Railroad vehicle storage battery system and control method therefor

Abstract

To provide a railroad vehicle storage battery system in which the number of contactors required to suppress cross current between storage battery groups or storage battery boxes is minimized.SOLUTION: A railroad vehicle storage battery system forms a battery pack and includes one or more storage battery boxes in which a plurality of storage battery groups connected in parallel are housed, a parallelization control unit that maintains the equalized voltages of the plurality of storage battery groups, and group switch devices that are disposed in the storage battery boxes, are connected in series with at least one pole of the corresponding storage battery group, and are provided for the respective groups. The system includes one box switch device that is connected in series with a connection point where the plurality of storage battery groups are connected in parallel at a pole opposite to the pole with which the group switch devices are connected in series. The parallelization control unit establishes parallel connection between the storage battery groups in the storage battery boxes by closing the group switch devices, and establishes parallel connection between the storage battery boxes by closing the group switch devices and the box switch device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a railway vehicle battery system and a control method thereof. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, advances in lithium-ion battery technology have led to the spread of railway vehicles (hereinafter also referred to as "vehicles") that use storage batteries as their energy source, such as hybrid diesel railcars and battery-powered trains. Storage batteries for running such vehicles are used as appropriately high-voltage, large-capacity energy sources by forming battery packs in which single cells (hereinafter referred to as "battery cells" or "batteries") are connected in series and parallel. If there is a voltage difference between multiple batteries connected in parallel, harmful cross currents will occur, and measures must be taken to prevent this. For example, the following Patent Documents 1 to 5 are known as technologies related to this cross current.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a method of connecting a battery pack in which a resistor is temporarily inserted in the path of a cross current in order to suppress the cross current. Storage battery If there is a voltage difference between the groups, the contactor operates to connect them in parallel through additional resistance to suppress the cross current value. Storage battery After the voltage between the groups is equalized by a cross current, the resistor is separated and connected to an external load.

[0004] Patent Document 2 discloses an energy storage device and a battery control method in which circuit breakers are provided above and below all series groups and the batteries are connected in order starting with the battery with the lowest voltage, thereby leveling out the battery voltages while increasing the number of batteries that can be connected in parallel.

[0005] In addition, in the technology of Patent Document 2, in order to prevent the cross current value from suddenly becoming a large current when connected in parallel without using a resistor, Storage battery In addition to this, the technology also aims to prevent electric shock. Storage battery The number of contactors has been increased to ensure reliable disconnection by placing contactors on both the positive and negative sides of the group.

[0006] Patent Document 3 discloses a power storage system and a connection method that determines whether the power storage system is in a charge mode, a discharge mode, a connected mode in which the power storage system is connected to a power grid, or an independent mode in which the connection is cut off, and enables multiple power storage devices to be effectively connected to a power conversion device.

[0007] In the technology of Patent Document 3, charging and discharging are controlled based on information that is distinguished between charging operation and discharging operation. In the case of charging operation, the technology uses a low voltage among multiple Storage battery Charging starts one by one from each group, and the voltage is released. Storage battery In the case of discharge operation, the technology uses the high voltage Storage battery Discharge begins one by one from each group, and the voltage is released. Storage battery The groups are connected in parallel in order of matching.

[0008] Patent document 4 discloses a battery monitoring device that provides one open / close switch on the P side and three on the N side for multiple battery modules, and can sometimes determine abnormalities using a common threshold value and individually disconnect modules that have problems such as abnormalities.

[0009] The battery monitoring device in Patent Document 4 is arranged on the N side of each series group in the battery pack. Storage battery The circuit is configured with a contactor for disconnecting the group and a main relay for disconnecting the battery pack, which is arranged on the opposite side, the P side after the parallel connection. With this circuit configuration, each battery pack in the battery pack is disconnected by the N side contactor. Storage battery The P-side contactor can cut off all the Storage battery It can block groups at the same time.

[0010] Patent Document 5 discloses a monitoring and control device, a storage battery system, and a method for monitoring and controlling a plurality of battery units and a PCS (Power Conditioning Subsystem) that charges and discharges the battery units, including a formula showing cross current. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0011] [Patent Document 1] JP 2013-240142 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2018-120663 A [Patent Document 3] Patent Publication No. 2021-052559 [Patent Document 4] JP 2015-197359 A [Patent Document 5] Patent Publication No. 2021-125952 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0012] However, the battery pack of Patent Document 1 requires a resistor that is connected only when the battery system is connected in parallel, and a circuit that requires a plurality of contactors that pass through or separate the resistor, resulting in a large system.

[0013] In addition, in the power storage device of Patent Document 2, the circuit in which the cells are directly connected in parallel without using a resistor is as follows: Storage battery When the voltages of the groups are significantly different, simply switching the order of the groups is not enough to suppress the cross current below the threshold. Storage battery There are cases where it is not possible to connect a group in parallel without charging or discharging it from the outside.

[0014] In addition, the battery storage system of Patent Document 3 has Storage battery This circuit configuration takes into consideration the case where the groups are connected in parallel in one layer. Therefore, Patent Document 3 further Storage battery There is no disclosure of a circuit configuration when groups are connected in parallel.

[0015] Furthermore, the battery monitoring device of Patent Document 4 is an invention whose main purpose is to ensure reliable cutoff, and does not mention how to close the contactors when a cross current occurs, particularly the order of reclosing operations. Furthermore, Patent Document 4 only discusses one battery pack, and does not consider connections between multiple battery packs. Furthermore, Patent Document 5 does not disclose a railway vehicle battery system that minimizes the number of contactors required to suppress cross currents.

[0016] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its object is to provide a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising the steps of: Storage battery To provide a battery system for railway vehicles which minimizes the number of contactors required to suppress cross current between groups or between battery boxes. [Means for solving the problem]

[0017] The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems by using a plurality of parallel-connected Storage battery One or more battery boxes containing the battery packs and multiple Storage battery a parallelization control unit that maintains each group at an equal voltage; and a parallelization control unit that is disposed in the battery box and Storage battery In a battery storage system for railway vehicles, a group switchgear for each group is connected in series to at least one pole of each group to form a battery pack, and each group switchgear has a pole opposite to the pole to which it is connected in series, and Storage battery The battery packs are connected in parallel to each other through a connection point, and the paralleling control unit closes each of the group switching devices to control the load current in the battery packs. Storage battery The groups are connected in parallel, and the battery boxes are connected in parallel by closing each group opening / closing device and the box opening / closing device. Effect of the Invention

[0018] According to the present invention, Storage battery It is possible to provide a battery system for railway vehicles that minimizes the number of contactors required to suppress cross current between groups or between battery boxes. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0019] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram for explaining the concept of cross current. [Diagram 2] 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration of a battery electric railcar drive system (hereinafter also referred to as "this battery electric railcar drive system") 1A according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration of a hybrid diesel railcar drive system (hereinafter also referred to as "this hybrid drive system") 1B according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a railway vehicle battery system (hereinafter, referred to as "the battery system") 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] 3 is a block diagram showing a paralleling control system 200 in the battery electric railcar traction system 1A of FIG. 2. [Figure 6] 6 is a flowchart 300 showing the processing procedure of the parallelization control unit 210 of FIG. 5. [Figure 7] 4 is a flowchart 400 showing a control procedure for running cut-in in the battery electric railcar traction system 1A of FIG. 2. [Figure 8] 7 is a time-series switch opening / closing table and graph showing the range and acceleration during charging using the parallel control of FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. [Figure 9] 7 is a time-series switch opening / closing table and graph showing the range and acceleration during discharging by the parallel control of FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is a circuit diagram showing a battery box 101a according to a modified example a. [Figure 11] FIG. 13 is a circuit diagram showing a battery box 101b according to a modified example b. [Figure 12] FIG. 13 is a circuit diagram showing a battery box 101c according to a modified example c. [Figure 13] FIG. 11 is a circuit diagram showing a battery box 101d according to a modified example d. [Figure 14] 5 is a table comparing the effects of the battery box 101 in FIG. 4 with those of the battery boxes 101a, 101b, 101c, and 101d of the modified examples a to d. [Figure 15] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the configuration of a multi-pole contactor 116 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 16] FIG. 11 is a circuit diagram of a railway vehicle storage battery system 199 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 17] 17 is a block diagram showing a parallel control system 299 applied to the battery system 199 of FIG. 16. [Figure 18] 17 is a flowchart 300 showing the first half of the procedure of parallel control by the battery system 199 of FIG. 16. [Figure 19] 19 is a flowchart 300 showing the latter half of the procedure of the parallelization control of FIG. 18. [Figure 20] 17 is a table comparing the effects of the battery box 101 in FIG. 16 with those of the battery boxes 101a, 101b, 101c, and 101d of the modified examples a to d. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0020] First, the cross current will be explained using FIG. 1 and the following formula (1). Then, the present battery electric train drive system 1A (FIG. 2), the present hybrid drive system 1B (FIG. 3), and the present battery systems 100, 199 (FIGS. 2-4, 16) mounted thereon will be explained using FIG. 4 and other figures. The present battery systems 100, 199, as will be described later with reference to FIG. 4 and other figures, Storage battery This minimizes the number of contactors 112, 113 required to suppress cross current between the groups 111 or between the battery boxes 101. In addition, when there is no particular need to distinguish the present storage battery system 199 of the second embodiment, they will be collectively referred to as the present storage battery system 100 in the description.

[0021] In addition, Storage battery In group 111, an appropriate number of battery cells are connected in series to obtain the voltage required for the application, and a battery pack is formed via service connectors 114 provided at both poles. Also, battery box 101 is a box of a size convenient for installation and maintenance within the overall battery pack according to the application, and can contain one or more Storage batteryThe battery system 100 includes a group 111. Since the battery system 100 is mainly composed of a battery pack, the battery pack referred to here may be considered to be the same as the battery system 100.

