JP5908360B2 - In-vehicle charging controller - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle charging control apparatus applied to a vehicle including a battery, a charging unit that charges the battery with power from a power supply device outside the vehicle, and a solar power generation unit.

  For example, as can be seen in Patent Document 1 below, in a vehicle equipped with a solar panel, a battery that can charge both the generated power of the solar panel and the power of an external power supply device has been proposed.

JP 2008-31382 A

  By the way, for those equipped with a function to charge the power of the external power supply, create a charging plan to charge the specified amount of power, and automatically complete the charging by the charging completion time Something to do is also proposed. However, if the generated power of the solar panel becomes available after the charging plan is created, the charging plan may not be appropriate because the generated charging plan does not assume the generated power of the solar panel. There is.

  The present invention has been made in the course of solving the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to include a battery, charging means for charging the battery with power from a power supply device outside the vehicle, and solar power generation means. It is providing the new vehicle-mounted charge control apparatus applied to a vehicle.

  Hereinafter, means for solving the above-described problems and the operation and effect thereof will be described.

A first aspect of the present invention is a battery (Bm), a charging means for charging the power from an external power supply of the vehicle to said battery (20), is applied to a vehicle and a solar power unit (40), wherein A setting means (S12) for setting a charging completion time of the battery, and a charging processing plan for charging the battery with electric power from the external power supply device, and the charging is completed by the set charging completion time Plan creation means (S18) for creating a plan to be performed, and charge processing means (S32, S34, S36) for performing the charging process based on the created plan, wherein the plan creation means includes the solar power generation An update means (S28) for updating the created plan when the power generated by the means is charged to the battery is provided.

  When the power generated by the solar power generation means is charged to the battery after the plan is created by the plan creation means, the charging rate of the battery at the start of the charging process deviates from the value assumed when the plan is created. In this regard, in the above-described invention, when the generated power of the solar power generation means is charged to the battery by updating the created plan under such circumstances, the power amount excluding the amount of power is charged by the external power supply device. So that the charging plan can be made appropriate.

  In addition, about the expansion of the concept regarding the following typical embodiment concerning this invention, it describes in the column of "other embodiment" after typical embodiment.

1 is a system configuration diagram according to a first embodiment. FIG. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the preparation process of the charging plan concerning the embodiment. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the charge process concerning the embodiment. The time chart which shows the effect of the embodiment.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment in which an in-vehicle charging control device according to the present invention is applied to a device capable of charging electric power of an external power source in a vehicle will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In the following, first, “system overview” will be described, and then “main battery charging process by solar panel” will be described.

"Overview of the system"
A rotating machine (motor generator 10) shown in FIG. 1 is an on-vehicle main machine, and is mechanically coupled to drive wheels (not shown). The motor generator 10 is connected to the power control unit 12. Specifically, the power control unit 12 includes an inverter 12a and a drive control unit 12b that drives the inverter 12a, and the motor generator 10 is connected to the inverter 12a. Inverter 12a is connected to main unit battery Bm via system main relay SMR.

  Main machine battery Bm is insulated from the vehicle body. Specifically, the median value of the positive electrode potential and the negative electrode potential of main battery Bm is the vehicle body potential. This can be realized, for example, by connecting a pair of resistors between the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the main battery Bm and connecting the connection points of these resistors to the vehicle body. Here, the resistance body is set to a resistance value according to the insulation requirement between the main engine battery Bm and the vehicle body. Main battery Bm is an assembled battery as a series connection body of battery cells. Here, in this embodiment, a lithium ion secondary battery is assumed as the battery cell.

  The state of the main battery Bm (the state of each battery cell) is monitored and adjusted by the battery ECU 14. That is, the battery ECU 14 monitors whether or not the battery cells are overcharged or overdischarged, and performs a process of equalizing the battery cell charge rate (SOC) so as not to overcharge or overdischarge. This is done because there is a concern that the lithium ion secondary battery may deteriorate reliability due to overcharge and overdischarge. The charging rate is the ratio of the actual charge amount to the full charge amount.

