JPH11173179A - Hybrid type electric automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hybrid type electric automobile which can reduce the nonconformities such as a charging shortage and a running limitation in the poor condition of the starting of an engine. SOLUTION: This hybrid type electric automobile in provided with an engine driven generator; a fattery for running; and a running motor generating the running motive power by being with the power from at least one of the generator or the battery for running. When it is inferred that the engine starting by an automatic mode fails (S116), the engine starting is carried out again automatically instantly, or after a specific procedure is taken, or after waiting a specific time (S112). Even if the starting fails, the starting is carried out again, without taking care of the existence of the engine starting completion at every time by a driver.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a hybrid electric vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a hybrid electric vehicle, an engine is usually automatically started. That is, in the hybrid electric vehicle, the vehicle starts running by rotation of the running motor in a state where the engine is not started by turning on the key switch, and thereafter, the engine is started under a predetermined condition (for example, a decrease in battery capacity). After the conditions are satisfied, the engine is started.

[0003]

In a hybrid electric vehicle, as in a normal engine-driven vehicle, it is assumed that engine start fails for various reasons even though the engine start is commanded. However, in hybrid electric vehicles, the engine starts almost in automatic mode, and the engine mounted on hybrid electric vehicles is designed to be much smaller and quieter than the comparable engine-driven vehicles. It is not easy for the driver to actually sense whether the engine has been completely started or the engine has failed, because of what has been done and the engine starts while the vehicle is running.

However, in a hybrid electric vehicle,
Regardless of the success or failure of the start of the engine, the vehicle itself runs without any problem by the running motor powered by the battery. As a result, in the hybrid electric vehicle, the running of the battery in the above-described engine start malfunction state causes a serious shortage of the battery capacity (for example, over-discharge), a failure in reaching the destination, and an inability to start the engine. There is a possibility that a problem such as a decrease in battery capacity to the level occurs.

Therefore, in the conventional hybrid electric vehicle, it is determined that the start of the engine is completed only when the engine speed reaches a predetermined threshold speed or more, and only after that, power is supplied from the battery to the traveling motor. If the engine speed does not exceed a predetermined threshold value even after a predetermined time has elapsed from the start command, the vehicle is prohibited from running and a warning is issued to cause the above-described problem. (See JP-A-8-98318).

However, according to the above-mentioned prior art, although the above problem is certainly solved, there is a problem that the running is prohibited due to a failure in starting even in cold weather, even though the battery has a sufficient storage capacity. Could occur. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a hybrid electric vehicle that can reduce problems such as insufficient battery charging and running restrictions due to engine start malfunction.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a traveling motor which is powered by at least one of an engine-driven generator, a traveling battery, a generator and a traveling battery to generate traveling power. In the hybrid electric vehicle including the above, if it is estimated that the engine start in the automatic mode has failed, the engine is automatically restarted immediately, immediately after executing a predetermined procedure, or after waiting for a predetermined time. .

In this way, even if a start failure occurs, the engine is restarted without the driver having to worry about the completion of the engine start, so that the electric power required for the engine start is stored in the battery. As long as possible, if the engine start is finally succeeded in re-starting the engine, even if a large amount of power is consumed in the previous engine start, it can be charged quickly and run without any problem Can be maintained, and problems such as the hybrid electric vehicle being unable to travel due to insufficient power storage of the battery during traveling can be prevented.

In particular, since the possibility of engine start failure in the first start in a cold state is higher than in other cases, the usability, that is, the convenience of the hybrid electric vehicle is improved even in such a case. Can be. According to the configuration of the second aspect, in the hybrid electric vehicle of the first aspect, when the number of restarts exceeds a predetermined number (for example, five times), the subsequent restart is prohibited.

In this way, the starting operation is repeatedly performed in spite of the fact that the engine cannot be started due to a serious failure of the engine, leading to a shortage of the battery charge, or a wasteful consumption of a valuable power storage amount. There is no. If a serious failure of the engine-related equipment or the like occurs, and it is considered that restart is impossible and the restart operation is likely to be unsatisfactory, a determination is made and restart prohibition is commanded early. You can also.

