SE539601C2 - Procedure and system for limiting idling of a vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for limiting idling of a vehicle (1) with an internal combustion engine (2) and at least one rechargeable battery (4) during the rest or night rest of a single vehicle operator. Battery (4) is adapted to power at least one during the break or night rest power consuming unit (7) and the method comprises step night determining a time when the break or night rest is expected to be interrupted, determining desired amount of charge in the battery (4) at the time when the break or night rest is expected to be interrupted (4) available amount of charge at the time when the break or night rest is expected to be interrupted, compare available amount of charge with desired amount of charge and stop idling when available amount of charge is greater than or equal to desired amount of charge. (Fig. 4)

Description

The present invention relates to a method for limiting idling of a vehicle. The invention also relates to a system and a vehicle in which the system is utilized as well as a computer program and a computer program product which implement the method according to the invention.

BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART An electric starter motor can be used to start an internal combustion engine in a single vehicle. The starter motor can be powered by one or more rechargeable batteries which are charged by a generator powered by the motor. On motor vehicles, there are also additional power consumers which, during operation of the vehicle, are supplied with power by the generator and / or the battery and which, when the engine is switched off, are supplied with power only by the battery. When the engine is switched off and the power in the battery is used for e.g. lighting or for heating / cooling of a cab or similar or for driving. a TV or a refrigerator there is a risk that the charge in the battery is consumed to such an extent that the remaining charge is not enough to start the engine. The risk can be particularly great if the vehicle is used in such a way that the battery charge level is low when the engine is turned off .

In order not to risk the battery being discharged and making it impossible or difficult to start the engine, it is common for the engine to be allowed to idle during vehicle operator's breaks and / or night rest in the cab. This is not good for the environment and has a negative effect on comfort and fuel economy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to avoid unnecessary idling and another object is to ensure that there is sufficient charge in a vehicle battery so that it is possible to start the vehicle even though the operator has used one or more power consumers during his break or night rest when the engine is switched off. These and other objects are achieved by the features set forth in the appended claims.

A vehicle battery contains a certain charge, ie. a certain number of ampere hours. If it turns out that the electrical equipment that will be used when the engine is shut off requires more charge than is available in the battery, the vehicle is allowed to idle after an operator decision to generate the charge that is missing a certain excess. When the battery contains sufficient charge for it to be possible to operate the electrical equipment and also start the engine after the break or night rest, the engine is switched off. This means that the engine does not have to idle to charge the battery longer than necessary.

In one embodiment, data from a communication means may be used to determine a time when the break or night rest is expected to be interrupted. The data from the communication body may be an indication of how long a break or night rest is expected to last or a time when a break or night rest is expected to be interrupted. The task can in one embodiment be supplied by the operator via an input means. In this way, the operator can determine the length of the break or night rest at the same time as the battery interferes with being discharged on charge so that it is not possible to start the engine after the break or night rest. In another embodiment, the data may consist of data on driving and rest times registered by a tachograph, which makes it easier to comply with EU regulations regarding driving and rest times.

In one embodiment, information on how long an estimated idling operation must last for the desired amount of charge to be achieved can be presented to the operator via a presentation means. The information can be audible or visualized in an appropriate way, e.g. by setting a time or in the form of an electronic timer which counts down the calculated idle running time towards 0. When the presentation unit indicates that the charge amount is sufficient, ie. when the time is reached or when the remaining idling time is zero, the engine is stopped, either manually by the operator or automatically e.g. with a signal from the engine control unit. As a result, the engine does not have to idle to charge the battery longer than necessary.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the claims, the description of exemplary embodiments and the accompanying figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the following, embodiments of the invention are described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 schematically shows a vehicle with a battery.

Fig. 2 schematically shows a control unit in a control system for vehicles.

Fig. 3 shows a graph illustrating an example where the number of available ampere hours in a battery varies with time.

