Cooling fan control method and system for hybrid light truck

Abstract

The invention discloses a cooling fan control method and system for a hybrid light truck, and the method comprises the steps: obtaining the working condition of an engine, and carrying out the operation control of a condenser fan according to a refrigeration request of a passenger compartment or a battery pack if the engine is in a shutdown state; if the engine is in the starting state, whether the engine has the heat dissipation requirement or not is judged, and an engine fan is controlled to operate when the heat dissipation requirement exists; and when the engine does not have the heat dissipation requirement, if the passenger compartment and / or the battery pack have the refrigeration requirement, an engine fan is controlled to be started, and a condenser fan is not started. Intelligence of the vehicle can be improved, the service life of the fan is prolonged, and the failure rate of the whole vehicle is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of vehicle thermal management, and more particularly, to a cooling fan control method and system for a hybrid light truck. Background Art

[0002] Because the operating temperature requirements of the engine, battery pack, and motor differ, hybrid light trucks are designed with three independent thermal management systems. Each system is equipped with its own cooling fan: the engine cooling fan, the motor cooling fan, and the condenser fan. These three independent thermal management systems operate according to the cooling requirements of their respective components, independently of each other. To maximize cooling airflow while the vehicle is in motion, the condenser is mounted in front of the engine radiator. The engine's mechanical silicone oil clutch fan is connected to the engine pulley, which drives the fan. The condenser's electronic fan is mounted in front of the condenser. Due to limited front-end space and the lower cooling requirements of the drive motor, the drive motor radiator and electronic fan are located on the side of the vehicle. When the engine needs cooling while the vehicle is in motion, the thermostat opens, and the water circuit enters full-circulation mode. At this point, when the ambient temperature in front of the engine's mechanical fan rises to the fan clutch engagement temperature, the fan clutch engages, and the engine drives the fan at full speed. When either the passenger compartment or the battery pack needs cooling, or both, the condenser fan receives a cooling request signal from the thermal management controller (TMS), turning on and adjusting its speed based on the cooling demand. When the drive motor needs to dissipate heat, the motor fan receives a cooling request signal from the TMS, turns on, and adjusts its speed based on demand. However, this independently operated thermal management system requires the condenser fan to operate for extended periods of time when either the passenger compartment or the battery pack, or both, require cooling, shortening the life of the condenser fan motor. Furthermore, during vehicle operation, a condenser fan failure can easily cause the power battery to overheat, preventing the vehicle from operating normally and potentially delaying the arrival of valuable cargo. Therefore, it is crucial to rationally manage the use of the vehicle's cooling fan to extend its lifespan and reduce the overall vehicle failure rate. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The present invention provides a cooling fan control method and system for a hybrid light truck, which solves the problems of inconvenient use and unintelligent control of the engine cooling fan, motor cooling fan, and condenser fan in existing hybrid light trucks. The method can improve the intelligence of the vehicle, increase the service life of the fan, and reduce the failure rate of the entire vehicle.

[0004] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:

[0005] A method for controlling a cooling fan of a hybrid light truck, comprising:

[0006] Obtain the engine's operating status. If the engine is stopped, the condenser fan is controlled to operate based on the cooling request of the passenger compartment or battery pack.

[0007] If the engine is in the starting state, it is determined whether the engine needs cooling, and the engine fan is controlled to operate if cooling is required;

[0008] When the engine has no cooling demand, if the passenger compartment and / or battery pack has cooling demand, the engine fan is controlled to turn on and the condenser fan is not controlled to turn on.

[0009] Preferably, it also includes:

[0010] When the condenser fan fails, the engine is started based on the cooling request of the passenger compartment or battery pack to operate the engine fan.

[0011] Preferably, the determining whether the engine has a heat dissipation requirement includes:

[0012] The engine water temperature is obtained and it is determined whether the engine water temperature exceeds the thermostat opening threshold. If so, it is determined that the engine has a cooling demand.

[0013] Preferably, it also includes:

[0014] Determine the vehicle's driving condition. If the vehicle is in a pure electric driving condition, the motor fan is controlled according to the heat dissipation request of the motor controller. If the vehicle is in a hybrid driving condition, the engine fan and motor fan are controlled according to the engine water temperature and motor temperature.

