Internal power supply structure of motor controller, electric vehicle and power supply method

Abstract

The present invention provides an internal power supply architecture of a motor controller, an electric vehicle and a power supply method, wherein the power supply architecture includes a main power supply, an upper bridge drive module, a lower bridge drive module and a backup power supply, and the power supply architecture also includes: a boost module connected between the main power supply and the upper bridge drive module and the lower bridge drive module; a fuse module connected between the boost module and the lower bridge drive module, monitoring the connection state of the second connection circuit, and cutting off the second connection circuit when the second connection circuit is short-circuited; a control module connected to the boost module, monitoring the connection state of the first connection circuit, and controlling the backup power supply to work when the main power supply fails or the first connection circuit is short-circuited; and the backup power supply is connected to the lower bridge drive module via a third connection circuit to supply power to the lower bridge drive module. A low-cost architecture is used to decouple the upper and lower bridge drive modules, and its output power is minimized when the backup power supply is required to work.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of motor controllers, and in particular to an internal power supply architecture of a motor controller, an electric vehicle and a power supply method. Background Art

[0002] With the increasing application of new energy vehicles, especially electric vehicles, the safety requirements for electric vehicles are becoming higher and higher. When a power failure suddenly occurs during the normal operation of an electric vehicle, the system will suddenly shut down, causing the motor torque and speed to lose control. The electric vehicle will suddenly lose power, posing a serious safety hazard to the driver.

[0003] To solve the above problems, some manufacturers provide backup power supplies in motor controllers to replace the original power supply in a short period of time. However, in the current design, the output load of the backup power supply is too high, making it impossible for the backup power supply to play an emergency role for a long time. In addition, the existing design does not meet the functional safety requirements. If some components of the subsequent power supply are short-circuited, it can directly cause the entire low-voltage power supply system to have no power, and the system cannot enter a safe state.

[0004] Therefore, a new power supply architecture is needed with an optimal redundant power supply design solution. Summary of the invention

[0005] In order to overcome the above technical defects, the purpose of the present invention is to provide an internal power supply architecture of a motor controller, which uses a low-cost structure to decouple the upper and lower bridge drive modules, and minimizes its output power when a backup power supply is required.

[0006] The present invention discloses an internal power supply architecture of a motor controller, comprising a main power supply, an upper bridge driving module connected to the main power supply via a first connection circuit, a lower bridge driving module connected to the main power supply via a second connection circuit, and a backup power supply, the internal power supply architecture further comprising:

[0007] A boost module is connected between the main power supply and the upper bridge drive module and the lower bridge drive module;

[0008] A fuse module is connected between the boost module and the lower bridge drive module, monitors the connection state of the second connection circuit, and cuts off the second connection circuit when the second connection circuit is short-circuited;

[0009] A control module is connected to the boost module, monitors the connection status of the first connection circuit, and controls the backup power supply to operate when the main power supply fails or the first connection circuit is short-circuited;

[0010] The backup power supply is connected to the lower bridge driving module via the third connecting circuit to supply power to the lower bridge driving module.

[0011] Preferably, the power supply architecture further includes:

[0012] A first diode is arranged on the second connection circuit, the positive electrode is connected to the fuse module, and the negative electrode is connected to the lower bridge drive module and the third connection circuit;

[0013] A current threshold is provided in the fuse module, and when the second connection circuit is short-circuited, the current flowing through the second connection circuit is greater than or equal to the current threshold;

[0014] The IGBT chip in the upper bridge driver module is turned on, so that the upper bridge driver module enters a safe state.

[0015] Preferably, the power supply architecture further includes:

[0016] A second diode is provided on the third connection circuit, the positive electrode is connected to the backup power supply, and the negative electrode is connected to the lower bridge driving module;

[0017] The control module is connected to a backup power supply. When the main power supply fails or the first connection circuit is short-circuited, the backup power supply supplies power to the control module.

[0018] Preferably, when the main power fails or the first connection circuit is short-circuited, the control module controls the IGBT chip in the lower bridge driving module to turn on, so that the lower bridge driving module enters a safe state.

[0019] Preferably, the power supply architecture further includes:

[0020] Micro control unit;

[0021] The monitoring chip SBC is connected to the main power supply, the micro control unit and the control module respectively, monitors the working state of the main power supply, sends the working state of the main power supply to the control module, and supplies power to the micro control unit;

[0022] The upper bridge driving module includes an upper bridge driving chip and an upper bridge driving power supply connected in parallel;

[0023] The lower bridge driving module includes a lower bridge driving chip and a lower bridge driving power supply connected in parallel.

