected. and a combination control unit that determines a combination of DC power supply units to be used for vehicle charging in response to a requested value of charging power, and the combination control unit is configured to: When starting to charge the second vehicle using the other charging connector, rebuild the combination of DC power supply units used to charge the first vehicle so that it satisfies the predetermined conditions, and then start charging the second vehicle. The feature is that the DC power supply unit to be used is determined.
According to this configuration, when charging the second vehicle, the combination of DC power supply units used to charge the first vehicle is reconfigured, so the charging of the second vehicle ends when the first vehicle is charged. This is effective in solving the conventional problem of charging the second device starting after the second device has finished charging.
By providing a plurality of at least two types of DC power supply units with different output capacities, output efficiency can be increased compared to combining DC power supply units with the same output capacity, and efficient vehicle charging can be performed.

In the invention of claim 2, in the configuration of claim 1, when the second unit is connected, the combination control unit selects a combination of DC power supply units that supplies the required power of the first unit so that the output efficiency is maximum. It is characterized by reconstructing it so that it becomes.
According to this configuration, when the second battery is connected, the DC power supply unit used to charge the first battery is reconfigured so that its output efficiency is maximized. Therefore, it is possible to increase the power supplied to the second device to the maximum possible value, and it is possible to quickly start charging the second device.

The invention according to claim 3 is the configuration according to claim 1 or 2, in which the first DC power supply unit has an output capacity of 20 kW or more, and the output capacity of the second DC power supply unit is 15% of that of the first DC power supply unit. ~40%.
According to this configuration, this applies, for example, to the case where the output capacity of the first DC power supply unit is 25 kW and the output capacity of the second DC power supply unit is 5 kW. In this case, assuming that the required power of the vehicle is 30 kW, when only the first DC power supply unit is used, two units are required to output 30 kW, and the output efficiency is 60%. If efficiency is prioritized, one first DC power supply unit and one second DC power supply unit can be used, resulting in 100% efficiency, making it possible to secure sufficient power to supply to the second unit. Become.

According to the present invention, when charging the second vehicle, the combination of DC power supply units used to charge the first vehicle is reconfigured, so that the charging of the second vehicle ends when the charging of the first vehicle ends. This is effective in solving the conventional problem of charging the second device starting after the second device is charged, and it can be expected that the second device will start charging quickly without increasing the received power.
By providing a plurality of at least two types of DC power supply units with different output capacities, output efficiency can be increased compared to combining DC power supply units with the same output capacity, and efficient vehicle charging can be performed.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a vehicle charging device according to the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of charge control.

Embodiments embodying the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a vehicle charging device according to the present invention. The vehicle charging device 1 includes an AC/DC converter 2 that converts three-phase AC power W, which is commercial power, into DC power, a DC power supply section 30 that includes a plurality of DC/DC converters (DC power supply units) 3, and a vehicle charging system. A storage battery unit 4 that stores electric power for use in the vehicle, a vehicle charging communication unit 5 that communicates with the vehicle M, a charging connector 6 that connects to the vehicle M, and the outputs of the individual DC power supply units 3 are connected to an output circuit L1 consisting of two systems. A circuit selection relay section 7, an output relay section 8 that connects the output circuit L1 to two charging cables L2 each having a charging connector 6 at its tip, a control section 9 that controls vehicle charging and the vehicle charging device 1, etc. We are prepared.
In this way, the vehicle charging device 1 includes two systems of the output circuit L1 and the charging cable L2, and has two charging connectors 6. Further, a vehicle charging communication section 5 is provided for each charging connector 6. The output of the AC/DC converter 2 and the storage battery section 4 are connected to the input section of the DC power supply section 30 via the DC bus L3.

The AC/DC converter 2 converts commercial power (alternating current power) into direct current. Upon receiving instructions from the control unit 9, it generates DC power for charging the vehicle and DC power for charging the storage battery unit 4. Here, the output capacity is 50 kW.

The DC power supply section 30 includes a plurality of two types of DC power supply units 3 having different output capacities. Specifically, it is composed of a set of first DC power supply unit (first DC power supply) 32 with a large output capacity of 25 kW and a set of second DC power supply unit (second DC power supply) 33 with a small output capacity of 5kW. ing.
It is equipped with three first DC power supplies 32 and five second DC power supplies 33, and can supply up to 50 kW from commercial power and up to 50 kW from the storage battery 4, making it possible to supply a total of 8 DC power supplies. Unit 3 is capable of supplying up to 100kW.

Further, the DC power supply unit 30 includes a DC power supply management unit 31 that manages each DC power supply unit 3, and the power (voltage/current) output by each DC power supply unit 3 based on information from the vehicle charging communication unit 5. ) is controlled.