[0015] Preferably, it also includes:

[0016] Set mode 1 with the engine fan in OFF state and the condenser fan in ON state;

[0017] Set mode 2 with the engine fan in the ON state and the condenser fan in the OFF state;

[0018] Set mode 3 when the engine fan is in the ON state and the condenser fan is in the fault state;

[0019] Select Mode 1, Mode 2 or Mode 3 to control the engine fan and condenser fan according to the engine operating conditions, battery pack and passenger compartment cooling request conditions.

[0020] The present invention also provides a cooling fan control system for a hybrid light truck, which uses the above cooling fan control method and includes: a thermal management controller, a vehicle controller, a battery pack controller, and an AC switch;

[0021] The thermal management controller is respectively connected to the vehicle controller, the battery pack controller and the AC switch signal;

[0022] The thermal management controller receives cooling requests from the AC switch and the battery pack controller, and sends a high-speed enable or a low-speed enable to the condensing fan according to the cooling request. The thermal management controller also monitors the fan speed of the condensing fan to determine whether the condensing fan is working normally, and feeds back the fault status of the condensing fan to the vehicle controller.

[0023] Preferably, it also includes: an engine controller

[0024] The vehicle controller is signal-connected to the engine controller. The vehicle controller receives engine operating condition feedback information sent by the engine controller and, when the engine is in a stopped state, feeds back the engine fan state to the thermal management controller so that the thermal management controller controls the operation of the condenser fan according to a cooling request for the passenger compartment or the battery pack.

[0025] When the engine is in the starting state, the engine controller determines whether the engine has a cooling requirement, and controls the engine fan to run when there is a cooling requirement. When the engine does not have a cooling requirement, if the passenger compartment and / or battery pack has a cooling requirement, the engine fan is controlled to turn on and the condenser fan is not turned on.

[0026] Preferably, it also includes: a thermostat;

[0027] The thermostat is connected to the engine controller by signal, and the engine controller controls the engine fan to turn on when the engine water temperature exceeds the thermostat opening threshold.

[0028] Preferably, it further comprises: a motor controller;

[0029] The motor controller is signal-connected to the vehicle controller, and the vehicle controller sends an enable instruction for the motor fan to the motor controller according to the vehicle driving condition, so that the motor controller controls the motor fan to operate when the vehicle is in a pure electric driving condition or a hybrid driving condition.

[0030] Preferably, the thermal management controller determines that the condensing fan has failed when the condensing fan has no speed or the speed feedback is incorrect, and reports the condensing fan failure information to the vehicle controller. After receiving the condensing fan failure information, the vehicle controller requests the engine controller to start the engine and the engine fan.

[0031] The present invention provides a cooling fan control method and system for a hybrid light truck. This method controls the operation of the engine fan and condenser fan based on the engine's operating status and the cooling requirements of the passenger compartment or battery pack. This system coordinates the engine and condenser fans to provide cooling for the passenger compartment and battery pack. This system also fully utilizes the mechanical transmission structure of the engine driving the fans, reduces fatigue of the condenser's electronic fan, and extends its service life. This system addresses the inconvenient and unintelligent control of the engine, motor, and condenser fans in existing hybrid light trucks. It improves the vehicle's intelligence, increases the fan's service life, and reduces vehicle failure rates. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] In order to more clearly illustrate the specific embodiments of the present invention, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments.

[0033] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of a cooling fan control method for a hybrid light truck provided by the present invention.

[0034] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of a cooling fan control system for a hybrid light truck provided in an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the embodiments of the present invention are further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and implementation methods.

[0036] In view of the problems that the fan control of current hybrid light trucks is inconvenient to use and the control is not intelligent, the present invention provides a hybrid light truck cooling fan control method and system to solve the problems that the control of the engine cooling fan, motor cooling fan and condenser fan of existing hybrid light trucks is inconvenient to use and the control is not intelligent, which can improve the intelligence of the vehicle, increase the service life of the fan, and reduce the failure rate of the entire vehicle.

[0037] like Figure 1 As shown, a cooling fan control method for a hybrid light truck includes:

[0038] S1: Obtain the operating status of the engine. If the engine is in a stopped state, the condenser fan is controlled to operate according to the cooling request of the passenger compartment or the battery pack.