Fig. 4 schematically shows a flow chart for an embodiment of a method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION Fig. 1 schematically shows a vehicle 1 driven by an internal combustion engine 2. The vehicle 1 is advantageously a heavy vehicle, e.g. a truck or a bus and the internal combustion engine2 can be a diesel engine or an Otto engine. In alternative embodiments, the vehicle may be a motorhome or a boat. The internal combustion engine 2 can be adapted to be controlled by a control system included in the vehicle 1 via at least one engine control unit 3.

The vehicle 1 comprises a power source in the form of one or two rechargeable battery batteries 4 included in a 12-volt or 24-volt DC electrical system. The battery 4 is charged during operation of the vehicle 1 with an electric generator 5 and is adapted to supply power to a starter motor 6 and at least one additional power consumer 7. The battery 4 is furthermore adapted to constitute a buffer storage for current which can be consumed when the motor 2 is off or when the generator 5 is in operation. of the engine 2 alone is not able to maintain a balance between generated power and consumed power in the vehicle's electrical system. Said additional power consumer 7 can e.g. be control system, control of the vehicle's l different functions, lighting, climate system for heating or cooling of a vehicle cab 8 or similar, TV, radio, refrigerator and coffee maker etc. which may need to be used when the engine 2 is switched off.

The capacity of the battery 4 is normally stated in ampere hours (Ah) and its amount of charge can be described as the current that can be taken out of the battery 4 for a certain time, ie. the remaining removable number of ampere hours. The rated capacity of the battery 4 is not always available because it depends on several different parameters such as load current, temperature and charging sequence. This means that the removable capacity can be lower than the theoretical rated capacity of the battery 4.

The currently available amount of charge of the battery 4 and current power consumption can be determined using data from a battery sensor 9 which can be of conventional type and measure current, voltage and temperature as well as calculate at least available charge and possibly also the health condition of the battery 4 and its ability to power starter 6 for successful start . The battery sensor 9 can be connected to a control unit 10 in which the current can be determined by t.eX.Ohm's law and in which the remaining operating time of the battery 4 can be determined by means of avt.eX. J oule's law and knowledge of the number of available ampere hours in the battery 4. Current power consumption refers to the current power consumption.

The control unit 10 may be adapted to determine an expected power consumption before the period of rest or night rest. The expected power consumption can be determined, for example, by starting from the current power consumption and data on the length of the period and determining the expected power consumption by eXtrapolation. The expected power consumption can form the basis for determining a desired amount of charge in the battery 4, ie. an amount of charge that should be available at the time when the break or night rest is expected to be interrupted in order to be able to start the vehicle 1. The control unit 10 may also be adapted to calculate the available charge amount of the battery at the time when the break or night rest is expected to be interrupted. The calculation can be based on the currently available charge amount, and eXtrapolation with expected power consumption. The control unit 10 can also be adapted to compare the desired amount of charge with the amount of charge available.

The control unit 10 may be connected to at least one display means 11 for presenting information to a vehicle operator and to at least one communication means 15 for transmitting operator-related information to the control unit 10. The display means 11 may be adapted to display some form of battery status for the operator, e.g. data on the current charge amount or data showing how long the battery 4 must be charged for the charge amount to reach a desired level. The display means 11 may comprise a digital display or consist of a pointer or similar indicating device and / or be adapted to emit, for example, an audio or light signal and may advantageously be placed at an instrument panel in the cab 8 or in another suitable place.

The communication means 15 may comprise an input means 13 and / or a one-way printer 12. The input means 13 may be adapted to transmit information from the driver to the control unit 10. Such information may comprise information which influences idling of the motor 2, e.g. information about a time when a rest or a night rest is expected to be interrupted. The information can be a time or an indication of how long a break or night's rest is expected to last. The input means 13 may comprise a touch screen with an integrated virtual keyboard, a separate keyboard or a computer nozzle or some other conventional input device and may be located at the instrument panel in the cab 8 or in another suitable place. In an advantageous embodiment, the touch screen of the input means 13 and the screen of the display means 11 can be one and the same unit and be part of a vehicle computer. In an alternative embodiment, the input means 13 may consist of a separate unit 13a which is adapted to communicate wirelessly with the control unit 10.