[0022] Figure 1 is a circuit diagram to explain the concept of cross current. A cross current is a current that flows in a parallel circuit in response to a voltage difference between batteries connected in parallel. As shown in Figure 1, consider that battery 1, which generates voltage V1 across resistor R1, and battery 2, which generates voltage V2 across resistor R2, are connected in parallel via an external resistor RPar and a switch S. The cross current Icro in the following formula (1) reaches its maximum value the moment switch S is closed.

[0023] Note that Icro is positive for charging. The cross current flows in the charging direction in the low-voltage battery, and in the discharging direction in the high-voltage battery. The cross current is generally at its maximum value at the moment of connection, and gradually attenuates until the open-circuit voltage values ​​(which depend on the charging rate) between the parallel-connected batteries become the same.

[0024]

number

[0025] If the cross current is large, it may damage the battery itself as well as the contactor, fuse, conductor, etc. connected to the battery. Storage battery Group 111 is all connected in parallel and has the same voltage (e.g., 1600V), so no large cross current flows when contactors 112, 113 are opened and closed when the vehicle system is turned on and off. Note that the vehicle system here refers to the control system that controls the operating state of the entire vehicle in accordance with operating commands higher than the control hierarchy of this battery train traction system 1A, this battery system 100, and vehicle control device 13 (Fig. 5).

[0026] on the other hand, Storage batteryThere are two cases in which the voltage of at least one of the group 111 and the battery box 101 will not be the same as that of the rest of the system. The first case is when the battery modules in the battery system 100 are partially replaced. Railway vehicles are often used for longer than the lifespan of the batteries, and when battery deterioration progresses locally, partial replacement is often performed. In this case, the voltages of the newly replaced batteries and the worn-out batteries will not match, and an adjustment will be required.

[0027] Secondly, some of the batteries contain abnormalities. Storage battery Even if group 111 is separated from the battery electric train traction system 1A, the remaining Storage battery Group 111 can be used to a certain extent, so this is the case when the charging rate fluctuates due to charging and discharging. Storage battery When group 111 is connected in parallel again, an operation to suppress cross current is required for safety. EXAMPLES

[0028] 2 is a diagram showing the system configuration of the battery electric train traction system 1A. The battery electric train equipped with the battery electric train traction system 1A is a railway vehicle equipped with a chargeable and dischargeable battery system 100 as the traction energy source. In electrified sections, the train receives power from overhead lines, which is used for traction energy and charges the battery system, and in non-electrified sections, the train runs using the battery as the energy source.

[0029] In Fig. 2, solid lines indicate power transmission paths, double lines indicate torque transmission paths, and dashed lines indicate transmission paths for information such as control signals and sensor values. This battery electric train traction system 1A functions to run on power from overhead lines in electrified sections and charge the storage battery, and to use the power from the storage battery in non-electrified sections. First, the configuration of each device in this battery electric train traction system 1A will be described.

[0030] This battery electric train drive system 1A is composed of a pantograph 2 that connects it to the overhead line, a converter 5 that converts the overhead line power into the required DC power, a motor inverter 6 that converts the DC power into AC power, a motor 7 that drives the railway vehicle, a reduction gear 8 that reduces the output of the motor 7 and transmits it to the wheel set 9, an auxiliary inverter device 10, auxiliary equipment 11 used for services such as vehicle lighting and air conditioning, this battery system 100, a driver's cab 12 that is equipped with a display and generates driving commands in response to the driver's notch operation, and a vehicle control device 13 that generates control commands for the converter 5, the motor inverter 6, and the auxiliary inverter 10 based on the driving commands transmitted from the driver's cab 12 and the state of this battery system 100.

[0031] The pantograph 2 is an electric switch that moves up and down, and when it rises and comes into contact with the overhead line 14, it supplies DC or AC power from the overhead line 14 to the converter 4. When the pantograph 2 is in contact with the overhead line 14, the battery train runs on power from the overhead line and charges the storage battery. On the other hand, when the pantograph 2 is not in contact with the overhead line 14, the battery train uses the power of the storage battery for motive power, etc.

[0032] Converter 4 receives DC or AC power output from pantograph 2, converts it into DC power corresponding to the commanded amount of power, and outputs it. Motor inverter 6 converts DC power supplied via converter 5 into three-phase AC power to drive motor 7. Motor 7 receives the three-phase AC power output by motor inverter 6 as input, converts it into shaft torque, and outputs it.

[0033] The reduction gear 8 reduces the rotation speed of the electric motor 7 by combining gears with different numbers of teeth, and the axle torque thus amplified drives the axle 9 to accelerate or decelerate the vehicle. A speed generator (not shown) for measuring the vehicle speed is also attached to the axle 9. The auxiliary inverter 10 receives the DC power between the converter 5 and the electric motor inverter 6 as input, converts it into three-phase AC power, and outputs it.

[0034] The auxiliary equipment 11 is service equipment such as vehicle lighting and air conditioning, and operates on power supplied from the auxiliary equipment inverter 10. The driver's cab 12 is equipped with a display that displays the time, vehicle speed, battery information, etc., and an input device through which the driver inputs driving commands, etc. to the control device 13. This battery system 100 is a device that stores energy to drive the railway vehicle.

[0035] The cab 12 may be provided with a remote control unit capable of remotely controlling the contactors 112, 113 (FIG. 4) and other switching devices. For example, the vehicle may detect an overvoltage during regeneration, and the switching device of the assembled battery, which is a main component of the battery storage system 100, may be automatically shut off. This situation is displayed on the cab, and the driver who sees it may consult with a maintenance shop and then remotely close the switching device of the assembled battery from the cab 12 to restart the vehicle. The remote control unit is basically used for battery replacement, which is performed while the vehicle is parked for maintenance, and is operated remotely because an arc may fly when a worker inserts or removes the service connector 114, which is dangerous.

[0036] The battery train drive system 1A is charged with DC charging power output from the converter 5 and discharged to the motor inverter 6 and the auxiliary inverter 10, while when the vehicle is applying regenerative braking, it is charged with DC charging power output from the motor inverter 6. The vehicle control device 13 outputs control signals to the converter 5, the motor inverter 6 and the auxiliary inverter 10 based on driving commands, the state of the battery system 100, the state of the pantograph 2, etc., and controls the entire battery train drive system 1A. Note that the battery system 100 is suitable for battery trains, but is not limited to this, and is also suitable for, for example, a hybrid diesel railcar.

[0037] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the system configuration of the present hybrid drive system 1B. A hybrid diesel railcar equipped with the present hybrid drive system 1B is a railway vehicle in which a storage battery system 100 is mounted on a conventional diesel railcar, and the storage battery and motor assist the railcar when the railcar is powered by charging regenerative power during braking. A hybrid diesel railcar is a railway vehicle that does not use power from overhead lines, but runs on power generated by the engine and power from the storage battery. The engine does not operate all the time, but starts up when continuous acceleration commands are input or when the charge rate of the storage battery drops.

[0038] In this hybrid drive system 1B, instead of the overhead line 14 and the pantograph 2, the engine 3 has an engine 3 and a generator 3, and outputs a shaft torque according to an engine speed command value from a vehicle control device 13. The generator 4 receives the shaft torque of the engine 3 as an input, converts it into three-phase AC power, and outputs it.

[0039] Converter 5 receives the three-phase AC power output from generator 3, converts it into DC power corresponding to the commanded amount of power, and outputs it. The subsequent system configuration is the same as that of this battery electric railcar traction system 1A. The following explanation of Example 1 is based on the battery electric railcar, but the main parts of the invention also apply to hybrid diesel railcars.

[0040] 4 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of the present storage battery system 100. The present storage battery system 100 has a plurality of storage battery boxes 101 connected in parallel, and is connected to the present storage battery train traction system 1A via a storage battery system P-terminal 100P and a storage battery system N-terminal 100N. The present storage battery system 100 is often grounded to a ground point 15 at the P-terminal 100P side, the N-terminal 100N side, or an intermediate potential point of the present storage battery system 100. The present storage battery system 100 will be illustrated only in the case where the N-terminal 100N side is grounded, but is not limited to this configuration.

[0041] The battery box 101 has a housing indicated by a dashed line in Fig. 4, and is attached to the railway vehicle as a unit of the housing. A plurality of battery boxes 101 are connected in parallel via a terminal 101P of the battery box 101P and a terminal 101N of the battery box 101N, forming the present battery system 100. The battery box 101 has a plurality of Storage battery It has groups 111 , group contactors 112 , box contactors 113 , and a service connector (also called a “service plug”) 114 .

[0042] Storage battery A group 111 is a replacement unit in which a plurality of battery modules 201 (FIG. 5) are connected in series or parallel, and separated by a service connector 114. This division is designed to be convenient for the mechanism and / or electrical control. Storage battery In proportion to the number of battery modules 201 in series in the group 111, Storage battery The voltage and capacity of group 111 increases in proportion to the number of parallel Storage battery The maximum current and capacity of group 111 is increased.

[0043] Storage battery The number of series connections in group 111 is designed to a voltage at which converter 5 and motor inverter 6 of this battery electric railcar traction system 1A operate efficiently. Storage battery The number of parallel connections in the group 111 is an integer of 2 or more (FIGS. 10 to 13) in one box. Here, the battery module 201 is a collection of multiple battery cells connected in series or parallel for easy handling. A battery cell is the smallest unit of a battery that individually packages the chemical reaction system of the battery.

[0044] Each group contactor 112 is Storage battery The battery box contactor 113 is a contactor provided for each battery box 101, and corresponds to the "group switching device 112 for each group" in the present invention. The battery box contactor 113 is a contactor provided for each battery box 101, and corresponds to the "group switching device 112 connected in series with the polarity opposite to that of the polarity of the group switching device 112, and corresponds to the "group switching device 112 connected in series with the polarity opposite to that of the group switching device 112, and corresponds to the group ... corresponds to the group switching device 112 connected in series with the polarity opposite to that of the group switching device 112, corresponds to the group switching device 112 connected in series with the polarity opposite to that of the group switching device 11 Storage batteryThe group 111 corresponds to a "box opening / closing device 113" connected in series to a connection point 115N where the group 111 is connected in parallel. The battery box contactor 113 is a switching device that opens and closes the contacts of the circuit by a remote control signal transmitted from the vehicle control device 13.

