JP3925321B2 - Electric vehicle power control system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a power control system for an electric vehicle that drives a vehicle with only a battery.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, in an automobile, a method of driving an engine with petroleum fuel is generally used. Its electrical configuration is shown in FIG. As is well known, the ignition switch 1 can be switched to “ACC”, “ON”, and “START”. When the ignition switch 1 is set to “ACC”, the power of the battery 2 is supplied to the motor ECU 3 and the information device. 4. When given to the vehicle position confirmation device 5, and when the ignition switch 1 is similarly turned on, the power of the battery 2 is given to the fan of the vehicle drive system 6 and put into “START”. Then, the start motor of the vehicle drive system 6 is started. As a result, the engine 7 rotates, and the generator 8 is driven by the engine 7 to charge the battery 2.
[0003]
The communication device 9 is installed as a communication device such as an in-vehicle server in the vehicle with the recent spread of the Internet ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems), and frequent communication access may be performed by wireless communication even when the vehicle is stopped. It is getting more. Further, when a communication system using a vehicle such as multi-hop wireless network communication is constructed, it is predicted that the communication device 9 of the stopped vehicle is used as a relay device. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the communication device 9 has a configuration in which the power of the battery 2 that is a vehicle power supply is always supplied even when the vehicle is stopped. The motor system ECU 3, the information device 4, the own vehicle position confirmation device 5, and the communication device 9 are controlled by a control circuit 10.
[0004]
In this case, even if the power source of the battery 2 is lowered and the engine 7 may not start, the engine 7 can be started using a battery of another vehicle, and the battery 2 is charged by the generator 8 thereafter. Is done. Therefore, even if the capacity of the battery 2 decreases, the battery can be charged and the vehicle can travel without any trouble.
[0005]
By the way, recently, reduction of carbon dioxide emissions has been demanded, and electric vehicles have become widespread. In this electric vehicle, there are a type having a battery charged from the outside of the vehicle and a type having a battery made of a fuel cell, and the vehicle is driven by driving a driving motor from these batteries. ing.
[0006]
However, as described above, the battery is consumed when the power is turned on (including intermittent on and sleep) in a state where the communication device is operable in the electric vehicle with the vehicle stopped. In this case, unlike the engine vehicle, the battery cannot be easily recovered in the nearest vehicle, and in this case, there is a possibility that the vehicle cannot be driven.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to suppress excessive consumption of the battery while operating the communication device as much as possible in an electric vehicle that drives the vehicle with only the battery, and to make it impossible to start running. An object of the present invention is to provide a power supply control system for an electric vehicle that can prevent such a situation.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In the first aspect of the invention, even when the vehicle travel start switch is off, the communication device is supplied with power from the battery. Therefore, even when the vehicle is stopped, the communication device can be used as an in-vehicle server for the Internet ITS. It can be used as a relay communication device for hop wireless network communication.
[0009]
In addition, when the remaining amount of fuel is low and there is a concern about the remaining battery level required to start running the vehicle, the power supply from the battery to the communication device is stopped, so the battery consumption by the communication device is suppressed. Thus, it is possible to prevent the vehicle from starting to run.
[0010]
Further, when the remaining amount of fuel is equal to or less than a predetermined value, which is stored in the storage means, when the vehicle travel start switch is turned on, since informing the notifying means to that effect, the fuel cell-type battery Thus, it is possible to promptly perform power recovery measures such as fuel replenishment and replacement, which is more effective in preventing the vehicle from starting.
[0011]
Further, in the invention of claim 2, when the vehicle travels for starting start switch off, even the communication device is stopped power supply, security means yet to the power supply state, thus, it is possible to perform maximum security .
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, in FIG. 1, a battery 11 is a fuel cell type using, for example, methanol as a fuel 11a, and outputs a DC voltage of several hundred volts between electrodes 11b and 11c. The DC power of the battery 11 is supplied to the vehicle drive system 13 via the vehicle travel start start switch 12 and to the control battery (several tens of volts output) 15 via the charger 14.