  Main machine battery Bm is connected to converter unit 50 via system main relay SMR. Specifically, the converter unit 50 includes a DCDC converter 50a and a drive control unit 50b, and the main battery Bm is connected to the primary side of the DCDC converter 50a. An auxiliary battery Ba is connected to the secondary side of the DCDC converter 50a. Auxiliary battery Ba has a smaller charge energy amount (maximum charged amount) at the time of full charge than main battery Bm. Further, the auxiliary battery Ba has a vehicle body potential at its reference potential (negative potential). For example, a lead storage battery may be used as the auxiliary battery Ba.

  The positive and negative electrodes of main battery Bm are connected to charging unit 20 for charging main battery Bm with power from an external system power supply (power supply device 16) via charge relay CHR. The charging unit 20 includes a main charging circuit 20a and a sub charging circuit 20b. The main charging circuit 20a is for charging the main battery Bm with the electric power from the power supply device 16 via the charge relay CHR. On the other hand, the sub charging circuit 20b is for charging the auxiliary battery Ba with electric power from the power supply device 16. In the present embodiment, the power supply device 16 is assumed to be provided in a house.

  In the present embodiment, a solar panel 40 is provided. The solar panel 40 is connected to a solar panel electronic control unit (SECU 30). The SECU 30 steps down the output voltage Vs of the solar panel 40 and supplies it to the auxiliary battery Ba, the step-up converter 32 that steps up the voltage of the auxiliary battery Ba and supplies it to the main battery Bm, and the step-down converter. And a drive control unit 38 for electronically operating 34.

  In the present embodiment, a higher-level electronic control device (UCEU 60) is further provided upstream of the SECU 30 and the power control unit 12 with respect to a user instruction. The UECU 60 uses the vehicle body potential as a reference potential and the auxiliary battery Ba as a power source. Here, the power of the auxiliary battery Ba is turned on by the first power switch 62. The first power switch 62 can be turned on by a user operation. However, once activated, the SECU 30 itself can maintain the on state. Furthermore, even when the vehicle is not turned on by the user, it can be turned on periodically by a timer (not shown).

  The UECU 60 has a function of electronically operating the second power switch 64. The second power switch 64 switches between supplying and shutting off the electric power of the auxiliary battery Ba to the battery ECU 14 and the charging unit 20. In the figure, it is illustrated that the power of the auxiliary battery Ba can be supplied to the battery ECU 14 and the charging unit 20 via the second power switch 64.

  It should be noted that the battery ECU 14 is actually supplied with power from the auxiliary battery Ba via the second power switch 64 to a portion belonging to the low voltage system (system having the vehicle body as a reference potential). That is, the battery ECU 14 includes a portion that constitutes a high-voltage system that is a portion connected to the main battery Bm, and a portion that constitutes a low-voltage system. Here, the main battery Bm may be used as the power source for the parts constituting the high voltage system. In this case, even if the power supply of the auxiliary battery Ba is cut off by the second power switch 64, the main battery Bm can supply the power to the portion constituting the high voltage system. Of course, it is also possible to supply power from the low-voltage system via an insulating converter, for example, to the portion constituting the high-voltage system.

  The EUCU 60 also has a function of electronically operating a third power switch that is a power switch for the power control unit 12 (drive control unit 12b) and the converter unit 50 (drive control unit 50b). The description was omitted.

  The power of the auxiliary battery Ba is supplied to the drive control unit 38 of the SECU 30 via the solar power switch 37. The solar power switch 37 is turned on when the comparator 36 determines that the output voltage Vs of the solar panel 40 is equal to or higher than the reference voltage Vref. This is a setting for turning on the power to the drive control unit 38 only when the generated power of the solar panel 40 becomes more than a certain level.

  When the drive control unit 38 is turned on, the step-down converter 34 is driven, and the power generated by the solar panel 40 is charged into the auxiliary battery Ba. On the other hand, the UECU 60 detects the charge amount of the generated power to the auxiliary battery Ba by periodically turning on the first power switch 62 by the above-described timer, and this becomes a predetermined amount or more. Thus, the solar relay SLR is closed, the operation signal SC1 is output to the boost converter 32, and this is operated, whereby the generated power charged in the auxiliary battery Ba is charged in the main battery Bm. In addition, the detection process of the amount of charge of the generated power to the auxiliary battery Ba may be an integration process of the generated power Psp of the solar panel 40. Here, the generated power Psp of the solar panel 40 is calculated as the product of the output current Is of the solar panel 40 detected by the current sensor 70 shown in FIG. 1 and the output voltage Vs of the solar panel 40. do it. In the figure, this process is performed by the drive control unit 38 and the calculation result is output to the UC ECU 60.