[0024] Preferably, the backup power supply is externally connected to a high-voltage power supply, and the output voltage of the high-voltage power supply is 50V-900V;

[0025] The output power of the backup power supply is 6W-10W.

[0026] The present invention also discloses an electric vehicle, including a motor controller, wherein the motor controller is provided with the power supply architecture as described above.

[0027] The present invention also discloses a power supply method for a motor controller, comprising the following steps:

[0028] The upper bridge drive in the motor controller is connected to the main power supply via the first connection circuit, the lower bridge drive module is connected to the main power supply via the second connection circuit, and is connected to the backup power supply via the third connection circuit;

[0029] A boost module is connected between the main power supply and the upper bridge drive module and the lower bridge drive module, a fuse module is connected between the boost module and the lower bridge drive module, and the fuse module monitors the connection state of the second connection circuit;

[0030] When the second connection circuit is short-circuited, cutting off the second connection circuit;

[0031] When the main power supply fails or the first connection circuit is short-circuited, the control module connected to the boost module controls the backup power supply to operate and supply power to the lower bridge drive module.

[0032] Compared with the prior art, the above technical solution has the following beneficial effects:

[0033] 1. The backup power supply only supplies power to the lower bridge driver module, and the output power is reduced;

[0034] 2. The design solution has extremely low cost, strong applicability, and meets functional safety requirements. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0035] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of a power supply architecture of a motor controller in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] The advantages of the present invention are further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0037] Exemplary embodiments will be described in detail herein, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the drawings, the same numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements unless otherwise indicated. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments consistent with the present disclosure. Instead, they are merely examples of devices and methods consistent with some aspects of the present disclosure as detailed in the appended claims.

[0038] The terms used in this disclosure are for the purpose of describing specific embodiments only and are not intended to limit the disclosure. The singular forms of "a", "said" and "the" used in this disclosure and the appended claims are also intended to include plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the term "and / or" used herein refers to and includes any or all possible combinations of one or more associated listed items.

[0039] It should be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used in the present disclosure to describe various information, such information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish the same type of information from each other. For example, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, the first information may also be referred to as the second information, and similarly, the second information may also be referred to as the first information. Depending on the context, the word "if" as used herein may be interpreted as "at the time of" or "when" or "in response to determining".

[0040] In the description of the present invention, it is necessary to understand that the terms "longitudinal", "lateral", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", etc., indicating the orientation or position relationship, are based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present invention.

[0041] In the description of the present invention, unless otherwise specified and limited, it should be noted that the terms "installed", "connected" and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection, or it can be the internal connection between two components. It can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0042] In the following description, the suffixes such as "module", "component" or "unit" used to represent elements are only used to facilitate the description of the present invention, and have no specific meanings. Therefore, "module" and "component" can be used interchangeably.

[0043] See also Figure 1 , is a schematic diagram of the structure of the internal power supply architecture of the motor controller in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the power supply architecture includes:

[0044] - Main power supply

[0045] The main power supply, such as KL30, is the ECU power supply connected to the vehicle battery. KL30 is the positive pole of the low-voltage battery on the entire electric vehicle. As long as the battery connection is not disconnected, KL30 will always have power. Conversely, if there is a fault in the connection, the main power supply will lose power.

[0046] -Upper bridge drive module and lower bridge drive module

[0047] The upper bridge driving module and the lower bridge driving module together form a driving module of the motor controller, which are connected to the main power supply via the first connection circuit and the second connection circuit respectively, and the main power supply supplies power to the upper bridge driving module and the lower bridge driving module.

[0048] - Backup power supply

[0049] When the power supply architecture of the motor controller fails, the backup power supply will work and is connected to the lower bridge driver module through the third connection circuit.

[0050] -Boost module

[0051] The boost module, such as the Buck-boost circuit, is connected between the main power supply and the upper bridge driver module and the lower bridge driver module to boost the low voltage provided by KL30 to a voltage value, such as 15V, at which the upper bridge driver module and the lower bridge driver module can work normally.

[0052] -Fuse module

[0053] A fuse module is also provided between the boost module and the lower bridge driver module to monitor the second connection circuit, that is, the connection status of the lower bridge driver module. When the second connection circuit is short-circuited, for example, the second connection circuit is adhered, the fuse module will serve as a safety measure execution unit to cut off the second connection circuit, so that the main power supply cannot supply power to the lower bridge driver module, but the first connection circuit is still connected normally, so that the main power supply can supply power to the upper bridge driver module.