The storage battery section 4 is composed of a plurality of battery modules connected in series, and includes a management section 4a that manages each battery module. The charging and discharging of the storage battery section 4 is controlled by the control section 9, and when there is a sufficient amount of charge, the stored power is supplied to the DC power supply section 30 and used for charging the vehicle. Furthermore, if the vehicle M is not being charged, or if there is a surplus in the output of the AC/DC converter 2 even if the vehicle M is being charged, charging using commercial power is performed.

The vehicle charging communication unit 5 communicates with the vehicle M via the charging connector 6, acquires the state of the vehicle M and the requested value of charging power, and notifies the DC power supply management unit 31 and the control unit 9 of the acquired information. .

The charging connector 6 supplies the vehicle M with DC power supplied from the DC power supply unit 30 via the output circuit L1 and the charging cable L2. It also includes a charging management unit (not shown) that communicates with the vehicle to manage power, and communication information with the vehicle M is transmitted from the charging management unit to the vehicle charging communication unit 5 via the charging cable L2. Be notified.

The electric path selection relay section 7 includes two relays arranged in parallel to each DC power supply unit 3. Opening/closing is controlled by the control section 9, and the output of the DC power supply unit 3 is connected to one of the two output circuits L1.

The output relay section 8 turns on/off the connection between the output circuit L1 and the charging cable L2, and is controlled by the control section 9.

The control unit 9 communicates with the vehicle charging communication unit 5 to obtain information from the vehicle M, and controls the AC/DC converter 2 and the DC power supply unit 30. In controlling the DC power supply section 30, it particularly operates as a combination control section that controls the combination of the DC power supply units 3. It also controls opening and closing of the circuit selection relay section 7 and the output relay section 8.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of charging control of the vehicle charging device 1, and shows the flow up to charging two vehicles M. Charging control will be explained below with reference to FIG. 2. Charging control is performed under the control of the control section 9.
When one charging connector 6 is connected to the vehicle from the unconnected state of both charging connectors 6 (S1), one vehicle charging communication unit 5 connected to one charging connector 6 and the vehicle M are connected. Communication is established between the two, and charging power request value information is notified from the vehicle M to the vehicle charging communication unit 5 (S2).
For convenience of explanation, the charging cable L2 connected to the first vehicle M will be referred to as a first charging cable L2a, and the unconnected charging cable L2 will be referred to as a second charging cable L2b.

The control unit 9 that has obtained the required charging power value selects and determines the combination of the first DC power supply 32 and the second DC power supply 33 to be used (S3). Then, the circuit selection relay section 7 and the output relay section 8 are controlled on/off to connect the selected DC power supply unit 3 to the first charging cable L2a (S4), and start supplying the requested power (S5). ).
For example, if the required power is 70 kW, all three first DC power supplies 32 are selected and combined with an output capacity of 75 kW, and DC power is supplied to the vehicle M. However, the overall output is controlled to 70kW. Alternatively, two first DC power supplies 32 and four second DC power supplies 33 are selected and combined with an output capacity of 70 kW, and 70 kW of DC power with 100% output is supplied to vehicle M.
The supplied power is controlled by the control unit 9, and when supplying 70 kW, 50 kW is supplied from commercial power (arrow P1 shown in FIG. 1), 20 kW is supplied from the storage battery unit 4 (arrow P2), and 20 kW is supplied from the DC power supply unit 30 (arrow P3). 70kW is supplied.

When the charging connector 6 of the second charging cable L2b is connected to the second vehicle M while the first vehicle M is being charged (YES in S6), the charging connector 6 of the second charging cable L2b is connected to the second vehicle M (YES in S6). Then, the other vehicle charging communication unit 5 receives the requested charging power value of the second vehicle M, and notifies the DC power supply management unit 31 and the control unit 9 of the request value.
The control unit 9 that has received the charging power request value reconstructs the combination of the DC power supply units 3 of the DC power supply unit 30 that are currently supplying power to the first charging cable L2a (S7).
For example, if the required power of the first vehicle M when starting charging of the second vehicle M is changed to 60kW, the output efficiency of the combination of DC power supply units 3 used to charge the first vehicle M will be improved. Change it like this. Specifically, if three first DC power supplies 32 are used, the number is changed to two, and two second DC power supplies 33 are added, making the total four. As a result, electric power can be supplied with an output of 60 kW, which is 100% output.