“Charging the main battery with solar panels”
In the present embodiment, a charging completion time is set in response to a charging request from the user, and processing for completing charging by the charging completion time is performed. In the following, a charging plan creation process as part of such a process will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 shows the procedure of the charging plan creation process. This process is repeatedly executed by the EUCU 60, for example, at a predetermined cycle.

  In this series of processing, first, in step S10, it is determined whether or not there is a charge request. This process is a process of determining whether or not the user has instructed to charge the main battery Bm by the desired time when the vehicle is parked via a user interface (not shown). If an affirmative determination is made in step S10, a charging completion time tf is set based on the desired time in step S12. Here, the charging completion time tf is basically a desired time. This is a particularly effective setting when a main battery Bm that is easily deteriorated by being left in a fully charged state like a lithium ion secondary battery is used. In addition, the process of step S12 comprises a setting means in this embodiment.

  When the process of step S12 is completed, the process proceeds to step S14. In step S14, the value of the charging rate (SOC (Bm)) of main battery Bm is acquired. In this embodiment, since it is assumed that the battery ECU 14 has a function for calculating the charging rate of the main battery Bm, this process obtains the latest calculated value of the charging rate of the main battery Bm from the battery ECU 14. It becomes processing to do.

  In the subsequent step S16, a required time Tc required to charge the main battery Bm to the required charge rate SOC (Bm) * is calculated. In the present embodiment, the required charge rate is set to the full charge rate, and the required time Tc is expressed by the following equation using the maximum value Psysmax of the output power of the power supply device 16, the charge efficiency η, and the full charge amount Ah of the main battery Bm. Calculated in c1).

Tc = Ah {SOC (Bm) *-SOC (Bm)} / Psysmax · η (c1)
The reason why the maximum value Psysmax is used in the above formula (c1) is that the maximum value Psysmax is small (for example, “3 kW”) because the power supply device 16 is generally installed in a house. For this reason, at the time of charging the main battery Bm, due to a request that the terminal voltage of the battery cell constituting the main battery Bm is equal to or lower than the upper limit voltage, a request that the charge / discharge current of the battery cell is within an allowable range, etc. The magnitude of the output power Pbm of the main charging circuit 20a is not variable. In the present embodiment, the charging rate η is the power conversion efficiency of the main charging circuit 20a. This process constitutes a required time calculating means in this embodiment.

  In the subsequent step S18, the charging start time ts is set as a time earlier by the required time Tc than the charging completion time tf. This process constitutes a plan creation means in the present embodiment.

  When the process of step S18 is completed or when a negative determination is made in step S10, this series of processes is temporarily ended.

  Next, a procedure for charging the main battery Bm will be described. This process is repeatedly executed by the UECU 60, for example, at a predetermined cycle.

  In this series of processes, first, in step S20, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is parked. If an affirmative determination is made in step S20, it is determined in step S22 whether or not the charging start time ts is set by the processing of FIG. 2 and is in a standby state until the charging start time ts is reached. . And when affirmation determination is carried out in step S22, it is judged whether charge to the solar panel 40 is implemented in step S24. That is, according to the output voltage of the comparator 36, the solar power switch 37 is turned on, and the step-down converter 34 and the step-up converter 32 are driven to determine whether or not the main battery Bm is charged. This process determines whether or not a situation has occurred in which the current charging rate of the main engine battery Bm deviates from the charging rate acquired in step S14 of FIG. 2 due to the generated power of the solar panel 40. It is for judgment.

  When an affirmative determination is made in step S24, the latest charging rate of main battery Bm is acquired in step S26. In subsequent step S28, the charging start time ts is updated by re-execution of the processing in steps S14 to S18 of FIG. 2 using the charging rate acquired in step S26. This process constitutes an updating unit in the present embodiment.

  In the subsequent step S30, it is determined whether or not the current time t is a timing after the charging start time ts. This process is for determining whether or not an execution condition for the process of charging the power of the power supply device 16 to the main battery Bm is satisfied. If a positive determination is made in step S30, the charging process is started in step S32.