[0045] There are various types of switching devices, such as contactors, relays, circuit breakers, and switches, depending on their switching mechanisms, current interruption capabilities, and response speeds, but any switching device that opens and closes the contacts of a circuit with a remote control signal will suffice. Each group contactor 112 and each box contactor 113 each has one contact and switching mechanism, and all of these contactors can operate independently. The service connector 114 is a switch that is opened and closed directly, not remotely, but manually.

[0046] The service connector 114 is provided between the contactor and the storage battery, but is not limited to this configuration. The service connector 114 is normally closed except during work such as battery replacement, but because it is opened and closed manually, it is unsafe to use it in a situation where a cross current occurs during the closing operation.

[0047] In the battery storage system 100, each group contactor 112 Storage battery P side from group 111 and Storage battery From the connection point 115P on the group 111P side to the N side, Storage battery Each box contactor 113 is installed in each group 111. Storage battery One is installed per battery box 101 on the N side of the group 111N side connection point 115N and on the P side of the battery box 101N terminal 101N. In this battery system 100, when the service connector 114 is closed, Storage battery The N side of group 111 is already connected. Note that this configuration may be reversed for P and N.

[0048] The battery storage system 100 has three main advantages. First, the contactors 112 in each group can be closed remotely. Storage batteryThe groups 111 can be connected in parallel, and an operation to generate a cross current can be performed remotely. Secondly, by closing each group contactor 112 and each box contactor 113, the battery boxes 101 can be connected in parallel on a box-by-box basis and connected to the present storage battery system 100. Thirdly, by closing each box contactor 113 and opening and closing each group contactor 112 individually, any Storage battery Groups 111 can be individually connected to the battery system 100 .

[0049] Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing a paralleling control system 200 in the battery electric railcar traction system 1A in Fig. 2. The paralleling control system 200 is mainly composed of a vehicle control device 13, a plurality of battery boxes 101, a pantograph 2, a converter 5, an auxiliary inverter 10, and a cab 12. The configuration and operation will be described below in order.

[0050] The battery box 101 includes a plurality of Storage battery group 111, battery box control board 205, and each Storage battery A current sensor (CT: Current Transformer) 203 is installed in the group 111 and converts the current value flowing therethrough into a voltage signal. Storage battery The system includes a voltage sensor (PT: Potential Transformer) 204 that is installed in the group 111 and converts the voltage value into a voltage signal, a group contactor 112, and a box contactor 113.

[0051] Storage battery The group 111 is composed of multiple battery modules 201. The battery module 201 is provided with a cell control board 202 that monitors the state of the multiple battery cells contained therein. The cell control board is a board that has sensors and communication functions, and in this storage battery system 100, it measures all cell voltages and temperatures at representative points in the battery module 201 and transmits them as signals to a battery control board 205.

[0052] The battery box control board 205 is a control board installed in each battery box 101, and includes a battery state analysis unit 206 and an in-box contactor control unit 207. The battery state analysis unit 206 is a calculation unit that analyzes the battery state in the box and transmits information to the vehicle control device 13 and the in-box contactor control unit 207.

[0053] The battery state analysis unit 206 receives as input the cell voltages and temperatures transmitted from all cell control boards 202, the group currents transmitted from all current sensors 203, and the group voltages transmitted from all voltage sensors 204. The battery state analysis unit 206 outputs each group resistance, each group voltage, cell resistance, and each group maximum cell voltage required for parallelization control to the vehicle control device 13, and outputs a battery abnormality determination to the box internal contactor control unit 207 and the vehicle control device 13.

[0054] For example, the cell resistance is calculated by calculating the charging rate of each cell from the battery information, and the resistance is calculated from the battery temperature and resistance deterioration rate of each cell. The methods for calculating the charging rate and resistance deterioration rate are generally known and will not be described in detail, but the group current is used in these calculations. The group resistance is calculated as the sum of the component resistances reflecting the series-parallel connection of all the cell resistance values ​​in the storage battery group 111. Each group voltage is a detection value of the voltage sensor 204. The cell voltage is a detection value of the cell controller 202.

[0055] It is most desirable to calculate the cell resistance and cell voltage for each cell individually, but this can be simplified. As an example of simplification, if there is a limit to the performance of the battery box control board 205 or the number of voltage and temperature sensors, the cell resistance may be output as an average value, and the cell voltage may be output as the voltage of the cell with the highest voltage. Battery abnormality determination is performed by determining whether the battery group voltage, group current, cell voltage, temperature, etc. have reached abnormal values.

[0056] The box contactor control unit 207 is a control unit that operates the contactors according to the contactor operation signal and opens the contactors in the event of an abnormality to protect the battery. The box contactor control unit 207 receives as inputs a contactor operation command output from the vehicle control device 13, a battery abnormality determination output from the battery state analysis unit 206, each group contactor state output from all each group contactor 112, and each box contactor state output from all each box contactor 113, and outputs each group contactor operation to each group contactor 112 and each box contactor operation to each box contactor 113.

[0057] The box-in-contactor control unit 207 operates each group contactor 112 and each box contactor 113 according to a contactor operation command output from the vehicle control device 13. If a battery abnormality determination is input from the battery state analysis unit 206, the box-in-contactor control unit 207 opens each group contactor 112 and each box contactor 113 in response to the abnormality, regardless of the contactor operation command. In addition, if the state of each group contactor and the state of each box contactor do not match the contactor operation command, the box-in-contactor control unit 207 transmits a contactor operation command again. If the state does not match the contactor operation command continues for a long period of time, a contactor failure determination is transmitted to the vehicle control device 13.

[0058] In general, the control board 206 has various other functions, but they will not be described in detail here. The vehicle control device 13 is a device that controls the entire battery electric train traction system 1A. The paralleling control system 200 integrates information from the entire system, and performs opening and closing operations of the contactors and commands to charge and discharge the batteries.

[0059] The vehicle control device 13 has a cross current calculation unit 208, a voltage adjustment target value calculation unit 209, and a parallelization control unit 210. In general, the vehicle control device 13 has various other functions in addition to these, but they will not be described in detail here. The cross current calculation unit 208 receives battery state information of all battery boxes 101 (each group resistance, each group voltage, cell resistance, cell voltage) as input, determines whether each contactor can be closed, and outputs the result. The ability to close a contactor is determined, for example, by whether a battery cell is predicted to become overvoltage.

[0060] In this case, the cross current calculation unit 208 first calculates the cross current using the above formula (1), and then calculates the closed circuit voltage CCVi when a cross current flows for the battery cell i using the following formula (2). Here, OCVi is the open circuit voltage of the cell, Ri is the resistance value of the battery cell i, and N is the Storage battery The number of battery cells in parallel in the group 111.

[0061]

number

[0062] When the closed circuit voltage CCVi when a cross current occurs, defined by the above equation (2), is less than the threshold for determining a high voltage abnormality for all battery cells i through which current flows by contactor operation if the cross current is a charging current, or is greater than the threshold for determining a low voltage abnormality for all battery cells i through which current flows by contactor operation if the cross current is a discharging current, then the contactor can be closed; otherwise, it is not allowed.

[0063] If it is not possible to perform the calculation for all battery cells i, for example, Storage battery No high voltage abnormality occurs in the battery cell with the highest open circuit voltage OCVi in group 111. Storage battery The open circuit voltage OCVi of group 111 is the lowest, and whether or not a low voltage abnormality occurs is used to determine whether or not the contactor is operable.

[0064] In addition, the contactor closing operation is possible under the condition that the overcurrent does not exceed the upper limit current of the battery cell, module, contactor, cable, fuse (not shown), etc. When the cross current calculation unit 208 determines that the contactor closing operation is not possible due to the occurrence of a cross current, the voltage adjustment target value calculation unit 209 determines that the parallelization control unit 210 is parallelized. Storage battery Charge or discharge the group 111 or battery box 101 and parallelize them Storage battery This is a calculation unit that calculates a voltage target value that makes the voltages of the group 111 or the battery box 101 uniform.

[0065] The battery status information of all the battery boxes 101 (resistance of each group, voltage of each group, cell resistance, cell voltage) and the charging possible / not possible vehicle status output by the pantograph 2 are input. Storage battery The voltage adjustment target values ​​are output separately to the group 111 and to each storage battery box 101. In a battery train, whether charging is possible or not depends on the vehicle's location on the line.

[0066] When the overhead line 14 is present on the vehicle and the pantograph 2 is in contact with the overhead line 14, charging is possible, and the voltage is made uniform by the charging operation of the converter 5. Storage battery The voltage regulation target value of group 111 is the maximum voltage regulation target value within each box 101. Storage batteryThe group 111 voltage is the voltage of the battery box 101 , and the voltage adjustment target value of each battery box 101 is the maximum battery box 101 voltage in the battery system 100 .

[0067] On the other hand, when there is no overhead line on the vehicle and the pantograph 2 is not in contact with the overhead line 14, charging is not possible, so the voltage is made uniform by the discharge operation of the auxiliary inverter 10. Storage battery The voltage regulation target value of group 111 is the lowest in each box 101. Storage battery The group 111 voltage is the target voltage for voltage adjustment of each battery box 101, and the target voltage for voltage adjustment of each battery box 101 is the minimum battery box 101 voltage in the battery system 100. The safest target voltage for voltage adjustment is the minimum or maximum voltage described above, but in order to shorten the voltage adjustment time, there is no problem if the voltage is within a range in which cross currents are safe.

