JPH06343205A - Electric car battery charger - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent transmission error when communicating charge information between a battery and a charger. CONSTITUTION:An electric car battery charger is designed to charge a car- mounted battery 11 according to charge information communicated between a charger 20 and the battery 11. The charger is provided with a battery controller 14 that judges whether charge communication is required, and a charger controller 24 that stops charging when communication is judged as required and charges the battery 11 when no communication is judged as required.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for charging a vehicle battery based on charging information exchanged between a charger and an electric vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the spread of electric vehicles, a charging station equipped with a charger for charging an on-vehicle battery has been installed. As shown in FIG.
A charging cable 2 is attached to the charger 1 of the charging station, and the connector 3 at the tip of the charging cable 2 is connected to the connector 5 of the electric vehicle 4 to charge the in-vehicle battery 6.

By the way, it is necessary to charge the on-vehicle battery 6 appropriately according to the type of the battery and the charging condition.
Therefore, for example, charging information including the type and state of the battery 6 is transmitted to the charger prior to charging, and optimal charging is performed based on the information, and the battery 6 is charged during charging.
It is conceivable that the state of charge is monitored and transmitted to the charger, and the charger controls the charging condition according to the monitoring result.

However, when the charging power line and the communication line for charging information are integrally provided in the charging cable,
When the power line and the communication line are arranged close to each other, when charging and information communication are performed at the same time, noise may be superimposed on the communication line due to the induction magnetic field.

An object of the present invention is to provide a charging device for an electric vehicle that prevents noise from being superimposed on charging information.

[0006]

The present invention is applied to a charging device for an electric vehicle that charges the on-vehicle battery 11 on the basis of charging information exchanged between the charger 20 and the on-vehicle battery 11. Then, the determination unit 14 that determines whether or not the communication of the charging information is necessary, the charging is stopped when the determination unit 14 determines that the communication of the charging information is necessary, and the charging is stopped when the communication is determined to be unnecessary. The above object is achieved by including the charging control means 24 for performing. The charging device according to claim 2 configures the determination unit 14 to output the charge prohibition signal when it is determined that the communication is necessary and to output the charge permission signal when the communication is determined to be unnecessary. The charging control means 24 is configured to stop charging when receiving the charging prohibition signal and start charging when receiving the charging permission signal.

[0007]

When the charging information is exchanged between the charger 20 and the battery 11, the charging is stopped.

[0008]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of an embodiment. The figure shows a state in which an electric vehicle 10 and a charger 20 of a charging station are connected by a cable 25 to charge a battery. The electric vehicle 10 has a battery 11
Is mounted, and charging power of the battery 11 is supplied to the traveling motor 13 via the switch 12 during traveling.
The battery controller 14 includes a microcomputer and its peripheral components, a drive circuit, and the like, and controls charging of the battery 11. The electric vehicle 10 is also equipped with an auxiliary battery 15 that supplies control power to various electric components and a charging interlock relay 16. The controller 17 is a traveling controller that controls the traveling of the electric vehicle 10, and 19 is a battery sensor that detects the battery voltage indicating the state of charge of the battery 11, the battery current, the specific gravity of the battery liquid, and the like.

Charger 20 installed at the charging station
Is a high-voltage power supply 21 that rectifies AC power supplied from the outside to output DC power, a switch 22 that opens and closes a charging current, a sensor 23 that detects a charging voltage v and a charging current i, and a charging And a charger controller 24 for controlling the. A cable 25 is attached to the charger 20, and the connector 26 at the tip of the cable is connected to the connector 18 of the electric vehicle 10 during charging. Although not shown, a lock actuator that mechanically locks the connectors 18 and 26 during charging is provided.

