JP3151842B2 - Electric vehicle heater system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heater system for an electric vehicle, and more particularly, to a heater system for an electric vehicle capable of controlling a temperature and a flow rate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an electric vehicle cannot use the heat of an engine as a heat source for heating unlike a gasoline-powered vehicle. Therefore, a dedicated electric heater (a heating means that generates heat when energized) is used. The electric heater is used to heat the vehicle interior. As a power source of the heater, a main battery, which is a power source of an electric vehicle, is usually used. Since the main battery is normally used at about 120 V, when using the main battery as a power source for the heater, it is necessary to energize the heater only when necessary, so that the heater switch is turned on. -The heater was connected to the main battery via a relay that opened and closed in conjunction with turning off.

[0003]

However, in the above-described conventional electric vehicle heater, the heater is energized only by turning on and off the heater switch, so that the driver forgets to turn off the heater due to carelessness of the driver. However, there is a disadvantage that frequent occurrence occurs. Such wasteful use of heaters
It is very inconvenient for an electric vehicle in which the use of the heater affects the mileage, and a heater system for an electric vehicle that can effectively prevent forgetting to turn off the heater has been desired. In addition, no heater system for electric vehicles that can control the temperature has been found.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art, and has as its object to provide a heater for an electric vehicle which can make the driver aware of the use of the heater and can control the temperature. It is to provide a system.

[0005]

In a heater system for an electric vehicle according to the present invention, a blower fan motor connected to an auxiliary battery, a drive stop of the blower fan motor, and switching of a rotational force are connected to the blower fan motor. And a ceramic heater connected to the main battery, and a relay switch connected to the ceramic heater for energizing / de-energizing the heater. And a relay coil excitation circuit comprising a series circuit including a relay coil for energizing the opening and closing of the relay switch, a first switch, and a second switch. One end of the excitation circuit is connected to the auxiliary battery, and the other end is connected to the blower switch via a diode for preventing backflow. With such a configuration, the object described above is to be achieved.

[0006]

The relay coil is not energized from the auxiliary battery unless the first switch and the second switch constituting the excitation circuit of the relay coil are closed and the blower switch is set to the blower fan motor driving state. The relay coil is not excited. For this reason, the relay switch is not closed except in such a case, so that the heater is not energized only by turning on / off one switch as in the related art. On the other hand, when the first switch and the second switch are closed and the blower switch is set to the blower fan motor driving state, the ceramic heater is switched from the blower fan according to the setting of the rotational force of the blower fan motor. Is blown, and heat corresponding to the air volume is generated by the ceramic heater.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows a circuit configuration of a heater system for an electric vehicle according to one embodiment of the present invention. The embodiment of FIG. 1 is roughly divided into a motor drive circuit 10 for driving the blower fan motor 1 and a heater drive circuit 20 for driving the ceramic heater 2.
The excitation circuit 30 of the relay coil 4 for energizing the opening and closing of the relay switch 3 constituting the heater drive circuit 20
It consists of three parts.

The motor drive circuit 10 includes a blower fan motor 1 having one end connected to an auxiliary battery 11.
And a blower switch 5 connected to the other end of the blower fan motor 1 via a motor current control resistor circuit 12.
It is comprised including. Here, the resistance circuit 12
It is configured to include resistors R ₁ and R ₂ connected in parallel with each other. The blower switch 5 is a switch for stopping the drive of the blower fan motor 1 and switching the rotational force, and includes four normally open contacts A, B ₁ , B ₂ , and 4.
C. If this further detail, the other end of the blower fan motor 1, at one end of the contact A of the blower switch 5, one end of the contact B ₁ via the resistor R _1, the contact C via the resistor R ₂ at one end , And the other ends of these contacts A, B ₁ and C are grounded. Further, between _one end of the contact B ₁ and one end of the contact C,
The remaining contacts B ₂ is interposed. Here, the contact B ₁ and B ₂ is adapted to be opened and closed simultaneously. Therefore, when the contact A is closed, the blower fan motor 1
There rotated strongest rotates weakest when the contact C is closed, when the contact point B ₁ and B ₂ are closed, the rotation in both of the intermediate strength. In practice, the blower switch 5 is configured to switch the contact between open and closed in accordance with the operation of a slide-type air volume switching operation lever 5A provided on the right end side of the switch panel 50 shown in FIG. .

The heater drive circuit 20 has one end connected to the positive electrode of the main battery 13 and the other end connected to the ceramic heater 2 via the fuse 8 to control the energization / non-energization of the heater 2. It is comprised including. The other end of the ceramic heater 2 is connected to the negative electrode of the main battery 13. Relay switch 3
A switch that constitutes a relay together with the relay coil 4 and is energized and closed when the relay coil 4 is excited, and is opened otherwise.

The excitation circuit 30 includes an auxiliary battery 11
And a serial circuit comprising a lever switch 6 as a first switch, a heater switch 7 as a second switch, and a relay coil 4 which are sequentially connected. The other end of the relay coil 4 is connected to a blower. Switch 5
Each of the contacts A, B ₁ , and C has a diode D ₁ ,
They are connected via D ₂ and D ₃ respectively. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the relay coil 4 is turned on only when the lever switch 6 and the heater switch 7 are both closed and any of the contacts A, B ₁ and B ₂ , C of the blower switch 5 is closed. Power is supplied from the auxiliary battery 11, and the relay coil 4 is excited.