[0068] The paralleling control unit 210 is a control unit that performs opening and closing operations of the contactors and gives instructions for charging and discharging the batteries. It receives as inputs the vehicle status indicating whether charging is possible or not output from the pantograph 2, the battery abnormality judgment and the contactor abnormality judgment output from all the battery boxes 101, the contactor closing operation possible or not output from the cross current calculation unit 208, the voltage adjustment target value output from the voltage adjustment target value calculation unit 209, and the system start command and the running interrupt command output from the cab 12, and outputs the contactor operation commands for all the battery boxes 101, the operation command of the pantograph 2, the output command of the converter 5, the output command of the auxiliary inverter 10, and the display information of the cab 12.

[0069] The driver judges the cab 12 display information displayed on the monitor of the cab 12 and issues a command from the cab 12. The main operations of the paralleling control unit 210 are to issue commands to open and close the contactors, and to adjust the voltage when a cross current is expected to occur. After receiving a system start command from the cab 12, the contactor open and close command is issued when the cross current calculation unit 208 judges that the contactor can be closed for the contactor that is the target of the close operation, and when the battery anomaly judgment and contactor anomaly judgment indicate no problem, the contactor is closed.

[0070] When the cross current calculation unit 208 determines that the contactor closing operation is not possible due to the occurrence of a cross current, the parallelization control unit 210 performs parallelization. Storage batteryCharge or discharge the group 111 or battery box 101 and parallelize them Storage battery The voltages of the groups 111 or the battery boxes 101 are made equal. Here, the order of parallelization is Storage battery After the groups 111 are parallelized, the battery boxes 101 are parallelized.

[0071] Since charging is possible in the section where the overhead line is on the vehicle, the paralleling control unit raises the pantograph 2 to contact it, operates the converter 5, and then supplies low voltage power. Storage battery The group 111 or the battery box are individually connected by operating the contactor, and charged up to the target value of the voltage adjustment target value calculation unit 209. After charging, the cross current calculation unit 208 performs parallel connection to determine whether the contactor can be closed.

[0072] On the other hand, since charging is not possible in the section where the overhead line is not on the vehicle, the paralleling control unit operates the auxiliary inverter 10 and then supplies high voltage Storage battery The group 111 or the battery box are individually connected by operating the contactor, and discharged to the target value of the voltage adjustment target value calculation unit 209. After charging, the cross current calculation unit 208 performs parallel connection to determine whether the contactor can be closed.

[0073] In the box Storage battery When there are three or more groups 111 or battery boxes 101, and the cross current calculation unit 208 judges that parallelization is possible but the voltages do not match and a certain cross current value occurs, it is generally desirable to connect the batteries in parallel starting from the lower voltage side, as shown in Patent Document 2. This is because the problem caused by the actual cross current is that the battery exceeds the upper closed circuit voltage according to the above formula (2) more seriously than the battery exceeds the lower closed circuit voltage due to the electrochemical characteristics inside the lithium ion battery, and therefore it is safer to gradually align the voltage starting from the low voltage side where the cross current becomes a charging current.

[0074] FIG. 6 is a flowchart 300 showing the processing procedure of the parallelization control unit 210 in FIG. 5. That is, the parallelization control of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 6 is the overall parallelization control by the parallelization control unit 210 from the start of the vehicle system (S2) to the completion of the parallelization processing of the storage battery system (S30) and entering a storage battery running possible state. The running interrupt command (S8) is a command for the parallelization control unit 210 to interrupt the voltage adjustment and transition to a running state in the middle of the parallelization control flowchart 300 shown in FIG. 6. In the start step S1, the flowchart 300 of the parallelization control by the parallelization control unit 210 starts. At this time, the storage battery electric train drive system 1A is in an off state, and all the group contactors 112 and all the box contactors 113 are in an open state. Note that the order of priority alignment is preferably in the order of alignment within each box and then alignment by box, which is convenient for emergency running, and for example, a storage battery electric train can be powered with only one box.

[0075] In vehicle system on determination step S2, the parallelization control unit 210 determines whether the key of the vehicle system is on or not. If the key is on, the parallelization control unit 210 proceeds to the next step, and if the key is off, the parallelization control unit 210 returns to S2. In battery state analysis step S3, the battery box control boards 205 in all boxes analyze the battery state (each group resistance, each group voltage, cell resistance, cell voltage) and battery abnormality determination of each battery box 101, and transmit the results to the vehicle control device 13.

[0076] In the target box selection step S4, the parallelization control unit 210 Storage battery Select the target box i for parallelizing the group 111. The order of i may be arbitrary, but in order to maximize the number of available battery boxes 101 when moving to the running interrupt, Storage battery It is desirable to carry out the parallelization control in the order of the amount of charge / discharge required for voltage adjustment of group 111. In addition, it is desirable to postpone the parallelization control for those batteries that have been determined to have a battery abnormality or a contactor abnormality, since this is disadvantageous for emergency driving.

[0077] In the inter-group cross current calculation step S5, the parallelization control unit 210 calculates the cross current value when the cross current calculation unit 208 closes each group contactor 112 in the battery box 101, and determines whether the inter-group cross current value is small and safe parallelization is possible. Storage battery When there are three or more groups 111, the cross current value is calculated when paralleling is performed from the low voltage side.

[0078] In intergroup cross current safety judgment step S6, if it is judged in intergroup cross current calculation step S5 that the intergroup cross current value is small and safe parallel connection is possible, proceed to each group contactor closing step S7. In intergroup cross current safety judgment step S6, if it is judged that the intergroup cross current value is large and safe parallel connection is not possible, proceed to intergroup voltage adjustment from traveling cut-in judgment step S8 to each box contactor opening step S16.

[0079] In the each group contactor closing step S7, the parallelization control unit 210 closes each group contactor 112 in each battery box i within a range in which the inter-group cross current value is small and safe parallel connection is possible based on the contactor closing decision calculated by the cross current calculation unit 208. Storage battery The group 111 is connected in parallel. When the parallelization control unit 210 receives a traveling cut-in command from the cab 12 as the first stage of inter-group voltage adjustment in the traveling cut-in determination step S8, the parallelization control unit 210 interrupts inter-group voltage adjustment and proceeds to each group contactor closing step S7.

[0080] The parallelization control unit 210 does not necessarily operate at a single point between steps S6 and S8 in the traveling interruption determination step S8, but always operates between steps S8 to S16, which are voltage adjustment operations, and if a traveling interruption command is issued, it may proceed to step S7 for closing the contactors of each group. Storage battery A target group k is selected for parallelizing the group 111. The order of k may be arbitrary, but it is preferable to postpone the processing of those for which a battery abnormality judgment or contactor abnormality judgment has occurred.

[0081] In the chargeability status determination step S10, the parallelization control unit 210 determines whether the vehicle is in a chargeable or non-chargeable state corresponding to the contact status of the pantograph 2 with the overhead line, and determines whether the voltage adjustment is to be performed by charging or discharging. The voltage adjustment target value calculation unit 209 calculates the voltage adjustment target value. When the pantograph 2 is in contact with the overhead line 14 and charging is possible, the parallelization control unit 210 sets the voltage adjustment target value to the maximum Storage battery On the other hand, if the pantograph 2 is not in contact with the overhead line 14 and charging is not possible, the voltage adjustment target value is set to the minimum Storage battery The group 111 voltage is set, and the process proceeds to discharge group connection step S13.

[0082] In the charging group connection step S11, the parallelization control unit 210 Storage battery If group 111k needs to charge at a voltage lower than the voltage regulation target value, Storage battery The group contactor 112 and the box contactor 113 corresponding to the group 111k are connected to the battery electric train traction system 1A, and the battery electric train traction system 1A is put into a chargeable state. Storage battery If group 111k is at a higher voltage than the voltage regulation target value and charging is not required, proceed to the next step.

[0083] The parallelization control unit 210 Storage battery In group 111 charging step S12, Storage battery When the group 111k needs to be charged at a voltage lower than the voltage regulation target value, the converter 5 is started to Storage battery Charge group 111k to the voltage regulation target value. Conversely, Storage battery If group 111k is at a higher voltage than the voltage regulation target value and charging is not required, proceed to the next step.

[0084] In the discharge group connection step S13, the parallelization control unit 210 Storage battery If discharge is required because group 111k is at a higher voltage than the voltage regulation target value, Storage battery Each group contactor 112 and each box contactor 113 corresponding to group 111k are connected to the battery train traction system 1A, and the battery train traction system 1A is put into a dischargeable state. Storage batteryIf the group 111k has a voltage lower than the voltage regulation target value and no discharge is required, the process proceeds to the next step.

[0085] The parallelization control unit 210 Storage battery In group 111 discharge step S14, Storage battery When discharge is required because the voltage of the group 111k is higher than the voltage regulation target value, the auxiliary inverter 10 is started and the target Storage battery Discharge group 111k to the voltage regulation target value. Storage battery If the group 111k has a voltage lower than the voltage regulation target value and no discharge is required, the process proceeds to the next step.

[0086] In the intergroup voltage adjustment completion determination step S15, the parallelization control unit 210 determines whether the cross current calculation unit 208 can close the contactor again. Storage battery If the voltage adjustment of the group 111 is not completed and all the contactors 112 of each group cannot be closed, the process returns to before the traveling interruption determination step S8, and the next Storage battery Proceed to voltage regulation of group 111. Conversely, all Storage battery When the voltage adjustment of the group 111 is completed and it is determined that each group contactor 112 can be closed, the process proceeds to step S16 of opening each box contactor.

[0087] In each box contactor opening step S16, the parallelization control unit 210 opens each box contactor 113. This is to isolate the battery box 101i from the battery train traction system 1A and to prevent cross current from flowing between the battery boxes 101i and 101i+1 when the voltage of the battery box 101i+1 is next adjusted. At this time, the each group contactor 112 may be in a closed state.

[0088] After the step S16 of opening the contactors of each box, the parallelization control unit 210 merges into the step S7 of closing the contactors of each group. Storage battery The parallelization control unit 210 judges whether the voltage adjustment between the groups 111 is completed. If it is not completed, the parallelization control unit 210 returns to the target box selection step S4, selects the next battery box i+1 as the target battery box for voltage adjustment, and repeats the voltage adjustment process within the box. Storage batteryIf voltage regulation of group 111 is complete, proceed to the next step.