The separate unit 13a can e.g. be a mobile phone or a tablet.

The tachograph 12, which can be digital, must by law be found on certain heavy trucks and buses in commercial traffic in order to continuously record speed and driving and rest times. According to EU regulations, a driver may not drive for more than 4 hours and 30 minutes without a break. He must then take a break of at least 45 minutes before a new driving session of a maximum of 4 hours and 30 minutes can begin. This meant that the maximum permitted driving time is 9 hours per day except two days a week when the maximum permitted driving time is 10 hours. This rule exists for safety reasons so that the driver does not become too tired and a danger in traffic and is also given the opportunity for acceptable working conditions. In an advantageous embodiment, the driving and rest times registered by the travel disc 12 can be used to influence e.g. idling the engine 2, e.g. by forming a basis for calculating a time when the break or night rest is expected to begin and / or be interrupted if the rules for driving and rest times are to be observed.

The vehicle 1 shown in Fig. 1 comprises a control system for controlling the various functions of the vehicle. The control system consists of a communication bus system consisting of or your communication buses which connect a number of electronic control units (ECU) or controllers and different components on the vehicle 1. The control units communicate with different sensors and actuators and read continuous signals from these and are connected to each other in such a way that they can act as sensors and actuators for each other. The control system can thus comprise a large number of control units and the responsibility for a specific function can be divided into more than one control unit. For the sake of simplicity, only two control units 3,10 are shown in Fig. 1, but in practice the number of control units can be substantially larger than what is shown. The invention can be adapted to be carried out by any suitable control unit in the control system, e.g. by the motor control unit 3 or by the control unit 10. The invention can also be adapted to be carried out by a control unit dedicated to the task or by a combination of different control units.

The control of the various functions of the vehicle is performed by programmed instructions which consist of computer programs which when executed in a control unit cause the control unit to perform the desired control such as e.g. The computer program forms part of a computer program product in which the computer program product comprises an appropriate digital storage medium which may include a volatile and / or non-volatile memory on which the computer program is stored. The storage medium 21 shown in Fig. 2 can e.g. consists of someone from the group ROM (Read-OnlyMemory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable PROM), Flash memory, EEPROM (Electrically Erasable PROM), a hard disk drive etc. and be arranged in or in connection with the control unit , whereby the computer programs are executed by the control unit. By following the programmed instructions, the behavior of the vehicle in a specific situation can thus be adapted.

Fig. 2 shows as an example that the control unit 10 may comprise a calculation unit 20 which may be of any suitable type of processor or microcomputer, e.g. a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) or an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). The computing unit 20 is connected to the storage medium 21 which can provide the computing unit 20 with the stored program code and / or the stored data computing unit 20 for to be able to perform calculations. The calculation unit 20 may also be arranged to store partial or final results of calculations on the storage medium 21.

The control unit 10 comprises devices 22,23,24 for receiving input signals and devices 25,26 for transmitting output signals which input and output signals may contain waveforms, pulses or other attributes. The input signals are detected by the devices 22,23,24 as information for processing the calculation unit 20. The devices 25,26 for transmitting output signals are adapted to convert calculation results from the calculation unit 20 into output signals for transmission to other parts of the vehicle control system and / or to the component or components for which the signals are intended.

Each of the connections to the devices 22,23,24 for receiving input signals and the devices 25,26 for transmitting output signals may consist of one or more of a single cable, a data bus such as a CAN bus (Controller Area Network bus), a MOST bus (Media Oriented Systems Transport) or any other bus configuration or wireless connection.