The lever switch 6 is actually provided at the rightmost position of the moving range of a sliding (cooling) temperature control operation lever 6A provided on the left end side of the switch panel shown in FIG. Micro switch,
The control lever 6A is closed when set to the rightmost "HOT" position, and is opened otherwise. In addition, the heater switch 7 actually closes and opens according to the on / off operation of the switch knob 7A shown in FIG. The switch knob 7A is provided at the lower left of the instrument panel of the vehicle.

Next, the overall operation of the embodiment constructed as described above will be described.

Slide the operating lever 6A for temperature adjustment to the rightmost "HOT" position, and switch the switch knob 7A.
Is turned on and the operation lever 5A for adjusting the air volume is slid to, for example, the position A in FIG. 2, the lever switch 6 is "closed", the heater switch 7 is "closed",
The contact A of the blower switch 5 is closed. Then, the relay coil 4 is energized by the auxiliary battery 11, and the relay coil 4 is excited. When the relay coil 4 is excited, the relay switch 3 is closed, the ceramic battery 2 is energized by the main battery 13, and the ceramic heater 2 generates heat. At this time, since the contact A of the blower switch 5 is closed, the blower fan motor 1
The power supply current also flows from the auxiliary battery 11, and the blower fan motor 1 also rotates a blower fan (not shown) with a "strong (strongest)" rotational force. Thereby, the warm air of the maximum air volume is blown into the vehicle interior, and heating is performed. In the above case, the operation lever 5A for air volume adjustment is
Or when is slid to the position of the C, the contact B ₁ and B ₂ or contact C of the blower switch 5 is closed, respectively in response thereto, the blower in the rotational force of the blower fans "medium" or "low" The air is rotated by the fan motor 1, and similarly, a warm air having a medium air volume and a minimum air volume is blown into the vehicle interior. In this case, the ceramic heater 1
Since the amount of heat generated varies depending on the amount of air blown, the temperature can also be adjusted by setting the blower fan motor 1 to strong, medium, or weak. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing conditions for operating the heater in the circuit of FIG.

As described above, the heater system of this embodiment can adjust the air volume and the temperature similarly to the heater system of the gasoline-powered vehicle, and has almost the same performance and ease of use. Further, in order to operate the heater, it is necessary to turn on all of the lever switch 6, the heater switch 7, and the blower switch 5, and these are turned on by the driver's operation. The driver can always be aware of the use of the heater because the heater can be sufficiently conscious of the use of the heater, and when the heater is used, the air is always blown. Therefore, wasteful use of the heater can be effectively prevented, whereby an excessive decrease in battery capacity can be suppressed, and a decrease in travelable distance can be suppressed. Further, as is clear from FIG. 1, the circuit configuration is simple and can be realized at relatively low cost.

[0015]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Unless the first switch and the second switch constituting the exciting circuit of the relay coil are closed and the blower switch is set to the blower fan motor driving state, the ceramic heater is not energized. It is possible to make the driver more conscious of the use of the heater as compared with the case where the heater is energized only by turning on one switch, while the first switch and the second switch are closed, In addition, when using the heater in which the blower switch is set to the blower fan motor driving state, the blower fan blows air from the blower fan to the ceramic heater in accordance with the rotational force of the blower fan motor. Because the ceramic heater generates heat in accordance with the air flow, the air flow, that is, the blower fan It may also be for regulating the temperature by adjusting the rotational force of the motor. Therefore, wasteful use of the heater can be effectively prevented, whereby it is possible to prevent the travelable distance from being reduced due to the excessive reduction in the battery capacity, and the temperature can be controlled in the same manner as the heater of a gasoline-powered vehicle. It is possible to provide an unprecedented excellent electric vehicle heater system which is possible and has almost the same performance and ease of use.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration of a heater system for an electric vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of a switch panel provided with operation levers of a lever switch and a blower switch of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a switch knob for operating the heater switch of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing conditions for operating a heater in the circuit of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 blower fan motor 2 ceramic heater 3 relay switch 4 relay coil 5 blower switch 6 lever switch as first switch 7 heater switch as second switch 10 motor drive circuit 11 auxiliary battery 13 main battery 20 heater drive circuit 30 excitation circuit D _1, D _2, D ₃ diode

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A motor drive circuit comprising: a blower fan motor connected to an auxiliary battery; and a blower switch connected to the blower fan motor and configured to stop driving of the blower fan motor and switch a rotational force. And a heater drive circuit including a ceramic heater connected to the main battery and a relay switch for controlling on / off of the heater connected to the ceramic heater, and energizes opening and closing of the relay switch. A relay coil exciting circuit comprising a series circuit including a relay coil, a first switch, and a second switch, wherein one end of the exciting circuit is connected to the auxiliary battery and the other end is prevented from flowing back to the blower switch. A heater system for an electric vehicle, wherein the heater system is connected via a diode for the vehicle.