[0089] In inter-box cross current calculation step S18, the parallelization control unit 210 calculates the cross current value when the cross current calculation unit 208 closes each box contactor 113 in the battery system 100 with each group contactor 112 in the closed state at the end of step S17, and determines whether the inter-box cross current value is small and safe parallelization is possible. If the result of this determination is that there are three or more battery boxes 101, the parallelization control unit 210 calculates the cross current value when parallelization is performed from the low-voltage side.

[0090] If the parallelization control unit 210 determines in inter-box cross current safety determination step S19 that the inter-box cross current value is small and safe parallel connection is possible in inter-box cross current calculation step S18, the process proceeds to each box contactor closing step S20. Conversely, if the parallelization control unit 210 determines that the inter-box cross current value is large and safe parallel connection is impossible, the process proceeds to inter-box voltage adjustment from traveling cut-in determination step S21 to inter-box voltage adjustment completion determination step S29.

[0091] In each box contactor closing step S20, the parallelization control unit 210 closes each box contactor 113 in the battery system 100 based on the contactor closure determination calculated by the cross current calculation unit 208, to the extent that the inter-box cross current value is small and safe parallel connection is possible, thereby connecting the battery boxes 101 in parallel.

[0092] Fig. 7 is a flowchart 400 showing the control procedure for running cut-in in the battery electric train traction system 1A of Fig. 2. In the case where the paralleling control unit 210 receives a running cut-in command from the cab 12 as the first stage of inter-box voltage adjustment in the same manner as in the running cut-in determination step S8 in Fig. 6, the paralleling control unit 210 interrupts inter-box voltage adjustment and proceeds to running cut-in start step T1 in the running cut-in control flowchart 400 of Fig. 7. The paralleling control unit 210 uses the power of the box with the higher voltage for powering, and when that voltage drops and becomes uniform, the paralleling control unit 210 couples the boxes together.

[0093] The parallelization control unit 210 does not necessarily operate the running interruption determination step S21 at one point between steps S19 and S22, but may operate it at all times during the voltage adjustment operations from S22 to S29. When a running interruption command is issued, the parallelization control unit 210 may proceed to the start step T1 of the running interruption control flowchart 400.

[0094] In a target box selection step S22, the parallelization control unit 210 selects a target box i for parallelizing the storage battery boxes 101 in the battery system. The order of i may be arbitrary, but it is preferable to select a box for which a battery abnormality judgment or contactor abnormality judgment has occurred later. In a chargeability status judgment step S23, the parallelization control unit 210 judges the chargeability vehicle status corresponding to the overhead line contact status of the pantograph 2, as in the chargeability status judgment step S10. Based on the judgment result, the parallelization control unit 210 judges whether the voltage adjustment should be performed by charging or discharging. At that time, the voltage adjustment target value calculation unit 209 calculates the voltage adjustment target value.

[0095] When the pantograph 2 is in contact with the overhead line 14 and charging is possible, the parallelization control unit 210 sets the voltage adjustment target value to the maximum battery box voltage and proceeds to charging box connection step S24. Conversely, when the pantograph 2 is not in contact with the overhead line 14 and charging is not possible, the voltage adjustment target value to the minimum battery box voltage and proceeds to discharge box connection step S26.

[0096] In charging box connection step S24, similar to charging group connection step S11, if the target battery box i needs to be charged at a voltage lower than the voltage adjustment target value, the parallelization control unit 210 connects each box contactor 113 corresponding to the target battery box i (at this time, each group contactor 112 is already closed). Then, the parallelization control unit 210 connects each box contactor 113 corresponding to the target battery box i to the battery train traction system 1A, making it available for charging. Conversely, if the target battery box i needs to be charged at a voltage higher than the voltage adjustment target value, the process proceeds to the next step.

[0097] The parallelization control unit 210, in the battery box charging step S25, Storage batteryAs in group 111 charging step S12, if the target battery box i is at a lower voltage than the voltage adjustment target value and charging is required, the converter 5 is started to charge the target battery box i up to the voltage adjustment target value. Conversely, if the target battery box i is at a higher voltage than the voltage adjustment target value and charging is not required, the process proceeds to the next step.

[0098] In discharge box connection step S26, similar to discharge group connection step S13, if the target battery box i has a higher voltage than the voltage adjustment target value and discharge is required, the parallelization control unit 210 connects each box contactor 113 corresponding to the target battery box i (at this time, each group contactor 112 is already closed). Then, the parallelization control unit 210 connects each corresponding box contactor 113 to the battery train traction system 1A to enable discharge. Conversely, if the target battery box i has a lower voltage than the voltage adjustment target value and discharge is not required, the process proceeds to the next step.

[0099] In battery box discharging step S27, similar to battery box discharging step S14, if the target battery box i has a higher voltage than the voltage adjustment target value and needs to be discharged, the parallelization control unit 210 starts the auxiliary inverter 10 to discharge the target battery box i up to the voltage adjustment target value. Conversely, if the target battery box i has a lower voltage than the voltage adjustment target value and needs not to be discharged, the process proceeds to the next step.

[0100] The parallelization control unit 210 opens each box contactor 113 of the battery box 101i in each box contactor opening step S28. This is to isolate the battery box 101i from the battery train traction system 1A and to prevent cross current from flowing between the battery boxes 101i and 101i+1 when the voltage of the battery box 101i+1 is next adjusted. At this time, the group contactors 112 may be in a closed state.

[0101] In box-to-box voltage adjustment completion determination step S29, the parallelization control unit 210 determines whether or not voltage adjustment is complete in all battery boxes 101, similar to all-box-group voltage adjustment completion determination step S17. If not complete, the process returns to target box selection step S22, the next battery box i+1 is selected as the target for voltage adjustment, and the voltage adjustment process within the box is repeated. If voltage adjustment is complete in all battery boxes 101, the parallelization control unit 210 proceeds to each box contactor closing step S20.

[0102] The parallelization control unit 210 completes the parallelization process in the end step S30, and the battery system 100 is connected to the battery train drive system 1A and is in a battery-powered running state. Storage battery By making it possible to individually adjust the voltage of group 111 and all battery boxes, Storage battery The system 100 Storage battery Any combination of voltages of the battery packs 111 and the battery boxes 101 may be used. Furthermore, regardless of whether the railcar is in a charging-enabled state or not, all Storage battery It is possible to adjust the voltage of the group 111 and the battery box 101 individually and connect them in parallel within a safe cross current range.

[0103] Now, the charging and discharging operations for these voltage adjustments require a certain amount of time. In the battery train traction system 1A, it is preferable that all the battery boxes 101 in the battery system 100 and the battery packs therein are Storage battery It is desirable to start running after group 111 is connected in parallel, but in an emergency, it is necessary to be able to start running even if maximum output is not available.

[0104] Therefore, when a traveling interrupt command is output from the cab 12, it is necessary to interrupt the voltage adjustment operation shown in the flowchart 300 and immediately make the battery storage system 100 available for charging and discharging. In this case, even if not all the batteries are connected in parallel, each Storage battery Since group 111 has a voltage capable of operating motor inverter 6, it is possible to run at low power.

[0105] Furthermore, in the actual storage battery system 100, due to issues such as division of control, Storage battery If all the groups 111 are not connected in parallel, the battery box 101 may not be able to be connected to the storage battery system 100. Storage battery In an emergency, it is important to adjust the voltage between groups 111 and make each battery box 101 connectable to the storage battery system 100.

[0106] Therefore, the parallelization control flowchart 300 shown in FIG. Storage battery This system is characterized by the fact that voltage adjustment between battery boxes 101 is performed after all voltage adjustments for the group 111 have been completed. This allows the voltages in each battery box to be aligned as quickly as possible, and even if a command to interrupt driving is issued during voltage adjustment, the battery boxes 101 are used one by one in order starting with the high-voltage battery box, and the voltage of the battery box 101 in use drops as it is used, and each time the voltage of the battery box 101 in use is aligned with that of the unused battery box 101, the parallel connection is repeated, thereby maximizing the distance that can be traveled.

[0107] This will be described using a control flowchart 400 for travel cut-in. Fig. 7 is a control flowchart 400 for travel cut-in according to the first embodiment of the present invention. At an arbitrary time point in the parallelization control flowchart 300 in Fig. 6, a travel cut-in is issued by the vehicle system, and the method of using the storage battery when the travel cut-in is performed is shown from the travel cut-in start step T1.

[0108] The vehicle system starts the control procedure of the control flowchart 400 for driving interruption at driving interruption start step T1 in Fig. 7. Driving interruption start step T1 in Fig. 7 is the same as that in Fig. 6. At this time, according to the parallelization control flowchart 300, in the battery system 100, each group contactor 112 is in the closed state and all box contactors 113 are in the open state to the extent that there are no problems with the cross current value in all battery boxes 101.

[0109] In usable battery box determination step T2, the parallelization control unit 210 determines whether or not each battery box 101 can be used individually. Whether or not each battery box 101 can be used individually means that the battery box 101 can run if it is individually connected to the battery train traction system 1A, and the cross current value when the boxes are connected in parallel is not relevant.

[0110] The criteria for judgment are the battery abnormality judgment, contactor abnormality judgment, and the closed state of each group of contactors output by the battery box control board 205 (FIG. 5). The closed state of each group of contactors is determined based on the division of the control of the actual storage battery system, etc. Storage battery It is assumed that the battery box 101 cannot be connected to the storage battery system 100 unless all of the groups 111 are connected in parallel.

[0111] In the highest voltage box connection step T3, the battery box control board 205 closes the box contactors 113 of each battery box 101 that the cross current calculation unit 208 has determined can be connected in parallel, starting with the battery box 101 with the highest voltage among the usable battery boxes 101 determined in step T3, and connects the battery train traction system 1A to a state where it can run.