The function of the control unit 10 or the function of the control unit (s) in which the invention is implemented may depend on signals from different sensors or output signals from one or other control units. Data on the status of the battery 4 can be obtained, for example, by signals 29 from the battery sensor 9 or from one or two other control units in the control system of the vehicle. Data representing information from the vehicle operator can be obtained e.g. by signals 27 from the input means 13 and data on driving and rest times can be obtained e.g. through signals 28 the exit printer l2. The control unit 10 in which the invention may be implemented may furthermore be adapted to send output signals 31 to the presentation unit 11 in order to display battery status and to send output signals 30 to e.g. motor control unit 3 to stop the motor 2.

When the vehicle operator has started the engine 2 shown in Fig. 1 before or during a night rest to charge the battery 4, the control unit 10 can, with the aid of data from the communication means 15 and the battery sensor 9, calculate how long one-way driving must last to supply the battery 4 with a desired charge. large enough to cope with the expected power consumption during breaks or night rest and in addition to supply the starter motor 6 with enough power to start the motor 2. If it turns out that the battery 4 already contains a sufficient amount of large charge, idling can be stopped immediately. In an alternative embodiment, the control unit 10 may be adapted to calculate how the long-distance travel must take place, without the engine 2 being started. If it then turns out that the charge amount is too low, the operator can start the engine 2 and let it idle until the charge amount is large enough.

Data from the communication means 15 may be an indication of how long a break or night rest is expected to last or a time when a break or night rest is expected to be interrupted. The information may be supplied by the operator via the input means 13 or consist of driving and rest times recorded by the tachograph l2.

Information on how long an estimated idle run must last for the desired amount of charge to be achieved can be presented to the operator via the presentation body11. The information can be visualized in an appropriate way, e.g. by a clock stroke or in the form of an electronic timer which counts down the calculated bypass running time towards 0. When the presentation unit ll indicates the amount of charge is sufficient, ie. when the time is reached or when the remaining travel time is zero, the engine 2 is stopped, either manually by the operator or automatically, e.g. with a signal from the control unit 10 or a signal from the engine control unit 3 or from a signal from another control unit in the vehicle control system. As a result, the motor 2 does not have to idle to charge the battery 4 longer than necessary.

In an alternative embodiment, the poisons registered in the tachograph 12 can be used for overtaking and rest times to inform the operator during driving how the longitudinal motor 2 can be switched off during the next break so that the available charging amount is too small for the engine to be started. This information can also be presented to the operator via the presentation means 11.

Figure 3 shows a graph whose X-aXel shows time and whose y-aXel shows the amount of charge, ie the remaining removable number of ampere hours (Ah). A charge amount curve junk in this example from a first charge amount Ahl at time t1 to a second charge amount Ah2 at time t2. If the battery discharge is allowed to continue, the battery discharge is at time t4, which in this example is during the operator's night rest l7. To avoid the battery being discharged during night rest, the operator starts the engine at time t2 according to what was previously known and lets it idle until night rest l7 is over. When the engine is idling, the battery is charged and at time t6 the charge amount is Ah6 which can be a fully charged battery.

To avoid unnecessarily long idling according to the invention, the operator engine starts at time t2. At time t3, the charge amount is Ah3 and the display means that the battery is sufficiently charged. The engine is then stopped by means of a shut-off means 18 (Fig. 1) which may comprise a manually actuated bar button by the operator or an ignition key or an article adapted to receive an engine shut-off signal 30 from the engine control unit 3. When the engine is stopped the charge charge curve drops to a charge amount Ah5 at l7 is completed, which charge amount Ah5 is sufficient to start the engine.

Fig. 4 shows a fate diagram of a method for limiting idle running. According to one embodiment, the method comprises a first step 35. In this step the time is determined when the break or night rest is expected to be interrupted. In a second step 36 the desired amount of charge in the battery (4) is determined at the time when the break or night rest is expected to be interrupted and in a third step 37 the available charge amount of the battery (4) is calculated at the time when the break or night rest is expected to be interrupted. In a fourth step 38, the available charge amount is compared with the desired charge amount. If in a fifth step 39 it turns out that the available charge amount is greater than or equal to the desired charge amount, the idle run is stopped in a sixth step 40. If, on the other hand, it turns out that the available charge amount is less than the desired charge amount, the available battery charge (4) is calculated again. night rest is expected to be interrupted, etc.