The cable 25 has two power lines 30, 3
One, six control lines 32 to 37, and a ground line (not shown) are included. The power lines 30 and 31 are connected to the charger 2
It is a power line for supplying charging power from 0 to the battery 11 of the electric vehicle 10, and has a large cross-sectional area for flowing a large charging current. The control line 32 is the connector 1
It is a control line for detecting the connection state of 8 and 26, and the charger 20 side is connected to the ground and the electric vehicle 10 side is connected to the coil 16c of the interlock relay 16. The control lines 33 to 37 are control lines for transmitting various control signals between the battery controller 14 of the electric vehicle 10 and the controller 24 of the charger 20. The control line 33 is a dedicated control line for transmitting a charge start signal and a stop signal from the charger 20 to the electric vehicle 10, and the control line 34 sends a high level signal from the charger 20 to the electric vehicle 10 when the lock actuator is on. The control line and the control line 35 are
It is a dedicated control line for transmitting a charge permission signal and a prohibition signal from the electric vehicle 10 to the charger 20. Control lines 36,3
Reference numeral 7 is a communication line for exchanging various charging information between the battery controller 14 of the electric vehicle 10 and the charger controller 24 of the charger 20 in accordance with a predetermined communication format.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the charger side connector 26, and FIG. 3 is a front view of the electric vehicle side connector 18. Also,
4 is a cross-sectional view of the charger side connector 26 shown in FIG. 2 taken along the line XX, and FIG. 5 is a Y-axis of the electric vehicle side connector 18 shown in FIG.
It is a Y sectional view. 30q to 37q are power lines 3 respectively.
Female pins of the charger-side connector 26 connected to 0, 31 and control lines 32-37. In addition, 30p-37p,
These are male pins of the electric vehicle side connector 18 connected to the power lines 30 and 31 and the control lines 32 to 37, respectively. When both connectors 18 and 26 are connected, the male pin 30
p-37p are respectively fitted to the female pins 30q-37q,
A charging current flows through the power lines 30 and 31, and a control current flows through the control lines 32-37. Although illustration is omitted, the structure of the male pin and the female pin of the power line 31 is similar to the pin structure of the power line 30, and the control lines 33, 34, 36, 37.
The structure of the male pin and the female pin is similar to that of the control line 35.

The female pin 32q and the male pin 32p of the control line 32 for detecting the connection state of the connectors 18 and 26 are the other female pins 30q, 35q, ... And the male pins 30p, 35.
Compared to p, ..., the protruding length toward the connector tip is shorter. As a result, the connection between the connectors 26 and 18 is loosened, and when the charger-side connector 26 is about to come off from the electric vehicle-side connector 18, the male pin 3 of the control line 32 is at the forefront.
The 2p and the female pin 32q are disengaged, and the control current flowing through the control line 32 is cut off. In this embodiment, the control line 32
The control current flowing through the power line 3 is detected, and when the control current is cut off, it is determined that slack has occurred in the connectors 18 and 26, and the power line 3
Immediately cut off the charging current flowing through 0, 31. As a result, the charging current can be interrupted before the connectors 18 and 26 are detached, and the generation of sparks when the connectors 18 and 26 are disconnected can be prevented.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the interlock relay coil 16c of the electric vehicle 10 is supplied with power from the auxiliary battery 15 and is connected to the ground on the charger 20 side via the connectors 18, 26 and the control line 32. Therefore, the charger side connector 26 is connected to the electric vehicle side connector 18
In the state in which the auxiliary battery 15 is completely connected to, the exciting current flows from the auxiliary battery 15 to the coil 16c, the interlock relay 16 is turned on and the normally open contact 16a is closed, and the normally closed contact 16b is opened. As a result, a control signal indicating that the charger side connector 26 and the electric vehicle side connector 18 are in a completely connected state is transmitted to the battery controller 1
4 and the exciting circuit of the coil 12c of the switch 12 is opened. That is, during charging, the battery 1
The switch 12 connected between 1 and the traveling motor 13 is opened, and the power supply from the battery 11 to the traveling motor 13 is cut off. Although not shown, the charger 2
Both 0 and @ are provided with a charging indicator that flashes during the charging start sequence and lights up during charging.

6 to 8 are flowcharts showing a control program executed by the charger controller 24.
The operation of the charger 20 will be described with reference to this flowchart. The microcomputer of the charger controller 24 starts executing this control program when a main switch (not shown) of the charger 20 is turned on. First, in step S1, a charging start signal is output to the battery controller 14 of the electric vehicle 10 via the control line 33. At this time, the lock actuator is turned on and the control line 3
Set 4 to high level. In the following step S2, the control line 3
It is determined whether or not the charging preparation completion information and the remaining amount information of the battery 11 are received from the electric vehicle 10 via 6, 37, and if received, the process proceeds to step S3, and the charger performance, that is, the allowable output of the charger 20. Information on the voltage and the allowable output current is transmitted to the electric vehicle 10 via the control lines 36 and 37.

If step S2 is denied, step S4
If the charging preparation completion information of the electric vehicle 10 and the remaining amount information of the battery 11 cannot be received even after waiting for a predetermined time, the process proceeds to step S17 of FIG. After performing communication abnormality processing such as an alarm in step S17, step S1
At 8 the switch coil 22c is released, the switch 22 is opened, and charging is stopped. Further, in step S19, a charge stop signal is output to the electric vehicle 10 via the control line 33.