[0112] In running step T4, the battery electric train traction system 1A runs using power from the battery system 100. During this time, the voltage of the battery 101 in use drops as the charging rate drops. In box voltage matching step T5, it is determined that the voltage of the battery box 101 whose voltage has dropped due to running and the voltage of the battery box 101 that is available but not yet in use because the inter-box contactor 113 is in the open state are now the same.

[0113] This determination depends on the accuracy of the open-circuit voltage of the battery, but since this accuracy decreases as the current value increases, it is desirable to make the determination at a current value below a certain level. In each box contactor closing step T6, the parallelization control unit 210 closes the inter-box contactors 113 of the unused battery boxes 101 that have the same voltage as determined in the box voltage matching step T5, thereby connecting the battery boxes 101 in parallel to the storage battery system 100. At this time, the voltages of the battery boxes in use and the battery box to be newly connected are almost the same, so the cross current is small.

[0114] The parallelization control unit 210 determines whether or not all available battery boxes 101 are connected in parallel in an all-box parallelization determination step T7. If not all are connected in parallel, the parallelization control unit 210 returns to the step before the traveling step T4, and if all are connected in parallel, the parallelization control unit 210 proceeds to the next step.

[0115] The parallelization control unit 210 ends the traveling interruption control flowchart in end step T8. At this time, all of the available battery boxes 101 are parallelized. From here, the parallelization control system 200 in FIG. 5 is shown. The cab transmission information issued from the parallelization control unit 210 to the cab 12 will be described.

[0116] The cab transmission information is used by the driver to check the progress of the paralleling control and to provide information on whether or not to issue a running cut-in command during the paralleling control flow chart 300. Representative cab transmission information includes the contactor opening / closing status, Storage battery These include group 111 voltage, each battery box 101 voltage, remaining voltage adjustment time, cruising distance, and maximum acceleration force.

[0117] Contactor opening / closing information, each Storage battery The group 111 voltage and each battery box 101 voltage are stored in the storage battery system 100. Storage battery The voltage of the battery group 111 and the voltage of each battery box 101. The remaining voltage adjustment time is the remaining time until the parallelization control flow chart 300 is completed. Storage battery This value is calculated according to the voltage of the group 111 and each battery box 101, their battery capacities, the chargeable speed of the converter 5, and the dischargeable speed of the auxiliary inverter 10.

[0118] The rate of voltage regulation is predictable, so that the parallelizable voltages that can be parallelized at future times are calculated based on the rate at which voltage regulation continues. Storage battery The number of battery boxes in the group 111 and the voltage at that time are predictable. The cruising distance is calculated based on the state of the battery system 100 at the time the driving interrupt command is issued at each point in time from the present to the future. Storage batteryThe graph shows the possible cruising distance when the group 111, the battery box, is used and the control procedure of the flow chart 400 for controlling the cut-in driving is followed.

[0119] The maximum acceleration force is the maximum acceleration force that can be used at each point in time from the present to the future in the state of the battery system 100 at the time when the traveling interrupt command is issued. Storage battery This shows the maximum acceleration force using the battery box group 111. This maximum acceleration force is a value that increases every time the number of boxes in parallel increases according to the control procedure of the traveling interruption control flowchart 400, but in many cases, the maximum acceleration force at the stage where the number of parallel boxes is the smallest is of concern, so it is sufficient to display the initial value.

[0120] The possible driving distance and maximum acceleration are values ​​that change as the voltage adjustment progresses, so it is necessary to display in the cab 12 how they will change with respect to the duration of the voltage adjustment. Furthermore, the behavior differs depending on whether the voltage adjustment corresponds to charging or discharging. The voltage adjustment for charging and discharging will be described later using Figures 8 and 9. Here, although different from the example in Figure 4, this storage battery system 100 has two storage battery boxes 101, each of which has two Storage battery An example in which group 111 is stored will be described.

[0121] Although not shown in the figure, Storage battery The voltage of group 111 is group 1 > group 2, and the voltage of each box after adjusting the voltage of each group is also box 1 > box 2. The time required for voltage adjustment of each group is shorter for box 1 than for box 2, and it is assumed that voltage adjustment of each group inside box 1 begins. It is assumed that the voltage difference between each group and box is large, and that parallel connection is not possible without voltage adjustment. To drive this battery train traction system 1A, all the voltages in the boxes are Storage battery Group 111 requires one or more battery boxes connected in parallel. Therefore, if voltage regulation is not performed, there will be no battery box 101 capable of operating this battery train traction system 1A, and the maximum acceleration force P and cruising distance L will be zero.

[0122] Fig. 8 is a time-series switch open / close table and graph of the cruising distance and acceleration force during charging by the parallel control of Fig. 5 and Fig. 6. Fig. 8 illustrates an example of driving while charging, in which the control procedure of the parallel control flowchart 300 of Fig. 6 is executed by charging. The table of Fig. 8 shows the operation of each group contactor 112, each box contactor 113, and converter 5 of the two battery boxes 101, and the graph of Fig. 8 shows the voltage adjustment time dependency of the maximum acceleration force P and the cruising distance L.

[0123] The maximum acceleration force P and the remaining driving distance L correspond to the values ​​when a driving interrupt command is input at that time. The horizontal position of the table and the voltage adjustment time axis of the graph are assumed to be the same. The operation of this figure will be explained according to the voltage adjustment time axis. Note that the maximum acceleration force P and the remaining driving distance L will be abbreviated as P and L hereafter.

[0124] Start step V1 is a step showing the start state of the parallelization control flowchart 300. All of the group contactors 112 and box contactors 113 in the battery system 100 are in the open state, and the converter 5 is in the stopped state. At this time, based on the preconditions at the start, there is no battery box 101 that can operate the battery electric train traction system 1A, and P and L are 0.

[0125] In the first box inter-group voltage adjustment step V2, each group voltage in the first box is adjusted, and after the adjustment, the first box is connected in parallel. At this time, in order to charge group 2 in box 1, each group contactor 112 in group 1 in box 1 is opened, each group contactor 112 and each box contactor 113 in group 2 in box 1 are closed, and all contactors in box 2 are opened, and converter 5 is in charging operation.

[0126] At this time, group 2 in box 1 is charging, but since it is not yet possible to connect the groups in parallel for a while, P and L are 0. If the time when the voltages become close enough to enable parallel connection is t1, then P and L are 0 up until time t1. After time t1, a certain cross current occurs, but it becomes possible to connect the groups, and P and L increase discontinuously.

[0127] Thereafter, P and L increase continuously as group 2 of 1 is charged. When the inter-group voltage adjustment of box 1 is completed, P is set to P1 and L is set to L1. At the end of step V2, each box contactor 113 of box 1 is opened and all group contactors 112 are closed, connecting the inside of box 1 in parallel. The second intra-box inter-group voltage adjustment step V3 adjusts each group voltage in the second box, and after the adjustment, connects the inside of the second box in parallel.

[0128] At this time, in order to charge group 2 of box 2, each group contactor 112 of group 1 of box 2 is open, each group contactor 112 and each box contactor 113 of group 2 of box 2 are closed, all group contactors 112 of box 1 are closed, each box contactor 113 is open, and the converter 5 is in charging operation. At this time, group 2 of box 2 is being charged. As in box 1, if the voltage between the groups becomes close enough to enable parallel connection at time t2, P and L are P1 and L1 until time t2, and after time t2, a certain cross current occurs, but the state becomes one in which parallel connection is possible, and L increases discontinuously because two storage battery boxes 101 become available according to the traveling interruption control 400. After that, L increases continuously as group 2 of box 2 is charged.

[0129] On the other hand, P is a value that can be used immediately after a driving cut-in, so it does not change from P1. If P is P2 and L is L2 when inter-group voltage adjustment in box 2 is completed, then P becomes P1 and L becomes L1+L2 in the entire battery storage system 100. At the end of step V3, each box contactor 113 in box 2 is opened, and all group contactors 112 are closed, connecting the inside of box 2 in parallel.

[0130] In the inter-box voltage adjustment step V4, the voltage of each box in the system is adjusted, and each box is connected in parallel after the adjustment. At this time, in order to charge all groups of box 2, all contactors of box 2 are closed, all group contactors 112 of box 1 are closed, and each box contactor 113 is open, and the converter 5 is in charging operation. At this time, box 2 is charged, and if the time when the voltage becomes close enough to box 1 and parallel connection is possible is t3, P and L are P1 and L1+L2 until time t3, and after time t3, a certain cross current occurs, but it becomes possible to connect in parallel.

[0131] Since two battery boxes 101 are available for use, L increases continuously even though it is time t3. On the other hand, since P is a value that can be used in the situation immediately after a driving interruption, it does not change from P1 until time t3 when the two boxes can be connected in parallel, increases discontinuously at t3, and then increases continuously thereafter.

[0132] At the end of step V4, the voltage state of box 2 becomes the same as that of high-voltage box 1, so P becomes 2P1 and L becomes 2L1 in the entire battery system 100. Step V5 is the state where the voltage adjustment is completed and the battery system is in a standby state. At this time, all the contactors 112 and 113 in the battery system 100 are closed and the converter 5 is stopped.

[0133] FIG. 9 is a time series graph of the cruising distance and acceleration force during discharging in the parallel control of FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. That is, the control procedure of the parallel control flowchart 300 of FIG. 6 is executed by discharging. Here, instead of charging the converter 5, discharging is performed by operating the auxiliary inverter 10. The start step W1 is a step showing the start state of the parallel control flowchart 300. All the group contactors 112 and the box contactors 113 in the battery system 100 are in the open state, and the auxiliary inverter 10 is in the stopped state. At this time, there is no battery box 101 that can operate the battery train traction system 1A due to the preconditions at the start, and P and L are 0.

[0134] In the first box inter-group voltage adjustment step W2, each group voltage in the first box is adjusted, and after the adjustment, the first box is connected in parallel. At this time, in order to discharge group 1 in box 1, each group contactor 112 in group 2 in box 1 is opened, each group contactor 112 and each box contactor 113 in group 1 in box 1 are closed, and all contactors in box 2 are opened, and the auxiliary inverter 10 is in a discharging operation.