[0054] -Control Module

[0055] The control module is connected to the boost module to monitor the connection status of the first connection circuit. It is understandable that when the motor controller is working, in addition to the possible failure of the lower bridge drive module, the main power supply or the upper bridge drive module may also fail, such as the first connection circuit is short-circuited. At this time, the main power supply will provide all the power to the upper bridge drive module, causing the electric vehicle to enter a dangerous working state. Therefore, when the control module detects the failure of the main power supply and the short circuit of the first connection circuit, the backup power supply will be controlled to work, that is, the main power supply will no longer supply power to the upper bridge drive module and the lower bridge drive module.

[0056] Through the above configuration, when the connection status of the lower bridge driver module fails, the main power supply will supply power to the upper bridge driver module; and when the upper bridge driver module or the main power supply fails, the backup power supply will supply power to the lower bridge driver module (at this time, the upper bridge driver module fails and there is no need to supply power to it). As a result, the load of the backup power supply is only one lower bridge driver module, minimizing its output power.

[0057] In a preferred embodiment, the power supply architecture further includes:

[0058] -First diode

[0059] The first diode is arranged on the second connection circuit, the positive electrode is connected to the fuse module, and the negative electrode is connected to the lower bridge drive module and the third connection circuit. When the main power supply or the first connection circuit fails, the backup power supply supplies power to the lower bridge drive module, because the lower bridge drive module is connected to the upper bridge drive module and the boost module, the backup power supply on the circuit is also connected to the upper bridge drive module. Therefore, the setting of the first diode can prevent the current of the backup power supply from flowing back to the upper bridge drive module, and play a role in current control.

[0060] At the same time, a current threshold is set in the fuse module, such as 2A or 3A. When the second connection circuit is short-circuited, the current flowing through the second connection circuit is greater than or equal to the current threshold, thereby triggering the safety mechanism of the fuse module, which enables the second connection circuit to be cut off. The IGBT chip in the upper bridge drive module is controlled by the control module to turn on, so that the upper bridge drive module enters a safe state, such as an ASC or SPO state.

[0061] Furthermore, the power supply architecture also includes:

[0062] - Second diode

[0063] The second diode is arranged on the third connection circuit, the positive pole is connected to the backup power supply, and the negative pole is connected to the lower bridge drive module. It can be understood that since the lower bridge drive module is connected to the backup power supply, when the main power supply normally supplies power to the upper bridge drive module and the lower bridge drive module, the current of the main power supply may also flow to the backup power supply. Therefore, the second diode prevents the current from flowing back to the backup power supply. The control module is connected to the backup power supply. When the first connection circuit is short-circuited or the main power supply fails, such as being disconnected (no output), the backup power supply supplies power to the control module, so that when the main power supply fails, the control module can still work normally.

[0064] At this time, the control module controls the IGBT chip in the lower bridge drive module to turn on, so that the lower bridge drive module enters a safe state, such as ASC or SPO state, thereby protecting the entire motor assembly.

[0065] Continue reading Figure 1 , the power supply architecture also includes:

[0066] - micro control unit;

[0067] -SBC monitoring chip

[0068] The monitoring unit SBC is connected to the main power supply, the micro control unit and the control module respectively, monitors the working state of the main power supply, forms the working state information of the main power supply, and sends the above information to the control module so that the control module can know the working state of the main power supply. At the same time, the monitoring chip SBC supplies power to the micro control unit.

[0069] On the driving module side, the upper bridge driving module includes an upper bridge driving chip and an upper bridge driving power supply connected in parallel, and the lower bridge driving module includes a lower bridge driving chip and a lower bridge driving power supply connected in parallel.

[0070] In any of the above embodiments, the backup power supply is connected to a high voltage power supply, such as an HV battery, and its output voltage is 50V-900V. Since the backup power supply only needs to supply power to the lower bridge drive module, its output power can be 6W-10W, more preferably 8W, which is significantly lower than the output power of a common backup power supply.

[0071] The present invention also discloses an electric vehicle, including a motor controller, wherein the motor controller is provided with the power supply architecture as described above.