[0013]
The power of the control battery 15 is supplied to, for example, a control circuit 16 configured by a microcomputer, and includes a motor system ECU 17, an information device 18, a vehicle position confirmation device 19, a communication device 20, a security device such as a theft sensor 21. It is given to the electronic control system via switch means 17a-21a. The switch means 17a to 21a may be a contact switch or a non-contact switch, and the switch means 17a to 21a are controlled to be opened and closed by a control circuit 16.
[0014]
The theft sensor 21 is a sensor that detects when glass is broken. Further, as a device controlled by the control circuit 16, there is a display 22 as a notification means.
The battery 11 is provided with remaining amount detecting means 23 for detecting the remaining amount of fuel, for example, the remaining amount of fuel.
[0015]
Here, when the start switch 12 is turned on, the power of the battery 11 is supplied to a traveling motor or a fan of the vehicle drive system 13. In this case, the switch-on signal of the start switch 12 is sent to the control circuit 16. Is input. Note that the microcomputer in the control circuit 16 includes a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and is always supplied with power from the control battery 15. Further, the control circuit 16 functions as a power stop control unit, and executes power control as shown in the flowchart of FIG.
[0016]
In step S1, it is determined whether or not the start switch 12 is turned on. If the start switch 12 is turned off, the process proceeds to step S2, the switch means 20a and 21a are turned on, and the other switch means 17a, 18a and 19a are turned on. Turn off. The power supply to the display 22 is also turned off. Thus, the power of the battery 11 is supplied to the communication device 20 and the theft sensor 21 via the charger 14 and the control battery 15. Therefore, the communication device 20 functions even when the vehicle is stopped. In this case, the communication device 20 may be operated intermittently or may be activated by an external radio wave as a sleep state.
[0017]
In step S <b> 3, it is determined whether or not an output of the theft detection signal from the theft sensor 21 is input to the control circuit 16. If no theft detection signal is output, the process proceeds to step S4 to determine whether or not the detection value given from the remaining amount detection means 23 is equal to or less than a predetermined value. This predetermined value is a value for determining that the remaining amount of the battery 11 is running out. The predetermined value is sufficient for driving the vehicle, but the communication device 20 and the theft sensor 21 remain powered on. This is the value that could cause the vehicle to become unable to run. If the detected remaining amount exceeds the predetermined value, the process returns to step S3.
[0018]
Here, when the detected remaining amount is equal to or less than the predetermined value, the process proceeds to step S5, and communication to the effect that the power supply of the communication device 20 is stopped is communicated from the communication device 20 to an external communication terminal (such as a mobile phone). In step S6, the switch means 20a is turned off to stop the power supply to the communication device 20, and the fact that the detected remaining amount is equal to or less than the predetermined value is stored in the RAM inside the microcomputer of the control circuit 16 corresponding to the storage means. To do. When the power supply to the communication device 20 is stopped, the battery 11 is not consumed by the communication device 20.
[0019]
However, the theft sensor 21 is still in a power supply state. This is because security is given priority. Then, the process proceeds to the next step S7, and it is determined whether or not the detected remaining amount of the battery 11 is equal to or less than a second predetermined value. This second predetermined value is a value that may cause the vehicle to become untravelable if the power of the theft sensor 21 remains on.
[0020]
In this step S7, when the detected remaining amount becomes equal to or less than the second predetermined value, the process proceeds to step S8, the switch means 21a is turned off, and the power supply to the theft sensor 21 is stopped.
[0021]
Here, in step S3, when a theft detection signal is output from the theft sensor 21, the process proceeds to step S9 to turn on the switch means 20a. In this case, when the previous switch means 20a is on, the on-state is continued, and when the previous switch means 20a is off, it is switched on. This is because the communication device 20 notifies the external communication means such as a portable terminal to give priority to antitheft or antitheft measures.