[0135] At this time, group 1 in box 1 is discharging, but since it is not yet possible to connect the groups in parallel for a while, P and L are 0. If the time when the voltages become close enough to enable parallel connection is t1, then P and L are 0 up until time t1. After time t1, a certain amount of cross current is generated, but the group becomes capable of being connected in parallel, and P and L increase discontinuously.

[0136] Thereafter, P and L decrease continuously as group 1 in box 1 is discharged. When the inter-group voltage adjustment of box 1 is completed, P is P1 and L is L1. At the end of step W2, each box contactor 113 of box 1 is opened and all group contactors 112 are closed, connecting the inside of box 1 in parallel. The second intra-box inter-group voltage adjustment step W3 adjusts each group voltage in the second box, and after the adjustment, connects the inside of the second box in parallel.

[0137] At this time, in order to discharge group 1 of box 2, each group contactor 112 of group 2 of box 2 is open, each group contactor 112 and each box contactor 113 of group 1 of box 2 are closed, all group contactors 112 of box 1 are closed, each box contactor 113 is open, and the auxiliary inverter 10 is discharging. At this time, group 1 of box 2 is discharged. As in box 1, if the time when the voltage between the groups becomes close enough to enable parallel connection is t2, P and L are P1 and L1 until time t2. After time t2, a certain cross current occurs, but the state becomes one in which parallel connection is possible, and L increases discontinuously according to the traveling interruption control 400, and two storage battery boxes 101 become available.

[0138] Thereafter, L decreases continuously as group 2 in box 2 is discharged. Meanwhile, P is a value that can be used in the situation immediately after a driving cut-in, so it does not change from P1. If P is P2 and L is L2 when inter-group voltage adjustment in box 2 is completed, then P becomes P1 and L becomes L1+L2 for the entire battery storage system 100. At the end of step W3, each box contactor 113 in box 2 is opened, and all group contactors 112 are closed, connecting the inside of box 2 in parallel.

[0139] In the inter-box voltage adjustment step W4, the voltage of each box in the system is adjusted, and each box is connected in parallel after the adjustment. At this time, in order to discharge all groups of box 1, all contactors of box 1 are closed, all group contactors 112 of box 2 are closed, and each box contactor 113 is open, and the auxiliary inverter 10 is discharging. At this time, box 1 is discharged, and if the time when the voltage of box 1 and box 2 become close enough to each other and can be connected in parallel is t3, P and L are P1 and L1+L2 until time t3, and after time t3, a certain cross current occurs, but it becomes possible to connect in parallel.

[0140] Since two battery boxes 101 are available for use, L decreases continuously regardless of time t3. On the other hand, since P is a value that can be used in the situation immediately after a driving interruption, it does not change from P1 until time t3 when the two boxes can be connected in parallel, increases discontinuously at t3, and then decreases continuously thereafter. At the end of step W4, the voltage state of box 1 becomes the same as that of box 2, which has a low voltage, so P becomes 2P2 and L becomes 2L2 for the entire battery system 100.

[0141] Step W5 is a state where the voltage adjustment is completed and the vehicle is in a standby state. At this time, all contactors in the system are closed, and the auxiliary inverter 10 is stopped. As shown here, when adjusting the voltage by discharging, the longer the discharge time is from the point where paralleling becomes possible, the smaller P and L become. Therefore, when adjusting the voltage by discharging, the range in which parallel connection is permitted even under conditions where some cross current occurs may be relaxed compared to when adjusting the voltage by charging, as long as the components constituting the battery system are not damaged.

[0142] Here, the vehicle control device 13 judges whether the remaining distance L is equal to or greater than the remaining distance to important points such as the next station where charging is possible or a position where passengers can get off in a tunnel or bridge, and displays this on the driver's cab 12 to assist the driver in deciding whether to cut in. From here, the characteristics and advantages of the circuit configuration of the storage battery box 101 in Fig. 4 shown in the first embodiment will be described.

[0143] Fig. 10 to Fig. 13 are circuit diagrams showing battery boxes 101a, 101b, 101c, and 101d having circuit configurations according to modified examples a to d. Fig. 14 is a table comparing the effects of battery boxes 101a, 101b, 101c, and 101d of modified examples a to d with the battery box 101 in Fig. 4. Below, the circuit configuration and effects of each feature will be explained one by one.

[0144] In the battery box 101 of FIG. 4, each group contactor 112 is Storage battery P side from group 111, and Storage battery A plurality of electrodes are arranged closer to the N side than the connection point 115P on the group 111P side. Storage battery In addition, in the storage battery box 101, each box contactor 113 is Storage battery One is provided per battery box 101 on the N side of the connection point 115N on the group 111N side and on the P side of the terminal 101N of the battery box 101N.

[0145] The features of this circuit configuration will be explained one by one for rows No. 1 (first) to No. 7 (seventh) in FIG. 14. First, Storage battery Regarding whether or not parallel connection between groups 111 can be performed using contactors, this can be achieved by closing each group contactor 112. Secondly, regarding whether or not parallel connection between boxes can be performed using contactors, this can be achieved by closing all group contactors 112 and box contactors 113 in the box.

[0146] Third, inside the box Storage battery Whether the voltage of each group 111 can be adjusted individually is a matter of the Storage battery The group contactor 112 and the box contactor 113 connected in series to the group 111 are closed, and the non-target Storage battery This can be achieved by opening each group contactor 112 connected in series to the group 111. Fourth, Storage battery Regarding whether the parallel connection of group 111 and the parallel connection between boxes can be implemented separately, Storage battery The groups 111 can be individually operated by closing the group contactors 112, and between the boxes by closing the box contactors 113.

[0147] Fifth, whether the external connection terminals 101P and 101N of the battery box can be put into a power outage state can be determined by opening the group contactor 112 for 101P, and by opening the box contactor 113 for 101N. Sixth, whether the earth fault current can be interrupted can be determined by opening the box contactor 113. Seventh, the number of contactors in the box [pieces / box] is Storage battery The number of group 111 is N, and there are N+1 [pieces / box].

[0148] 10 is a circuit diagram showing a battery box 101a according to a modified example. In the battery box 101a, the group contactor 112 is not present, and the box contactor 113 is Storage battery P side from group 111 and Storage battery The N side from the connection point 115P on the group 111P side and each Storage battery N side of group 111 and Storage battery Two are installed per battery box 101 on the P side of the connection point 115N on the group 111N side.

[0149] The features of this circuit configuration will be explained one by one for rows No. (1)1 to No. (7) in FIG. 14. First, Storage battery Regarding whether parallel connection between groups 111 can be achieved by using contactors, this is not possible. Secondly, regarding whether parallel connection between boxes can be achieved by using contactors, this can be achieved by closing both the P side and the N side of each box contactor 113.

[0150] Third, inside the box Storage battery It is not possible to adjust the voltage of each group 111 individually. Storage battery Whether the parallel connection of the group 111 and the parallel connection between boxes can be implemented separately is as follows. Storage battery This is not possible because parallel connection between groups 111 cannot be achieved by contactors. Fifth, the external connection terminals 101P, 101N of the battery boxes can be put into a power outage state by opening both the P side and the N side of the contactor 113 of each box.

[0151] Sixth, whether or not the earth fault current can be interrupted can be performed by opening each box contactor 113 on the N side. Seventh, the number of contactors in the box [pieces / box] is Storage battery The number of groups 111 is N, and 2 [pieces / box] is the minimum value. Fig. 11 is a circuit diagram showing a storage battery box 101b having a circuit configuration according to a modification of the first embodiment. In the battery box 101b, Storage battery Each group contactor 113 is installed on the P side and N side of the group 111 .

[0152] The features of this circuit configuration will be explained one by one for rows No. 1 (first) to No. 7 (seventh) in FIG. 14. First, Storage battery Whether or not the parallel connection between groups 111 can be performed by the contactor is determined by examining the contactor 112 of each group. Storage battery This can be achieved by closing both the P-side and N-side in the group 111. Secondly, whether or not parallel connection between boxes can be achieved by a contactor is determined by connecting the contactor 112 in each group to all the boxes. Storage battery This can be achieved by closing both the P side and the N side of group 111.

[0153] Third, inside the box Storage battery Whether the voltage of each group 111 can be adjusted individually is a matter of the Storage battery The contactors 112 of both the P-side and N-side groups connected in series with the group 111 are closed, and the non-target Storage battery This can be achieved by opening at least one of the P side and the N side of each group contactor 112 connected in series to the group 111. Storage battery Whether the parallel connection of the group 111 and the parallel connection between boxes can be performed separately can be determined by closing the group contactors 112 on the P and N sides. Storage battery This is not possible because the groups 111 are connected in parallel and the battery box 101 is connected to the battery system 100.

[0154] In a limited sense, this is possible if all the contactors of the other battery boxes 101 are open, but this has no generality with respect to the contactor states of the other battery boxes 101. Fifth, the external connection terminals 101P, 101N of the battery boxes can be put into a power outage state by opening all of the group contactors 112. Sixth, the earth fault current can be interrupted by opening each group box contactor 112 on the N side. Seventh, the number of contactors in the box [pieces / box] is Storage battery The number of groups is N, which is 2N [pieces / box].

[0155] FIG. 12 is a circuit diagram showing a battery box 101c having a circuit configuration according to a modification of the first embodiment. Storage battery On the N side of group 111 and Storage battery From the connection point 115N on the group 111N side to the P side Storage battery Each box contactor 113 is installed in each group 111. Storage battery One is installed per battery box 101 on the N side of the group 111N side connection point 115N and on the P side of the battery box 101N terminal 101N.

[0156] The features of this circuit configuration will be explained for each of No. 1 to No. 7 in Figure 14. First, Storage battery Regarding whether or not parallel connection between groups 111 can be achieved by using contactors, this can be achieved by closing the corresponding group contactors 112. Secondly, regarding whether or not parallel connection between boxes can be achieved by using contactors, this can be achieved by closing all group contactors 112 and box contactors 113 in the box.