  At this time, in step S34, the output power Pbm of the main charging circuit 20a is set to a value obtained by subtracting the generated power Psp of the solar panel 40 from the maximum value Psysmax of the output power of the power supply device 16. This process is a setting for increasing the ratio of the generated power Psp of the solar panel 40 to the charging energy of the main battery Bm as much as possible. That is, according to the process shown in FIG. 2, the charging start time ts is set so that the charging is completed at the charging completion time tf when the output power Pbm of the main charging circuit 20a is set to the maximum value. For this reason, when the generated power Psp of the solar panel 40 is charged to the main battery Bm, the actual charging completion time tf is earlier than that set in the process of step S12 of FIG. Thereafter, the main battery Bm cannot be charged with the generated power Psp of the solar panel 40. For this reason, the output power of the main charging circuit 20a is changed each time so that the charging is actually completed at the charging completion time tf set in the process of step S12 of FIG.

  In view of the fact that the charging efficiency η of the main charging circuit 20a is used in the process of step S16 in FIG. 2, the output power Pbm of the main charging circuit 20a is actually charged to the maximum value Psysmax. It is desirable that the generated power Psp is subtracted from the value multiplied by η. Incidentally, the process of step S34 constitutes a charge processing means in the present embodiment.

  This process is executed until the charging rate of main battery Bm reaches required charging rate SOC * (step S36).

  On the other hand, when a negative determination is made in the processing of steps S22, S24, and S30, the UECU 60 is caused to sleep in step S38.

  When a negative determination is made at step S20 or when the processes at steps S36 and S38 are completed, this series of processes is temporarily terminated.

  FIG. 4 shows the effect of this embodiment. Specifically, FIG. 4A shows the transition of the charging power Pbc of the main battery Bm when the generated power Psp of the solar panel 40 is zero. FIG. 4B shows a case where the processing of steps S28 and S30 of FIG. 3 is not performed and the output power Pbm of the main charging circuit 20a is maintained at the maximum value when the main battery Bm is charged. FIG. 4C shows the case of this embodiment.

  As shown in the figure, in the present embodiment, the generated power Psp of the solar panel 40 can be used as much as possible when charging the main battery Bm, and the total charge power of the main battery Bm using the main charging circuit 20a is reduced. can do. On the other hand, in the comparative example, the generated power Psp of the solar panel 40 cannot be used effectively, and the charging completion time is advanced.

  According to the embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.

  (1) When the generated power Psp of the solar panel 40 is charged to the main battery Bm, the charging start time ts is updated. Thereby, the charge start time ts when the charge amount charged from the power supply device 16 is reduced according to the generated power Psp of the solar panel 40 can be set, and the charge start time ts is appropriately set. be able to.

  (2) The output power Pbm of the main charging circuit 20a is set to a value obtained by subtracting the generated power Psp of each solar panel 40 from the maximum value of the output power of the power supply device 16. Thereby, the generated power Psp during the charging period by the main charging circuit 20a can also be utilized to the maximum.

(3) The required time Tc for calculating the charging rate of the main battery Bm as the required charging rate SOC * is calculated, and the charging start time ts is calculated by subtracting the required time Tc from the charging completion time tf. Thus, the charging rate of main battery Bm can be made to reach the required charging rate SOC * at charging completion time tf.
<Other embodiments>
The above embodiment may be modified as follows.

“Required time calculation means (S16)”
In the above embodiment, the difference between the current charge rate and the required charge rate (SOC *) multiplied by the full charge amount Ah is set as the charge amount necessary for charging up to the required charge rate. However, the present invention is not limited to this. . For example, the power consumption of the in-vehicle electronic device during the charging process of the power of the power supply device 16 may be further added. Such a setting is effective when the power consumption of the in-vehicle electronic device increases when the power of the power supply device 16 is charged. That is, in this case, even if the power consumption is directly covered by the auxiliary battery Ba, the auxiliary battery from the main battery Bm (main charging circuit 20a) side is required to compensate for the discharge power of the auxiliary battery Ba. Requests to supply power to Ba are likely to occur. Incidentally, as a configuration in which the power consumption of the in-vehicle electronic device tends to increase, for example, the number of members to be turned on by the second power switch 64 is increased, or the sub charging circuit 20b is deleted, and the power of the power supply device 16 is being charged. Further, the DCDC converter 50a may turn on the third power switch to supply power to the auxiliary battery Ba side.