[0039] S2: If the engine is in the starting state, it is determined whether the engine has a cooling requirement, and the engine fan is controlled to operate if there is a cooling requirement.

[0040] S3: When the engine has no cooling demand, if the passenger compartment and / or battery pack has cooling demand, the engine fan is controlled to turn on and the condenser fan is controlled not to turn on.

[0041] The method further includes: when a condenser fan fails, controlling the engine to start according to a cooling request of the passenger compartment or the battery pack to operate the engine fan.

[0042] Furthermore, the determining whether the engine has a heat dissipation requirement includes: obtaining the engine water temperature, and determining whether the engine water temperature exceeds a thermostat opening threshold; if so, determining that the engine has a heat dissipation requirement.

[0043] The method also includes: judging the vehicle driving condition. If the vehicle is in a pure electric driving condition, the operation of the motor fan is controlled according to the heat dissipation request of the motor controller; if the vehicle is in a hybrid driving condition, the operation of the engine fan and the motor fan are controlled accordingly according to the engine water temperature and the motor temperature.

[0044] The method further includes:

[0045] Set mode 1 with the engine fan in the OFF state and the condenser fan in the ON state.

[0046] Set mode 2 with the engine fan in the ON state and the condenser fan in the OFF state.

[0047] Set mode 3 when the engine fan is in the ON state and the condenser fan is in the fault state.

[0048] Select Mode 1, Mode 2 or Mode 3 to control the engine fan and condenser fan according to the engine operating conditions, battery pack and passenger compartment cooling request conditions.

[0049] Specifically, the condenser fan and the engine fan work together to provide the required heat dissipation for the passenger compartment and battery pack. The following operating modes are available based on the cooling requirements of the engine, battery pack, and passenger compartment, as shown in Table 1:

[0050]

[0051] Mode 1: Three cooling demand conditions, namely parking air conditioning, parking external charging, and pure electric driving; at this time, the engine is in the shutdown state, either the passenger compartment or the battery pack has cooling demand, or both have cooling demand, the condenser fan is working, and the engine fan is not working.

[0052] Mode 2: In the parking engine charging mode, there are two working conditions: with and without engine cooling demand, and hybrid driving condition; at this time, the engine is in the starting state, and the engine pulley drives the electronically controlled silicone oil clutch fan to rotate; when the engine has cooling demand (that is, the water temperature exceeds the thermostat opening threshold), the engine controller ECU controls the opening time of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan according to the engine cooling demand. After the fan is fully opened, the power is disconnected. At this time, the fan is equivalent to a mechanical fan, driven by the engine pulley to rotate at full speed; the air volume at this time has taken into account the cooling needs of the passenger compartment and the battery pack, and the condenser fan does not need to be turned on; when the engine itself has no cooling demand (that is, the thermostat is not open), but the engine is still running to drive the vehicle, either the passenger compartment or the battery pack has cooling demand, or both have cooling demand, the engine fan is turned on, and the condenser fan is not turned on.

[0053] (3) Mode 3: When there is a cooling demand and the condenser fan fails, the engine starts and stops in two states; when the engine is started, it is the same as Mode 2; when the engine is stopped, the engine is started to drive the engine fan to dissipate heat to the front condenser.

[0054] As can be seen, the present invention provides a cooling fan control method for a hybrid light truck. This method controls the operation of the engine fan and condenser fan based on the engine's operating status and the cooling requirements of the passenger compartment or battery pack. This allows the engine fan and condenser fan to work together to provide cooling for the passenger compartment and battery pack. This method also fully utilizes the mechanical transmission structure of the engine driving the fans, delaying fatigue of the condenser's electronic fan and extending its service life. This method addresses the inconvenient and unintelligent control issues of existing hybrid light trucks for the engine cooling fan, motor cooling fan, and condenser fan. It improves the vehicle's intelligence, increases the fan's service life, and reduces the overall vehicle failure rate.

[0055] Accordingly, if Figure 2 As shown, the present invention also provides a cooling fan control system for a hybrid light truck, utilizing the aforementioned cooling fan control method, comprising: a thermal management controller, a vehicle controller, a battery pack controller, and an AC switch. The thermal management controller is signal-connected to the vehicle controller, the battery pack controller, and the AC switch, respectively. The thermal management controller receives cooling requests from the AC switch and the battery pack controller and, based on the cooling requests, sends a high-speed enable or low-speed enable signal to the condenser fan. The thermal management controller also monitors the condenser fan speed to determine whether the condenser fan is operating properly and provides feedback to the vehicle controller regarding any condenser fan fault conditions.