[0022]
In step S1, when the start switch 12 is on, the process proceeds to step S10, where the stored contents of the RAM are read, and when the remaining amount is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the display 22 indicates that the remaining amount is low. To do. In the next step S11, the switch means 17a to 21a are turned on. In the next step S12, it is determined whether or not the detected remaining amount is equal to or less than a supply reference value. In this case, replenishment reference value> predetermined value> second predetermined value. If it is below the replenishment reference value, the display 22 displays that fuel replenishment is necessary. Refueling may add a shortage of fuel, but it is preferable to discharge the used fuel and fill it with new fuel.
When a theft detection signal is output from the theft sensor 21, the control circuit 16 drives a horn or the like (not shown) to be notified.
[0023]
According to the above-described embodiment, since the power is supplied from the battery 11 to the communication device 20 even when the vehicle travel start switch 12 is off (steps S1 and S2), the communication device can be used even when the vehicle is stopped. 20 can be used as an in-vehicle server for the Internet ITS, or as a relay communication device for multi-hop wireless network communication.
[0024]
In addition, when the remaining amount of the fuel 11a as the remaining amount of the battery 11 is reduced and there is a concern about the remaining amount of the battery necessary for starting the vehicle (step S4), the communication from the battery 11 to the communication device 20 is performed. Since the power supply is stopped (step S6), it is possible to suppress battery consumption by the communication device 20 and prevent the vehicle from starting.
[0025]
Further, in this embodiment, when the vehicle running start switch 12 is turned on when the remaining amount of the fuel 11a, which is the remaining amount of the battery 11 , is less than or equal to a predetermined value, an indicator 22 serving as a notification means. Therefore, it is possible to promptly perform power recovery measures such as replenishment or replacement of the fuel 11a of the battery 11, which is more effective in preventing the vehicle from starting.
[0026]
Further, when the start switch 12 is turned off, the security can be maximized by placing the theft sensor 21 as the security means behind the communication device 20 in the order of stopping the power supply.
[0027]
A DC / DC converter that lowers the voltage of the battery 11 may be used instead of the charger 15 and the control battery 15. The motor system ECU 17, together with respect to the information device 18 and the vehicle position confirmation device 19 on, be provided with a switch means for turning off have good. It may be a non-volatile memory is as memorize means. As the remaining amount detecting means, a means for detecting the concentration of fuel may be used. The notification means may be an audio output device or a buzzer instead of a display. Furthermore, the theft sensor 21 may be provided as necessary, and the predetermined value when the theft sensor 21 is not present may be a value that takes into account the power consumption by the communication device 20.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electrical configuration showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart of power control. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an electrical configuration showing a conventional example.
11 is a battery, 12 is a vehicle start start switch, 15 is a control battery, 16 is a control circuit (power supply stop control means), 17 is a motor system ECU, 18 is information equipment, 19 is a vehicle position confirmation device, 20 Indicates a communication device, 21 indicates a theft sensor (security means), and 22 indicates a display (notification means).

Claims (2)

In a power control system for an electric vehicle provided with a communication device for driving a vehicle with only a fuel cell type battery and obtaining power from the battery and communicating with the outside,
Remaining amount detection means for detecting the remaining amount of the battery in the residual amount of fuel,
Notification means;
Storage means for storing when the remaining amount of fuel is less than or equal to a predetermined value;
When the vehicle travel start switch is in an OFF state, power is supplied from the battery to the communication device, and the remaining amount of fuel is detected by the remaining amount detecting means. When the remaining amount is less than a predetermined value, the storage is performed. Means for storing that the fuel remaining amount is less than or equal to a predetermined value and stopping power supply to the communication device ,
When the vehicle travel start switch is turned on, the stored content of the storage means is read and if it is stored that the remaining amount is less than or equal to a predetermined value, the notification means notifies the fact. Power control system for electric vehicles. With security measures,
The power stop control means applies power from the battery to the communication device and the security means when the vehicle travel start switch is in an OFF state, and detects the remaining amount of the fuel by the remaining amount detecting means. The power supply to the communication device is stopped when the value is less than or equal to a predetermined value, and the power supply to the security means is stopped when the power is less than or equal to a second predetermined value set smaller than the predetermined value. The power control system for electric vehicles according to 1.

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