The allowable number of restarts can be adjusted according to the starting environment. For example, it is preferable to determine the outside air temperature and increase the allowable number of starts in cold weather more than in other cases. For example, when a predetermined time (for example, several hours) has passed since the first start of the engine or immediately before the start, and the cold At times, it is preferable to increase the allowable number of starts, and it is preferable to reduce the allowable number of starts when the charged amount of the battery is small.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in the hybrid electric vehicle according to the second aspect, when the restart is prohibited, the driver is notified of the prohibition of the restart. In this manner, the driver can determine whether or not it is necessary to perform emergency driving to the nearest repair station or charging station, and the hybrid electric vehicle may be stuck halfway. Absent.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in the hybrid electric vehicle according to the third aspect, when restarting is prohibited, information relating to the running capacity based on the remaining capacity of the running battery is output. In this way, the driver can select the best option among various options in the current emergency of engine start failure.

As the information relating to the traveling capacity based on the remaining capacity of the traveling battery, for example, a possible traveling distance or a possible traveling time is suitable. For example, assuming that the last driving mode is to be continued, the driver is notified that the vehicle can be driven for x km or y hours, so that the driver can go straight to the nearest stand, go to the repair station,
You can decide whether you can call a service technician back home or if you have enough capacity to complete your business.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the hybrid electric vehicle according to the third or fourth aspect, when the restart is prohibited, the driving of the traveling motor is controlled in a predetermined economical traveling mode. In this way, even if the engine cannot be started during running, it is possible to suppress wasteful running that wastes the amount of stored power, so that the running distance can be extended.

In a hybrid electric vehicle, since the battery capacity is relatively small, the function and effect of this configuration are large. However, it is particularly important when the battery charge is small. Note that it is preferable to designate a travel in which rapid acceleration or high-speed travel is suppressed as the economical travel mode. Further, when such economical driving is designated, it is preferable to notify the driver of it.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the hybrid electric vehicle according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the following examples.

[0018]

FIG. 1 shows a hybrid electric vehicle according to a first embodiment.
This will be described below with reference to the block diagram shown in FIG. Configuration 1 is a (power generation) engine, and 2 is a main battery for traveling. Reference numeral 3 denotes a generator, which is mechanically directly connected to the engine 1 and supplies generated power to the main battery 2 via a generator inverter 5. Reference numeral 4 denotes a traveling motor, which converts electric power supplied from the main battery 2 through the traveling inverter 6 into motive power.

7 is an engine and generator speed signal 71
This is a rotational speed detecting means for detecting 0, and includes, for example, means such as a crank angle sensor of an engine and a magnetic pole sensor of a generator. Reference numeral 8 denotes a radiator for cooling the engine, which is connected to the engine 1 so that the refrigerant can circulate. The refrigerant of the radiator 8 can be supplied to the generator 3, the traveling motor 6, and both the inverters 5, 6, and the like.

Reference numeral 9 denotes an engine temperature detecting means for detecting an engine temperature signal 910. In this embodiment, the temperature of the refrigerant is regarded as the engine temperature. Reference numeral 10 denotes a control controller, which controls the power generation inverter 5 and the traveling inverter 6 based on the various sensor signals of the vehicle, such as the input accelerator, brake depression amount, shift position, and the like. Controlling driving.
When various abnormalities of the vehicle are detected, the controller 10 causes the abnormal signal 1011 to be displayed on the meter panel 11 and controls the power generation and traveling inverters 5 and 6 via the control signals 1005 and 1006 when a known abnormality occurs. Control is performed in the control mode.

In this embodiment, the completion of the engine start is determined based on the number of revolutions signal 710 of the engine and the generator. However, the completion of the engine start is determined based on signals from other accessories around the engine, such as an alternator. May be. In the present embodiment, the engine temperature signal 910 is extracted from the temperature of the refrigerant. However, the engine temperature can be estimated from another temperature, for example, the internal temperature of the controller 10 near the engine.

Reference numeral 12 denotes an engine controller, which starts and stops the engine 1 in accordance with a signal 1012 from the controller 10 and calculates an engine output according to the amount of power generation.
The engine 1 is controlled. Operation The engine start determination operation of the hybrid electric vehicle performed by the controller 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

At the same time as the control is started, it is determined whether or not the engine 1 needs to be started based on various data input from various parts of the system (S100). Here, the process waits until the remaining capacity of the battery 2 falls below a predetermined amount and it is determined that the engine 1 needs to be started to charge the battery 2. If it is determined in S100 that the engine needs to be started, the engine is permitted to be started. In this control, however, the total number of times of starting the engine from the start of the engine to the present is limited (S102). If the number does not exceed the preset number of times, the engine start is permitted (S110).