[0056] In actual applications, the AC switch / battery pack controller BMS sends a cooling request, and the TMS sends high and low gear enable signals (01 - low gear; 02 - high gear; 00 - off) to the condenser fan based on the cooling demand. At the same time, the thermal management controller TMS monitors the fan speed to determine whether the fan is working normally, and feedbacks the VCU thermal management system that there is no fault (0 - no fault; fail - fault).

[0057] The system also includes: an engine controller; the vehicle controller is signal-connected to the engine controller, the vehicle controller receives engine operating condition feedback information sent by the engine controller, and when the engine is in a stopped state, feeds back the engine fan state to the thermal management controller, so that the thermal management controller controls the operation of the condenser fan according to the cooling request of the passenger compartment or the battery pack; when the engine is in a started state, the engine controller determines whether the engine has a heat dissipation requirement, and controls the engine fan to operate when there is a heat dissipation requirement. When the engine has no heat dissipation requirement, if the passenger compartment and / or battery pack has a cooling requirement, the engine fan is controlled to be turned on and the condenser fan is not turned on.

[0058] The system further includes: a thermostat; the thermostat is signal-connected to the engine controller, and the engine controller controls the engine fan to turn on when the engine water temperature exceeds the thermostat opening threshold.

[0059] In actual application, ① the AC switch / battery pack controller BMS sends a cooling request, and the engine water temperature exceeds the thermostat opening threshold, the vehicle controller VCU feeds back the engine start status to the thermal management controller TMS, and the thermal management controller TMS sends an enable to turn off (00) the condenser fan, and feeds back to the vehicle controller VCU that the system has no fault (0); ② the AC switch / battery pack controller BMS sends a cooling request, and the engine water temperature is lower than the thermostat opening threshold, the vehicle controller VCU feeds back the engine start status to the thermal management controller TMS, and requests the engine controller ECU to send an enable to turn on the electronically controlled silicone oil clutch fan, and the thermal management controller TMS sends an enable to turn off (00) the condenser fan, and feeds back to the VCU thermal management system that there is no fault (0).

[0060] The system also includes: a motor controller (not shown in the figure); the motor controller is signal-connected to the vehicle controller, and the vehicle controller sends an enable instruction for the motor fan to the motor controller according to the vehicle driving condition, so that the motor controller controls the motor fan to operate when the vehicle is in a pure electric driving condition or a hybrid driving condition.

[0061] Furthermore, the thermal management controller determines that the condensing fan has failed when the condensing fan has no speed or the speed feedback is incorrect, and reports the condensing fan failure information to the vehicle controller. After receiving the condensing fan failure information, the vehicle controller requests the engine controller to start the engine and the engine fan.

[0062] In actual applications, the AC switch / battery pack controller BMS sends a cooling request, and the thermal management controller TMS sends high and low gear enable signals to the condensing fan according to the cooling demand. If the condensing fan has no speed feedback or the speed feedback is incorrect, the thermal management controller TMS determines that it is a condensing fan failure and feeds back the thermal management system failure information (fail) to the vehicle controller VCU. After receiving the information, the vehicle controller VCU requests the engine controller ECU to start the engine and engine fan.

[0063] As can be seen, the present invention provides a cooling fan control system for a hybrid light truck. This system controls the operation of the engine fan and condenser fan based on the engine's operating status and the cooling requirements of the passenger compartment or battery pack. This system coordinates the engine and condenser fans to provide cooling for the passenger compartment and battery pack. This system also fully utilizes the mechanical transmission structure of the engine driving the fans, delaying fatigue of the condenser's electronic fan and extending its service life. This system addresses the inconvenient and unintelligent control issues of existing hybrid light trucks' engine, motor, and condenser fan systems. It improves the vehicle's intelligence, increases the fan's service life, and reduces vehicle failure rates.