In step S5, it is determined whether or not the charge command information and the battery remaining amount information are received from the electric vehicle 10 via the control lines 36 and 37. The charge command information includes
A constant voltage charging mode for applying a constant voltage to the battery 11 for charging, or a constant mode mode for instructing a constant current mode for supplying a constant current to the battery 11 for charging, and a set voltage in the constant voltage charging mode and The target current, the set current in the constant current charging mode and the target voltage are included. If the charge command information and the battery remaining amount information are received, the process proceeds to step S6. If not, the process proceeds to step S7. In step S7, if the charging command information and the battery remaining amount information cannot be received even after waiting a predetermined time, the process proceeds to step S17 in FIG. 7 and the communication abnormality process is performed as described above.

When the charge command information and the battery remaining amount information are received, the charge initial condition is set in step S6. That is, the charging mode command sent from the electric vehicle 10,
The charging voltage and the charging current are set in the high voltage power supply 21 based on the set value of the voltage or the current, the target value of the voltage or the current, and the remaining amount of the battery. Then, in step S8, the preparation completion information of the charger 20 is transmitted to the electric vehicle 10 via the control lines 36 and 37. In the following step S9, it is determined whether or not the charging permission signal is sent from the electric vehicle 10 through the control line 35, and if the charging permission signal is input, the process proceeds to step 11 in FIG. 7, otherwise, the process proceeds to step S10. . In step S10, if the charging permission signal is not input after waiting for a predetermined time, the process proceeds to step S17 in FIG. 7 and the communication abnormality process is performed as described above. In step S11 of FIG. 7, the switch coil 22c is excited to turn on the switch 22, and the high voltage power supply 21 is controlled to start charging.

In step S12 of FIG. 7, it is determined whether or not an abnormality such as an electric leakage in the charger 20, a failure of the high-voltage power source 21, overheating, or a power failure has occurred. Then, the switch coil 22c is released, the switch 22 is opened, and charging is stopped. Then, the process proceeds to step S16, and after the charging end information is transmitted to the electric vehicle 10 via the control lines 36 and 37, a charging stop signal is output to the electric vehicle 10 via the control line 33 in step S19.

If the charger 20 is operating normally,
From step S12 to step S13, it is determined whether or not the charging prohibition signal is input from the electric vehicle 10 through the control line 35, and when the charging prohibition signal is sent from the electric vehicle 10, step S71 of FIG. If not, the process proceeds to step S14, and it is determined whether the charging end information is received from the electric vehicle 10 via the control lines 36 and 37. When the charging completion information is sent from the electric vehicle 10, it is determined that the charging of the battery 11 is completed, the process proceeds to step S15, and the charging stop process is performed as described above. When the charging end information is not received, step S1
Returning to step 2, the above process is repeated.

In step S71 of FIG. 8, the switch coil 22c is released to open the switch 22 to stop charging, and a charge stop signal is output from the control line 33 to the electric vehicle 10 in step S72. In step S73, it is determined whether the charging abnormality information or the charging end information is received,
If it has been received, the process proceeds to step S16 in FIG. 7, and if it has not been received, the process proceeds to step S74 to determine whether the charge command information and the battery remaining amount information are received. If the result is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S75, and if the result is negative, the process proceeds to step S77. If it is determined in step S77 that the predetermined time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S17 in FIG. 7 and the communication abnormality process is performed as described above. In step S75, the charging condition is reset based on the received charging command information and the information on the remaining battery level, and the setting information is transmitted to the vehicle from the control lines 36 and 37. Then, in step S76, it is determined whether the charge permission signal is received from the electric vehicle 10 via the control line 35. If the charging permission signal is not received even if it is determined that the predetermined time has elapsed in step S78, step S17 of FIG.
Then, the above-mentioned communication abnormality processing is performed. When it is determined in step S76 that the charging permission signal is received, step S in FIG.
Proceed to 11 to start charging.

