ACCELERATOR CONTROL SYSTEM OF ELECTRIC BICYCLE
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to an accelerator control system of an electric bicycle, and more particularly, to an accelerator control system of an electric bicycle for efficiently controlling the supply of an electric power to a motor of an electric bicycle when driving the motor and accelerating the electric bicycle over a predetermined rate.
BACKGROUND ART
Generally, an electric bicycle is a bicycle driven by electricity to move wheels, and it is favorite one by especially those who cannot drive a normal bicycle for themselves, such as the old or the disabled. In addition, even a normal healthy person often uses such an electric bicycle when moving middle and long distances or mounting a heavy load on the bicycle. Furthermore, since the power source of the electric bicycle is electricity, the electric bicycle is environment-friendly, and preferable transportation means in the aspect of consumption saving of natural resources. The electric bicycle is driven in such a manner that an electric power is applied from battery as power source through a control part to a motor as driving source, and the rotation force of the motor is transmitted to a driving axis of the electric bicycle to start driving of the bicycle, in which a driver of the bicycle could vary the speed of the electric bicycle during the driving according to various driving conditions. In the meantime, an accelerating control signal of an accelerating lever is output to a control part in order to increase the speed of the electric bicycle, and
accordingly, the control part drives power FET, power transistor, IGBT by the accelerating/decelerating control signal to control the motor by a PWM manner control signal. However, the power FET, power transistor, IGBT or the like for receiving the accelerating/decelerating control signal of the control part cause problems of increasing the volume of an accelerator control device by a heat radiation piece due to the heat generated from the power FET, power transistor, IGBT or the like, and decreasing the efficiency of power supply, as well as functioning as unnecessary load to prevent from maximumably receiving the supplied electric power from the battery mounted on the electric bicycle in the case of accelerating the electric bicycle over a predetermined rate.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an accelerator control system of an electric bicycle that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
An object of the present invention is to provide an accelerator control system of an electric bicycle for efficiently supplying electric power for driving a motor of the electric bicycle in the case of accelerating the electric bicycle over a predetermined rate, so as to facilitate the optimized maximum power output of the electric bicycle.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an accelerator control system of an electric bicycle for reducing production cost and improving the reliability of products and power consumption efficiency of battery by preventing the heat generation according to the accelerating/decelerating control and decreasing the volume of the accelerator control system due to a heat radiation piece.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the
5 invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims thereof as well as the appended drawings.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, an accelerator control system of an electric bicycle having a motor installed therein may include: a control
L0 part 50 for receiving accelerating and brake signals of the electric bicycle, and outputting a control signal controlling the entire electric bicycle; an accelerator 10 for accelerating the driving of the motor 40 mounted on the electric bicycle; a comparing part 20 for detecting whether the accelerating power output of the accelerator 10 continues over a predetermined time at the maximum power output, or not; and a
L5 motor driving part 70 for supplying the battery power of the electric bicycle to the motor 40 in series in the case that the accelerating power of the accelerator 10 is output over a predetermined rate, and for supplying the battery power to the motor 40 by a control signal of the control part 50 in the case that the accelerating power of the accelerator 10 is output below a predetermined rate.
20 The accelerator control system preferably may further include a brake driving part 60 for outputting a brake signal such that the control part 50 receives the brake signal and outputs a control signal in order to control the driving of the motor 40 in the case that the power of the accelerator 10 is output over a predetermined rate and the battery power of the electric bicycle is supplied to the motor 40 in series to drive the
25 motor 40 at the maximum power output. The comparing part is characterized to include a comparator 25 for receiving the power output of the accelerator 10 as
noninverting terminal (+), and receiving a predetermined reference voltage as inverting terminal (-) to detect whether the power of the accelerator 10 is output over a predetermined rate; and a time delay part 30 for outputting a signal to the motor driving part 70 when the power output of the accelerator 10 continues for a predetermined time for a compare signal of the comparator 25. The motor driving part may include: a motor 40 connected to the electric power of batteries VDD, -VDD; a diode D connected to the motor 40 in parallel, for resupplying the lost backward current to the motor 40; a transistor Q for receiving a control signal of the control part 50 at a base terminal, and supplying electric power with connected to one end of the motor 40 and the electric power of battery -VDD; and a relay Ry connected to the input end of the diode D and the collector end of the transistor Q at one end, and connected to the electric power of battery -VDD at the other end, and being controlled by the output of the time delay part 30. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an accelerator control system of an electric bicycle of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a schematic circuit diagram of the accelerator control system of an electric bicycle of the present invention;
Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the accelerator control system 5 mounted on an electric bicycle according to one embodiment of the present invention; and
Fig. 4 is a view of the accelerator control system mounted on an electric bicycle and illustrating the usage state according to one embodiment of the present invention. L0 DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS IN THE DRAWINGS>
10: accelerator 20: comparing part
25: comparator 30: time delay part
40: motor 50: control part
60: brake driving part 70: motor driving part
L5 VR: variable resistor D: diode
Q: transistor Ry: relay
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the 0 present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an accelerator control system of an electric bicycle of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a schematic circuit diagram of the accelerator control system of an electric bicycle of the present invention.
Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the accelerator control system of an electric bicycle 25 may include a control part 50 for receiving accelerating/decelerating and brake signals, and controlling the entire electric bicycle; an accelerator 10 for accelerating
the driving of a motor 40 mounted on the electric bicycle; a comparing part 20 for detecting whether the accelerating power output of the accelerator 10 continues over a predetermined time at its peak power; a relay RY for supplying a battery power of the electric bicycle to the motor 40 in series in the case that the peak power of the accelerator 10 continues over a predetermined time; and a motor driving part 70 for supplying the power to the motor 40 by a control signal of the control part 50 in the case that the accelerating power output of the accelerator 10 is below a predetermined rate. In addition, in the case that the power output of the accelerator 10 is continuous over a predetermined time at its peak power, the battery electric power of the electric bicycle is supplied to the motor 40 in series without passing through the control part 50, and the accelerator control system of the present invention may further include a brake driving part 60 for outputting a brake signal such that the control part 50 receives the brake signal and then, outputs a control signal to control the driving of the motor 40 by the control signal in the case that the accelerator 10 is driven with its maximum power output.
In addition, the accelerator 10, being comprised of a variable resistor VR, outputs the accelerating degrees by high-and-low of the operating voltage, and the comparing part 20 compares the output voltage of the accelerator 10 with a predetermined reference voltage by its comparator 25. Therefore, it outputs the result through a time delay part 30 if continues for a predetermined time for a compare signal.
The motor driving part 70 is configured to include the motor 40 being connected to electric power sources of batteries VDD, -VDD; a diode D being connected to the motor 40 in parallel, for resupplying the lost backward current to the
motor 40; a transistor Q for receiving a PWM manner control signal from the control part 50 by its base terminal, and being connected to one end of the motor 40 and the electric power source of battery -VDD, for supplying power source; and a relay Ry connected to the input end of the diode D and the collector end of the transistor Q at its one end, and connected to the electric power source -VDD at its the other end, and being controlled by the output of the time delay part 30.
It is preferable that the transistor Q be comprised of power FET, or it may be comprised of power transistor, IGBT or the like, which is apparent to those in this field. Therefore, if the power output of the accelerator 10 is below a predetermined rate, the motor 40 is driven by the control signal of the control part 50, but if the power output of the accelerator 10 is over a predetermined rate by the comparison of the comparing part 20, the battery power of the electric bicycle is supplied to the motor 40 in series to drive the motor 40 at peak power. While the motor 40 is driven at the above peak power, if the brake signal is received from the brake driving part 60, the motor 40 is structured to be capable of driven again by the control of the control part
50.
That is, in the case of accelerating the electric bicycle over a predetermined rate, to remove the power loss generated by the electric power applied to the control part 50, the maximum electric power is supplied to the load M through the relay Ry so that the motor 40 outputs the maximum electric power by sensing the continuous time. Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the accelerator control system mounted on an electric bicycle according to one embodiment of the present invention. The present invention structured as above includes, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, an accelerating lever body 200 being fixedly installed on one end of a handle 100 of an electric bicycle to be fit into the outer circumference; a lever 11 being provided
under the accelerating lever body 200, for accelerating/decelerating the speed of the electric bicycle by a predetermined operational force; a plurality of LED lamps 14 provided on the upper side of the accelerating lever body 200, for displaying the remaining amount of battery; a tail-light switch 15 provided on one side of the accelerating lever body 200, for switching a tail-light at night; and a fixing hole 21 for compressing/fixing the accelerating lever body 200 to the handle 100.
That is, if accelerating the electric bicycle by operating the accelerating lever 11, the comparing part 20 detects an accelerating signal, and operates the relay Ry to supply electric power of batteries VDD, -VDD to the motor M in series.
If describing the operation and effect of the present invention in more detail in reference to Figs. 1 to 4, in the case of accelerating the electric bicycle over a predetermined rate by operating the accelerating lever 13, for example, when the controlled electric power of the accelerator 10 is 5V, and the reference voltage of the comparing part 20 is 4.5 V, the reference voltage is input into an inverting terminal (-), and the power output of the accelerator 10 is input into a noninverting terminal (+). When continuing the power output for a determined time by accelerating the overall power output over 90%, the comparing part 20 outputs a high signal to the time delay part 30. In several seconds, preferably 0.5-2 seconds in the time delay part 30, by turning on the relay Ry, the electric power of batteries VDD, -VDD is supplied to the motor 40 in series regardless of a control signal of the control part 50. That is, by maximizing the electric power of batteries VDD, -VDD to drive the motor 40, the maximum electric power is output. After that, if an output signal below 90% the maximum power is output from the accelerator 10 through the comparator 25, a low signal is output from the
comparator 25. The time delay part 30 receiving the output signal turns off the relay Ry to control the driving of the motor 40 through the transistor Q receiving a control signal of the control part 50. 5 In addition, even if the relay Ry is turned on by the time delay part 30, if a brake signal is input by the brake driving part 60, the relay Ry is turned off and the motor 40 can be controlled by the control part 50.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
L0 As described above, according to the present invention, the electric power for driving a motor of an electric bicycle is efficiently supplied to the motor in the case that the electric bicycle is accelerated over a predetermined rate in order to generate optimized power output. In addition, the present invention provides effects of reducing the volume of the accelerator control system by a heat radiation piece by
L5 preventing the heat generation due to the accelerator control and the production cost, and of improving the reliability of products.
While the present invention has been described and illustrated herein with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made therein without >o departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention that come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.