[0064] The above describes in detail the structure, features and effects of the present invention based on the embodiments shown in the drawings. The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of implementation of the present invention is not limited to what is shown in the drawings. Any changes made in accordance with the concept of the present invention, or modifications to equivalent embodiments with equivalent changes, which do not exceed the spirit covered by the description and drawings, should be within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a cooling fan of a hybrid light truck, characterized in that: include: Obtain the engine's operating status. If the engine is stopped, the condenser fan is controlled to operate based on the cooling request of the passenger compartment or battery pack. If the engine is in the starting state, it is determined whether the engine needs cooling, and the engine fan is controlled to operate if cooling is required; When the engine has no cooling demand, if the passenger compartment and / or battery pack has cooling demand, the engine fan is controlled to turn on and the condenser fan is not controlled to turn on.

2. The cooling fan control method for a hybrid light truck according to claim 1, characterized in that: Also includes: When the condenser fan fails, the engine is started based on the cooling request of the passenger compartment or battery pack to operate the engine fan.

3. The cooling fan control method for a hybrid light truck according to claim 2, characterized in that: The determining whether the engine has a heat dissipation requirement includes: The engine water temperature is obtained and it is determined whether the engine water temperature exceeds the thermostat opening threshold. If so, it is determined that the engine has a cooling demand.

4. The cooling fan control method for a hybrid light truck according to claim 3, characterized in that: Also includes: Determine the vehicle's driving condition. If the vehicle is in a pure electric driving condition, the motor fan is controlled according to the heat dissipation request of the motor controller. If the vehicle is in a hybrid driving condition, the engine fan and motor fan are controlled according to the engine water temperature and motor temperature.

5. The cooling fan control method for a hybrid light truck according to claim 4, characterized in that: Also includes: Set mode 1 with the engine fan in OFF state and the condenser fan in ON state; Set mode 2 with the engine fan in the ON state and the condenser fan in the OFF state; Set mode 3 when the engine fan is in the ON state and the condenser fan is in the fault state; Select Mode 1, Mode 2 or Mode 3 to control the engine fan and condenser fan according to the engine operating conditions, battery pack and passenger compartment cooling request conditions.

6. A cooling fan control system for a hybrid light truck, using the cooling fan control method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: include: Thermal management controller, vehicle controller, battery pack controller and AC switch; The thermal management controller is respectively connected to the vehicle controller, the battery pack controller and the AC switch signal; The thermal management controller receives cooling requests from the AC switch and the battery pack controller, and sends a high-speed enable or a low-speed enable to the condensing fan according to the cooling request. The thermal management controller also monitors the fan speed of the condensing fan to determine whether the condensing fan is working normally, and feeds back the fault status of the condensing fan to the vehicle controller.

7. The cooling fan control system for a hybrid light truck according to claim 6, characterized in that: Also includes: Engine controller The vehicle controller is signal-connected to the engine controller. The vehicle controller receives engine operating condition feedback information sent by the engine controller and, when the engine is in a stopped state, feeds back the engine fan state to the thermal management controller so that the thermal management controller controls the operation of the condenser fan according to a cooling request for the passenger compartment or the battery pack. When the engine is in the starting state, the engine controller determines whether the engine has a cooling requirement, and controls the engine fan to run when there is a cooling requirement. When the engine does not have a cooling requirement, if the passenger compartment and / or battery pack has a cooling requirement, the engine fan is controlled to turn on and the condenser fan is not turned on.

8. The cooling fan control system for a hybrid light truck according to claim 7, characterized in that: Also includes: thermostat; The thermostat is connected to the engine controller by signal, and the engine controller controls the engine fan to turn on when the engine water temperature exceeds the thermostat opening threshold.

9. The cooling fan control system for a hybrid light truck according to claim 8, characterized in that: Also includes: Motor controller; The motor controller is signal-connected to the vehicle controller, and the vehicle controller sends an enable instruction for the motor fan to the motor controller according to the vehicle driving condition, so that the motor controller controls the motor fan to operate when the vehicle is in a pure electric driving condition or a hybrid driving condition.

10. The cooling fan control system of a hybrid light truck according to claim 9, characterized in that: The thermal management controller determines that the condensing fan has failed when the condensing fan has no speed or the speed feedback is incorrect, and reports the condensing fan failure information to the vehicle controller. After receiving the condensing fan failure information, the vehicle controller requests the engine controller to start the engine and the engine fan.

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