[0072] The present invention also discloses a power supply method for a motor controller, comprising the following steps: an upper bridge drive in the motor controller is connected to a main power supply via a first connection circuit, a lower bridge drive module is connected to the main power supply via a second connection circuit, and is connected to a backup power supply via a third connection circuit; a boost module is connected between the main power supply and the upper bridge drive module and the lower bridge drive module, a fuse module is connected between the boost module and the lower bridge drive module, and the fuse module monitors the connection status of the second connection circuit; when the second connection circuit is short-circuited, the second connection circuit is cut off; when the main power supply fails or the first connection circuit is short-circuited, a control module connected to the boost module controls the backup power supply to operate and supplies power to the lower bridge drive module.

[0073] It should be noted that the embodiments of the present invention have better practicability and do not impose any form of limitation on the present invention. Any technician familiar with the field may use the technical content disclosed above to change or modify it into an equivalent effective embodiment. However, any modification or equivalent changes and modifications made to the above embodiments based on the technical essence of the present invention without departing from the content of the technical solution of the present invention are still within the scope of the technical solution of the present invention.

Claims

1. An internal power supply architecture of a motor controller, comprising a main power supply, an upper bridge driving module connected to the main power supply via a first connection circuit, a lower bridge driving module connected to the main power supply via a second connection circuit, and a backup power supply, characterized in that: The power supply architecture further includes: A boost module, connected between the main power supply and the upper bridge drive module and the lower bridge drive module; a fuse module, connected between the boost module and the lower bridge driving module, monitoring the connection state of the second connection circuit, and cutting off the second connection circuit when the second connection circuit is short-circuited; a control module connected to the boost module, monitoring the connection state of the first connection circuit, and supplying power to the upper bridge drive module and the lower bridge drive module from the main power supply when the main power supply is not faulty or the first connection circuit is not short-circuited; and controlling the standby power supply to work when the main power supply is faulty or the first connection circuit is short-circuited; The backup power supply is connected to the lower bridge driving module via a third connection circuit to supply power to the lower bridge driving module.

2. The power supply architecture according to claim 1, wherein: The power supply architecture further includes: A first diode, arranged on the second connection circuit, with an anode connected to the fuse module and a cathode connected to the lower bridge drive module and the third connection circuit; The fuse module is provided with a current threshold, and when the second connection circuit is short-circuited, the current flowing through the second connection circuit is greater than or equal to the current threshold; The IGBT chip in the upper bridge driving module is turned on, so that the upper bridge driving module enters a safe state.

3. The power supply architecture according to claim 2, wherein: The power supply architecture further includes: A second diode is provided on the third connection circuit, with an anode connected to the backup power supply and a cathode connected to the lower bridge driving module; The control module is connected to the backup power supply, and when the main power supply fails or the first connection circuit is short-circuited, the backup power supply supplies power to the control module.

4. The power supply architecture according to claim 1, wherein: When the main power supply fails or the first connection circuit is short-circuited, the control module controls the IGBT chip in the lower bridge driving module to turn on, so that the lower bridge driving module enters a safe state.

5. The power supply architecture according to claim 1, wherein: The power supply architecture further includes: Micro control unit; The monitoring chip SBC is connected to the main power supply, the micro control unit and the control module respectively, monitors the working state of the main power supply, sends the working state of the main power supply to the control module, and supplies power to the micro control unit; the upper bridge driving module includes an upper bridge driving chip and an upper bridge driving power supply connected in parallel; The lower bridge driving module includes a lower bridge driving chip and a lower bridge driving power supply connected in parallel.

6. The power supply architecture according to claim 1, wherein: The backup power supply is externally connected to a high-voltage power supply, and the output voltage of the high-voltage power supply is 50V-900V; The output power of the backup power supply is 6W-10W.

7. An electric vehicle, comprising a motor controller, characterized in that: The motor controller is provided with a power supply architecture as described in any one of claims 1-6.

8. A power supply method for a motor controller, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: The upper bridge drive in the motor controller is connected to the main power supply via the first connection circuit, the lower bridge drive module is connected to the main power supply via the second connection circuit, and is connected to the backup power supply via the third connection circuit; A boost module is connected between the main power supply and the upper bridge drive module and the lower bridge drive module, a fuse module is connected between the boost module and the lower bridge drive module, and the fuse module monitors the connection state of the second connection circuit; When the second connection circuit is short-circuited, cutting off the second connection circuit; When the main power supply is not faulty or the first connection circuit is not short-circuited, the main power supply supplies power to the upper bridge drive module and the lower bridge drive module; when the main power supply is faulty or the first connection circuit is short-circuited, the control module connected to the boost module controls the backup power supply to supply power to the lower bridge drive module.

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