In this embodiment, when the engine cooling water temperature is equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature, the above-mentioned number of times set in S102 is regarded as the initial start in cold weather, and is twice as much as in the normal case. It is increased (S101). In response to this engine start permission command, power is supplied to a starter attached to the engine 1 or a generator motor that is connected to the engine so that power can be transferred, and engine start control processing is performed (S1
12) Increment the number of engine starts (S1)
14).

After the execution of the engine start control subroutine in S112, it is determined whether or not the engine 1 has been started (S116). In the start determination, if the engine speed exceeds the set speed, it is determined that the engine start has been successfully completed, and an engine start completion flag is output (S11).
8) The engine start count is cleared and reset (S119). On the other hand, if it is determined that the engine start could not be completed, the process returns to S102 and a command to start the engine is issued again.

In the present embodiment, the start of the engine is determined based on the number of revolutions signals 710 of the engine and the generator. However, the start of the engine may be determined based on signals from accessories such as an alternator around other engines. good. S1
When returning to 02 and restarting the engine, if the cumulative total number of engine starts exceeds a predetermined number of times, it is regarded as abnormal engine start (S120), and subsequent engine start is prohibited (S121). An abnormality warning is output to the meter panel 11 (S122).

The travelable distance is calculated based on the remaining battery capacity from the battery controller attached to the battery 2 (S123), and the calculated travel distance is blinked on the meter panel 11 (S124). Further, the maximum output value of the motor is determined so that the power consumption of the traveling motor 4 can be suppressed and the remaining battery capacity can be maintained for a little longer time (S125). Is extended (S126), thereby enabling traveling to the nearest repair station.

Next, it is determined whether or not the engine 1 needs to be stopped based on various data input from various parts of the system (S130). Here, when the remaining capacity of the battery 2 becomes equal to or more than a predetermined amount, for example, it is determined that the engine 1 should be stopped, that is, the battery 2 need not be charged. If the engine needs to be stopped, an engine stop command is issued (S132). If unnecessary, the required engine output is calculated from each state, and the engine output is controlled (S134).

According to the above control, even if the engine start fails, the engine can be reliably started while avoiding unnecessarily repeated restart, and the engine can be started under bad conditions such as low temperature in a cold region. Even if the startability is poor, it is possible to avoid problems caused by abnormal engine start. In this embodiment, a series hybrid electric vehicle is used, but the present invention can be similarly applied to a parallel hybrid electric vehicle shown in FIG.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a hybrid electric vehicle according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an engine operation control routine by the controller of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a modification of the hybrid electric vehicle of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is an engine, 2 is a running battery, 3 is a generator, 4 is a running motor, 10 is a controller (engine start determining means, engine restart command means, restart prohibiting means, restart prohibiting informing means, remaining capacity display Means, travel control means),
S116 is an engine start determination unit, S110 is an engine restart instruction unit, S121 is a restart prohibition unit, S122.
Is a restart prohibition notification means, S124 is a remaining capacity display means,
S125 and S126 are running control means.

Claims (5)

[Claims] An engine-driven generator, a running battery,
In a hybrid electric vehicle including a traveling motor that generates traveling power by being supplied with power by at least one of the generator and the traveling battery, after the engine is started manually or automatically, the engine is started. Engine start determining means for determining whether or not the start of the engine has been completed based on a change in related parameters; and an engine restart command for instructing the start of the engine again when it is determined that the start of the engine has failed. And a hybrid electric vehicle. 2. The hybrid electric vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising restart prohibiting means for prohibiting a subsequent restart when the number of restarts exceeds a predetermined number. . 3. The hybrid electric vehicle according to claim 2, further comprising restart prohibition notifying means for notifying a driver of said restart prohibition when said restart is prohibited. Car. 4. The hybrid electric vehicle according to claim 3, further comprising: a remaining capacity display unit that outputs information related to a running capacity based on a remaining capacity of the running battery when the restart is prohibited. Characteristic hybrid electric vehicle. 5. The hybrid electric vehicle according to claim 3, further comprising a driving control unit that controls driving of the driving motor in a predetermined economic driving mode when the restart is prohibited. Hybrid electric vehicle.