9 to 11 show a battery controller 14
6 is a flowchart showing a control program executed in step S6. The operation of the electric vehicle 10 will be described with reference to this flowchart. When the electric vehicle 10 is in the charging permission state and all the traveling systems are stopped by the traveling controller 17, the charger side connector 26 is connected to the electric vehicle side connector 18 and the interlock relay 1
When 6 is turned on and the normally open contact 16a is closed, the microcomputer of the battery controller 14 starts executing this control program. Here, the charging permission state is
The state where the main switch is set to the OFF position, the parking brake is in the braking state, and the select lever is set to the P or N position. At this time, at the same time, the normally closed contact 16 of the interlock relay 16
Since b is opened, the exciting circuit of the switch coil 12c is forcibly cut off, and even if the exciting signal of the switch coil 12c is output from the traveling controller 17, the switch 12 is opened.
Will never be thrown in. As a result, in the state where the charger side connector 26 is connected to the electric vehicle side connector 18, the electric power supply from the battery 11 to the motor 13 is cut off, so that the electric vehicle 10 is prevented from accidentally starting during charging. To be done.

In step S31, the control lines 33, 3
It is determined whether or not the charge start signal and the lock actuator on signal are sent from the charger 20 via 4, and if the result is negative, the process proceeds to step S33, and the charge start signal and the lock actuator on signal are sent even after waiting a predetermined time. If not received, the process proceeds to step S44 in FIG. 11, and after performing communication abnormality processing such as an alarm, the process proceeds to step S45. In step S45, the charging end information is transmitted to the charger 20 via the control lines 36 and 37, and in the following step S46, the charging prohibition signal is output to the charger 20 via the control line 35. Further, in step S47, the process waits until a charge stop signal is received from the charger 20 via the control line 33, and when the charge stop signal is received, execution of the program ends.

When the charging start signal and the low-speed actuator ON signal are input from the charger 20, step S3
In step 2, the charging system on the electric vehicle side is activated, and in the subsequent step S34, the electric vehicle preparation completion information and the battery remaining amount information are transmitted to the charger 20 via the control lines 36 and 37.
In step S35, the charger 2 is connected via the control lines 36 and 37.
From 0, it is determined whether or not information on the charger performance, that is, the allowable output voltage and the allowable output current of the charger 20 is received,
When the information is received, the process proceeds to step S36, and the above-described charge command information and battery remaining amount information are transmitted to the charger 20 via the control lines 36 and 37. If step S35 is denied, the process proceeds to step S37, and if the charger performance information cannot be received even after waiting for a predetermined time, step S of FIG.
In step 44, the above-mentioned communication abnormality processing is performed.

In this embodiment, charging is performed in the constant current mode until the battery voltage reaches the predetermined value, and charging is performed in the constant voltage mode when the battery voltage reaches the predetermined value. In step S36, The set voltage and the target current are obtained from the received charger information, and the constant current charging mode, the set voltage and the target current are transmitted to the charger 20 as the charge command information.

In step S38, reception of the initial charging condition set in the charger 20 is waited, and if received, a charging permission signal is output to the charger 20 via the control line 35 in step S39, and the process proceeds to step S41. . If the initial charging condition is not received even if it is determined in step S40 that the predetermined time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S44 in FIG. 11 and the above-described communication abnormality process is performed.

In step S41, it is determined whether or not the electric vehicle 10 has an abnormality such as a leak, a battery failure, or a charging circuit failure. If an abnormality has occurred, step S in FIG.
Proceeding to 48, vehicle abnormality information is transmitted to the charger 20 via the control lines 36 and 37. Then, the process proceeds to step S46,
As described above, the charging prohibition signal is output to the charger 20.

If there is no abnormality in the electric vehicle 10, the process proceeds to step S81 of FIG. 10, the battery charging voltage of the battery is detected by the battery sensor 19, and if it is determined in step S82 that the detected voltage has reached the predetermined value, the process proceeds to step S83. move on.
Until the detected voltage reaches a predetermined value, steps S81 and S82.
Is repeatedly executed. In step S83, the charging prohibition signal is transmitted from the control line 35 to the charger 20, and in step S84, the charging stop signal from the charger 20 is waited for. When the charge stop signal is received, the charge command information and the battery remaining amount information are transmitted through the control lines 36 and 37 in step S85, and the condition setting signal is received from the charger 20 through the control lines 36 and 37 in step S86. When it is received, a charging permission signal is output to the control line 35 in step S87. If the charging condition setting information is not received even after the lapse of a predetermined time, the process proceeds from step S88 to step 44 of FIG. 11 and the same process as described above is performed.