The invention is not limited to the described embodiments, but a number of possibilities for modifications thereof are obvious to the person skilled in the art without him for that reason deviating from the basic idea of the invention as defined in the patent claims. For example, the invention can be used in dual battery systems with a starter battery primarily used to power the starter motor and desystems necessary to start the engine and a power battery used to power the power consumers used when the engine is turned off.

Claims (20)

A method for limiting idling of a vehicle (1) with an internal combustion engine (2) and at least one rechargeable battery (4) during a vehicle operator's break or night rest, which battery (4) is adapted to supply power to at least one during the break or night rest. unit (7), characterized by the steps of: - determining a time when the break or night rest is expected to be interrupted, - determining the desired amount of charge in the battery (4) at the time when the break or night rest is expected to be interrupted, - determining expected power consumption during the break or night rest, - calculate available amount of charge in the battery (4) at the time when the break or night rest is expected to be interrupted, - compare available amount of charge with desired amount of charge - stop idling when available amount of charge is greater than or equal to the desired amount of charge. Method according to claim 1, characterized by the step of calculating the amount of available charge at the time when the break or night rest is expected to be interrupted by using data on currently available amount of charge and expected current consumption. Method according to claim 1, characterized by the step of determining the desired amount of charge by utilizing data on current power consumption and on the length of the rest or rest period. Method according to claim 3, characterized by the step of calculating current power consumption by utilizing data from a battery sensor (9). Method according to claim 1, characterized by the step of determining a time when the break or night rest is expected to be interrupted by utilizing data from a communication means (15). Method according to claim 5, characterized by the step of determining a time when the rest or night rest is expected to be interrupted by using data from an input means (13, 13a) which is included in the communication means (15). Method according to claim 5, characterized by the step of determining a time when the rest or night rest is expected to be interrupted by using data from a tachograph (12) included in the communication means (15). Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by the step of presenting on a presentation means (11) information on how long the idling run is expected to last in order for the desired amount of charge to be achieved. Method according to claim 8, characterized by the step that the vehicle operator stops the idling operation manually when the desired charge amount has been reached. Method according to claim 8, characterized by the step that signals (30) from a motor control unit (3) stop the idling operation when the desired amount of charge has been reached. Computer program comprising program code which when the program code is executed in a computer causes the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-10. A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium and a computer program according to claim 11, wherein the computer program is included in the computer readable medium. A system for limiting idling of a vehicle (1) with an internal combustion engine (2) and at least one rechargeable battery (4) during a vehicle operator's break or night rest, which battery (4) is adapted to supply power to at least one during the break or night rest unit (7), characterized in that the system comprises: - communication means (15) for determining a time when the break or night rest is expected to be interrupted, - control unit (10) for determining the desired amount of charge in the battery (4) at the time the break or night rest is expected to be interrupted, - control unit (10) for determining the expected power consumption during the break or night rest, - control unit (10) for calculating the available charge amount of the battery (4) at the time the dormant or night rest is expected to be interrupted, - control unit (10) for comparing available charge amount with desired charge amount , - shut-off means (18) for stopping idling when the available charge is greater than or equal to the desired charge amount. System according to claim 13, characterized in that the system comprises a presentation means (11) on which information is presented on how long the idle run is expected to last in order for the desired amount of charge to be achieved. System according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that the shut-off means (18) is a manually operable button or ignition key. System according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that the shut-off means (18) is adapted to receive a motor shut-off signal (30) from a motor control unit (3). System according to claim 13, characterized in that the communication means (15) comprises an input means (13, 13a). System according to claim 13, characterized in that the communication means (15) comprises a tachograph (12). System according to one of t, claims ___ É_3__¿__§: _§_, characterized in that the battery (4) J.-. 1., __, amount of charge and power consumption are determined using data from a battery sensor (9). Vehicle, characterized in that it comprises a system according to claim 13.