On the other hand, for the second charging cable L2b to which the second charging cable is connected, if the required power is, for example, 40 kW, the remaining one first DC power supply 32 and the remaining three second DC power supplies 33 are connected to the second charging cable L2b. The electric circuit selection relay section 7 and the output relay section 8 are switched and controlled (S8) so that a total of four units supply 40 kW output (100% output) (S8). Then, the requested electric power is supplied to the two vehicles (S9). At this time, the flow of supplied power is 50 kW as indicated by arrow P1, 50 kW as indicated by arrow P2, and 100 kW as indicated by arrow P3.

Looking at the case where the reconstruction is not performed, if all three first DC power supplies 32 are connected to the first charging cable L2a, five second DC power supplies 33 are connected to the second charging cable L2b. I can only connect. In this case, only 25 kW can be supplied to the second vehicle M at most.

In addition, if the second vehicle M requests more than 40kW of power while the first vehicle is charging with 60kW, the supply capacity of the DC power supply unit 30 with a capacity of 100kW will be exceeded, so the power supply will be limited to 40kW. stay. Further, if the required charging power value of the second vehicle M is relatively small and can be supplied without rebuilding the combination of the first DC power supply unit 3, the rebuilding is not performed.

In this way, when charging the second vehicle M, the combination of DC power supply units 3 used to charge the first vehicle is reconfigured, so that the charging of the second vehicle ends when the charging of the first vehicle ends. This is effective in solving the conventional problem of charging the second device starting after the second device has finished charging.
By providing a plurality of two types of DC power supply units 3 with different output capacities, output efficiency can be increased compared to combining DC power supply units 3 with the same output capacity, and efficient vehicle charging can be performed.
In particular, when the second unit is connected, the power supplied to the second unit is reconfigured to maximize the output efficiency of the DC power supply unit 3 used to charge the first unit, thereby increasing the power supplied to the second unit to the maximum possible value. This makes it possible to quickly start charging the second device.
By providing a plurality of two types of DC power supply units 3 with different output capacities, output efficiency can be increased compared to combining DC power supply units 3 with the same output capacity, and efficient vehicle charging can be performed.

In the above embodiment, the DC power supply section 30 is configured with DC power supply units 3 having two types of capacities, but may be configured with DC power supply units 3 having three or more different output types. In particular, if the second DC power supply 33 with a small output capacity is configured with a plurality of types of capacities, it is effective to select a DC power supply unit 3 with a high output efficiency according to the power required from the vehicle M.
In addition, the output capacity of the second DC power source 33 is set to 5 kW relative to the output capacity of the first DC power source 32 of 25 kW, which is about 20% of the output capacity of the second DC power source 32. The capacity is preferably set between 15% and 40%, and it is possible to charge the vehicle with higher efficiency than when a large number of batteries with the same capacity are provided.
Furthermore, the output capacity of the first DC power supply 32 does not need to be 25 kW. When the output capacity of the DC power supply section 30 is 100 kW, if the output is 20 kW or more, charging can be performed efficiently by the combination. For example, it may be configured with four 20kW DC power supply units and five 4kW DC power supply units.

1. Vehicle charging device, 2. AC/DC converter, 3. DC power supply unit, 4. Storage battery section, 5. Vehicle charging communication section, 6. Charging connector, 7. Electrical path selection relay section , 8... Output relay unit, 9... Control unit (combination control unit), 30... DC power supply unit, 31... DC power supply management unit, 32... First DC power supply unit (first DC power supply), 33 ...Second DC power supply unit (second DC power supply), L1...Output circuit, L2...Output cable, M...Vehicle, W...Three-phase AC power.

Claims (3)

A vehicle charging device that charges a vehicle using a plurality of DC power supply units arranged in parallel,
Each includes a plurality of first DC power supply units having the same output capacity and a second DC power supply unit having a smaller output capacity than the first DC power supply unit, and
two charging connectors that supply current output from the DC power supply unit to the vehicle;
a combination control unit that receives a request value of charging power from a vehicle connected to the charging connector and determines a combination of the DC power supply units used for vehicle charging;
The combination control unit is configured to control the direct current used for charging the first vehicle when starting charging a second vehicle using the other charging connector while charging the first vehicle using one of the charging connectors. A vehicle charging device characterized in that the DC power supply unit to be used for charging a second vehicle is determined after rebuilding the combination of power supply units to satisfy a predetermined condition. 2. The combination control unit, when the second unit is connected, reconfigures the combination of the DC power supply units that supplies the required power of the first unit so that the output efficiency is maximized. vehicle charging equipment. The first DC power supply unit has an output capacity of 20kW or more,
3. The vehicle charging device according to claim 1, wherein the output capacity of the second DC power supply unit is 15% to 40% of that of the first DC power supply unit.

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