After step S87, the process proceeds to step S42 in FIG. 11 to determine whether charging is completed based on the voltage and remaining amount of the battery 11, and when charging is completed, the process proceeds to step S45, as described above. The charging end information is transmitted to the charger 20 and the charging prohibition signal is output in step S46. If the charging is not completed, it is determined in step S43 whether or not the charging end signal is received from the charger 20 via the control lines 36 and 37, and if it is received, the process proceeds to step S46, and if not, the process proceeds to step S42. The process is returned and the above process is repeated.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a time chart of the above charging sequence. (A) shows the operating state of the lock actuator, (b) shows the lighting and blinking state of the charging indicator, and (c) shows the control line 34. The respective lock actuator on / off signals that appear are shown. (D) is the control line 33
Shows the charge start / stop signal appearing in FIG. 3, (e) shows the connector connection signal appearing on the control line 32, and (f) shows the charge permission prohibiting signal appearing on the control line 35. (G) is control line 3
6 and 37, the charging information appears in g6, g11 is a charging preparation completion signal transmitted from the electric vehicle 10 to the charger 20, and g11 is a charging ready signal.
Reference numeral 21 is charger performance information transmitted from the charger 20 to the electric vehicle 10 in response to the information, g12 is charging command information transmitted from the electric vehicle 10 to the charger 20, and g22.
Indicates charging condition setting information transmitted from the charger 20 to the electric vehicle 10 in response to the information. Also, g
13 is charging command information transmitted from the electric vehicle 10 to the charger 20, g23 is charging condition setting information transmitted from the charger 20 to the electric vehicle 10 in response to the information, g1
4 is charge end information transmitted from the electric vehicle 10 to the charger 20, and g24 is charge stop information transmitted from the charger 20 to the electric vehicle 10 in response to the information. Further, (h) shows the charging status.

As described above, when the battery voltage reaches a predetermined value during charging, the charging prohibition signal is once sent to the charger 20 to stop the charging, and charging command information is sent again from the electric vehicle 10 side during that time to charge conditions. Since there is no risk of noise due to the charging current being superimposed on the control lines 36 and 37, the charging command information can be reliably transmitted to the charger 20.
Can be sent to.

The case of charging the battery in the constant current charging mode at the initial stage of charging and changing to the constant voltage charging mode when the battery voltage reaches a predetermined value has been described. However, the charging mode is switched to the optimum charging mode according to the charging status of the battery. The present invention can be applied to various charging systems. At that time, it is possible to prevent erroneous transmission of the charging command due to noise. Although the charging is once stopped when the battery voltage reaches a predetermined value, the charging may be once stopped under other conditions and various kinds of information may be communicated between the electric vehicle and the charger. Alternatively, charging may be stopped at predetermined time intervals and information may be exchanged. Further, the sensor 23 of the charger 20 monitors the charging status, the charging is temporarily stopped according to the result, and various kinds of information are communicated between the charger 20 and the electric vehicle 10 to change the charging mode to perform charging. It may be restarted.
Further, the present invention can be applied to a device that charges an in-vehicle battery of any vehicle that runs with an electric motor.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, charging is stopped when various kinds of charging information are communicated between the charger and the vehicle, so that noise may be superimposed on the charging information. There is no problem, and it is possible to reliably prevent erroneous transmission and perform optimal charging.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a charger-side connector.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the electric vehicle side connector.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX of the charger-side connector shown in FIG.

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line YY of the electric vehicle-side connector shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a charger control program.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a charger control program following FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a charger control program following FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a charging control program for an electric vehicle.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a charge control program for an electric vehicle, following FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a charge control program for the electric vehicle, following FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a time chart showing a signal waveform of each part of the embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a conventional charging device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Electric Vehicle 11 Battery 12 Switch 12c Coil 13 Motor 14 Battery Controller 15 Auxiliary Battery 16 Interlock Relay 16c Coil 16a Normally Open Contact 16b Normally Closed Contact 17 Running Controller 18 Connector 19 Battery Sensor 20 Charger 21 High Voltage Power Supply 22 Switch 22c coil 23 sensor 24 charger controller 25 cable 26 connector 30,31 power line 32-37 control line 30p, 32p, 35p male pin 30q, 32q, 35q female pin

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A charging device for an electric vehicle that charges the vehicle-mounted battery based on charging information transmitted and received between a charger and a vehicle-mounted battery, and a determining unit that determines whether communication of the charging information is necessary. A charging device for an electric vehicle, comprising: a charging control unit that stops charging when it is determined that communication of charging information is necessary by the determination unit, and that performs charging when it is determined that communication is unnecessary. . 2. The charging device according to claim 1, wherein when the communication is determined to be necessary, a charge prohibition signal is output, and when the communication is determined to be unnecessary, a charge permission signal is output. The charging control means is configured to stop charging when the charging prohibition signal is received and start charging when the charging permission signal is received.