  In the above embodiment, since the maximum value Psysmax of the output power of the power supply device 16 in the house is small, even if the main battery Bm is charged at the maximum value Psysmax, it does not exceed the upper limit value of the charging power of the main battery Bm. Although the required time Tc is calculated, the present invention is not limited to this. When there is a possibility that the upper limit value of the charging power of the main battery Bm, the upper limit value of the terminal voltage, or the upper limit value of the charging current may be exceeded, it is desirable to calculate the required time Tc for keeping these upper limit values. This can be realized by replacing “Psysmax” in the process of step S16 with the maximum value of the charging power that is equal to or lower than the upper limit value.

  In the above embodiment, the required time Tc for charging only the main battery Bm is calculated, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, both the main battery Bm and the auxiliary battery Ba may be charged. In this case, the required time Tc with both charging rates as target values may be calculated.

"About plan creation means (S18)"
It is not restricted to the plan which charges continuously over the period from a charge start to completion | finish. For example, if the electricity charge at midnight is cheap and you want to use it as much as possible, charge until the charging rate reaches 90% of the target value at midnight, and then again to reach the target value at the start time You may charge. Even in this case, after charging 90%, it is effective to update the charge start time again in the manner of the process shown in FIG.

"About update means"
In the above-described embodiment, the charging start time ts is updated using the new charging rate after charging the generated power Psp of the solar panel 40 as an input. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the amount of power supplied from the solar panel 40 to the main battery Bm may be used as an input, and the charging start time ts may be corrected based on this.

“About the charging process”
In the above embodiment, the approximation that the main battery Bm can be charged without loss using the generated power Psp of the solar panel 40 is used, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the power conversion efficiency ηbc of the step-down converter 34 and the power conversion efficiency ηbs of the step-up converter 32 may be taken into account. In this case, “ηbc · ηbs · Psp” may be used in place of the generated power Psp in the process of step S34 of FIG.

  For example, when the generated power Psp from the solar panel 40 is available and the period during which the power supply device 16 is charged is short, the output power Pbm of the main charging circuit 20a is changed from the maximum value Psysmax to the generated power Psp. Even if the maximum value Psysmax is used instead of the subtracted value, the difference between the actual charge completion time and the charge completion time tf is negligible.

“Required charging rate”
It is not limited to the full charge rate. When the charging rate is set to be somewhat lower than this, the motivation for setting the charging completion time tf to the user's desired time is reduced. Even in this case, for example, when dynamic pricing is adopted as the cost of the system power supply, the process of charging the power of the power supply device 16 is performed in a time zone in which power generation by the solar panel 40 can be performed. May be effective. In this case, it is effective to update the charging plan as described in the above embodiment.

"About charging means"
The charging unit 20 is not limited to the main charging circuit 20a and the sub charging circuit 20b, and may include only the main charging circuit 20a, for example. In this case, the converter unit 50 is used to charge the auxiliary battery Ba with electric power from the external power supply device 16.

"others"
The main battery Bm is not limited to being insulated from the vehicle body. For example, the negative electrode potential may be used as the vehicle body potential by reducing the terminal voltage instead of enabling a large current to be output.

  Bm ... main unit battery, 20a ... main charging circuit (one embodiment of charging means), 60 ... UECU (one embodiment of in-vehicle charging control device).

Claims (2)

Applied to a vehicle comprising a battery (Bm), charging means (20) for charging the battery with power from a power supply device outside the vehicle, and solar power generation means (40),
Setting means (S12) for setting the charging completion time of the battery;
A plan creation means (S18) for creating a plan for charging the battery with electric power from the external power supply apparatus and completing the charging by the set charging completion time;
Charging processing means (S32, S34, S36) for performing the charging processing based on the created plan;
With
The plan creation means includes update means (S28) for updating the created plan when the power generated by the solar power generation means is charged to the battery .
The charging processing means is configured such that the power supplied to the battery from the external power supply device is a value obtained by subtracting the current power supplied by the solar power generation means from the charging power set in the created plan. An in-vehicle charging control device that operates the charging means . The plan creation means includes:
A required time calculating means for calculating a required time for charging the amount of electric power necessary for charging the battery to a specified charging rate with the maximum possible power as the charging power from the charging means to the battery; ,
The charging start timing of the battery is set to a timing that precedes the charging completion time by the required time, and a plan for charging the battery is created while charging power by the charging unit is set to the maximum possible value. The in-vehicle charging control device according to claim 1 .

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