[0157] Third, inside the box Storage battery Whether the voltage of each group 111 can be adjusted individually is a matter of the Storage battery The group contactor 112 and the box contactor 113 connected in series to the group 111 are closed, and the non-target Storage battery This can be achieved by opening each group contactor 112 connected in series to the group 111. Fourth, Storage battery Regarding whether the parallel connection of group 111 and the parallel connection between boxes can be implemented separately, Storage batteryThe groups 111 can be individually operated by closing the group contactors 112, and between the boxes by closing the box contactors 113.

[0158] Fifth, the external connection terminals 101P and 101N of the battery box can be put into a power outage state. This cannot be done for 101P. Sixth, the earth fault current can be interrupted by opening the contactor 113 of each box. Seventh, the number of contactors in the box [pieces / box] is Storage battery The number of group 111 is N, and there are N+1 [pieces / box].

[0159] 13 is a circuit diagram showing a battery box 101d having a circuit configuration according to a modification of the first embodiment. Storage battery On the N side of group 111 and Storage battery Each group 111 except for one is connected to the P side from the N-side connection point 115N. Storage battery Each box contactor 113 is installed in each group 111. Storage battery One is installed per battery box 101 on the N side of the group 111N side connection point 115N and on the P side of the battery box 101N terminal 101N.

[0160] The features of this circuit configuration will be explained for each of No. 1 to No. 7 in Figure 14. First, Storage battery Regarding whether or not the parallel connection between the groups 111 can be performed by the contactors, this can be achieved by closing the contactors 112 of each group. However, Storage battery Even if there are three or more groups 111, each group does not have a contactor 12. Storage battery The groups 111 are always connected in parallel at the same time. Secondly, regarding whether or not parallel connection between boxes can be achieved by using contactors, this can be achieved by closing all group contactors 112 and box contactors 113 in the box.

[0161] Third, inside the box Storage battery Whether the voltage of each group 111 can be adjusted individually depends on whether the contactor 12 of each group is not connected. Storage battery This is impossible because group 111 is always connected. Storage battery Regarding whether the parallel connection of group 111 and the parallel connection between boxes can be implemented separately, Storage batteryThe groups 111 can be individually operated by closing the group contactors 112, and between the boxes by closing the box contactors 113.

[0162] Fifth, the external connection terminals 101P and 101N of the battery box can be put into a power outage state, but this cannot be achieved by 101P. Sixth, the earth fault current can be interrupted by opening the contactor 113 of each box. Seventh, the number of contactors in the box [pieces / box] is Storage battery The number of groups is N, and N is [pieces / box].

[0163] From the above, the battery box 101 in FIG. 4 can have all of the functions No. 1 to No. 6 while keeping the number of contactors to a small number of N+1 [pieces / box]. Storage battery The battery box 101b has contactors on the P side and N side of the group 111, and the number of contactors is large. Storage battery This has the characteristic that the parallel connection of the group 111 and the parallel connection between the boxes can be implemented separately.

[0164] From the above, the effects of the present invention are, firstly, that the cost and mounting space of the contactor are reduced. Secondly, the effect of the present invention is that the contactor can be easily mounted in any one of the storage battery systems. Storage battery The voltage of the group 111 and the battery box 101 can be adjusted individually, and they can be automatically parallelized under voltage conditions that cause any cross current. Thirdly, even if a cut-in occurs during voltage adjustment to suppress cross current, the voltage adjustment within the box is completed early, so by using the battery boxes in order starting with the high-voltage battery box 101, the capacity of the battery system can be used to the maximum extent, and the driving distance can be secured. EXAMPLES

[0165] In Example 1, each group contactor 112 and each box contactor 113 are all single-pole compatible products with one contact and opening / closing mechanism, and all contactors can operate independently. On the other hand, in Example 2, a contactor has multiple contacts, and all contacts open and close simultaneously. Example 2 shown in Figure 15 and subsequent figures is considered more suitable for actual manufacturing. One of the reasons is that, regarding the number of interlocking opening and closing contacts of the contactor, a three-contact simultaneous opening and closing type is easy to procure existing products for three-phase simultaneous opening and closing.

[0166] 15 is a diagram showing the configuration of a multi-pole contactor 116 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The multi-pole contactor has multiple contacts 116a and one opening and closing mechanism 116b for opening and closing the contacts. The opening and closing mechanism 116b generally uses a spring to open the contacts and a current-carrying electromagnet to close the contacts. In order to individually operate the multiple contacts 116a of the multi-pole contactor, it is necessary to mount multiple opening and closing mechanisms 116b.

[0167] Multi-pole contactors in which one switching mechanism 116b switches multiple contacts are available on the market, and two-pole products that switch both PN ends of an electric circuit and three-pole products for three-phase AC are available at low cost, even for applications that require a large current. By using a multi-pole contactor, it is possible to configure a smaller, cheaper contactor than if the same number of contacts in the battery box were configured with single-pole contactors.

[0168] FIG. 16 is a circuit diagram of a railway vehicle battery system 199 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The contacts 116a of the multi-pole contactor 116 in FIG. 15 are connected to one of the contacts 116a and 116b in accordance with the connection position on the circuit. Storage battery The group contacts 112a are provided for each group 111, and each box contact 113b is provided for each battery box 101. In terms of circuit position, the group contacts 112a are equivalent to the group contactors 112 in the first embodiment, and the group contacts 112b are equivalent to the box contactors 113 in the first embodiment. In this configuration, Storage battery Charging and discharging on a group 111 basis will be impossible.

[0169] Fig. 17 is a block diagram showing a paralleling control system 299 applied to the present battery system 199 of Fig. 16. The paralleling control system 299 differs from the paralleling control system 200 of the first embodiment shown in Fig. 5 in that an in-box contactor control unit 207 transmits a contactor opening / closing operation to one multi-pole contactor 116.

[0170] FIG. 18 is a flowchart 300 showing the first half of the procedure of the paralleling control by the present battery system 199 in FIG. 16. FIG. 19 is a flowchart 300 showing the second half of the procedure of the paralleling control in FIG. 18. Example 2 shown in FIG. 18 and FIG. 19 differs from the flowchart 300 of Example 1 shown in FIG. 6 because it uses a multi-pole contactor 116. Each step will be explained in order. At the start step U1, the flowchart 300 of the paralleling control starts. At this time, the present battery electric train traction system 1A is in the off state, and all of the group contactors 112 and all of the box contactors 113 are in the open state.

[0171] In vehicle system on determination step U2, the vehicle control device 13 determines whether the key for the vehicle system is on or not. If it is on, proceed to the next step, and if it is off, return to S2. In battery state analysis step U3, the battery box control boards 205 in all boxes analyze the battery state (each group resistance, each group voltage, cell resistance, cell voltage) and battery abnormality determination of each battery box 101, and transmit them to the vehicle control device 13.

[0172] In the target box selection step U4, the battery box control board 205 selects Storage battery A target box i for parallelizing the group 111 is selected. In the inter-group cross current calculation step U5, the cross current calculation unit 208 calculates the cross current value when each group contactor 112 in the battery box 101 is closed, and judges whether the cross current value between the groups is small and safe parallelization is possible. In terms of the operation of the multi-pole contactor 116, Storage battery When there are three or more groups 111, all Storage battery The cross current when the groups 111 are simultaneously connected in parallel is calculated.

[0173] In step U6 of determining whether or not the group voltages match, if the battery box control board 205 determines in step U5 that the group voltages match, the process proceeds to step U7 of determining whether or not the inter-group voltage adjustment of all boxes is complete, and if the voltages do not match, the process proceeds to step U8 of determining whether or not the inter-group cross current safety value is complete. "Voltage match" refers to a voltage below a threshold value at which the occurrence of cross currents can be ignored. In step U7 of determining whether or not the inter-group voltage adjustment of all boxes is complete, the parallelization control unit 210 determines whether or not the inter-group voltage adjustment of all boxes is complete.

[0174] If the cross current calculation unit 208 determines in inter-group cross current safety value determination step U8 that the cross current value is too large to adjust the voltage, this is also included in the completion. If it is completed, proceed to inter-box cross current calculation step U12, and if it is not completed, proceed to inter-group cross current safety value determination step U8. In inter-group cross current safety value determination step U8, the cross current calculation unit 208 determines whether the inter-group cross current is within the safety value even if the multi-pole contactor 116 is closed while it is determined in inter-group voltage agreement determination step U6 that the inter-group voltages do not match.

[0175] If it is within the safe value, the process proceeds to step U9 for closing the multi-pole contactor, and if it is greater than the safe value, the process proceeds to step U7 for determining whether or not the voltage adjustment between all box groups is complete. In step U9 for closing the multi-pole contactor, the box internal contactor control unit 207 closes the multi-pole contactor 116 of the box i. At this time, the box internal contactor control unit 207 closes all the multi-pole contactors 116 inside the box i. Storage battery The groups 111 are connected in parallel. Meanwhile, the multi-pole contactors 116 other than the box i are in an open state, so that no cross current flows between the boxes.

[0176] In voltage leveling waiting step U10, Storage battery A cross current flows between groups 111, and the cross current creates high voltages. Storage battery The charge rate of group 111 has decreased, and conversely, the low voltage Storage battery The parallelization control unit 210 waits until the open circuit voltages of the group 111 become uniform due to an increase in the charging rate of the group 111. The wait continues, for example, until the current flowing through the current sensor 203 becomes equal to or lower than a threshold value.

[0177] In the multi-pole contactor opening step U11, the intra-box contactor control unit 207 opens the multi-pole contactor 116 of box i. As a result, no cross current between boxes will occur even if voltage adjustment is performed in the next battery box 101. In the box-to-box cross current calculation step U12, the cross current calculation unit 208 calculates the cross current value when the multi-pole contactor 116 in the battery pack is closed, and determines whether the cross current value between boxes is small and safe for parallelization. If there are three or more battery boxes 101, the cross current calculation unit 208 calculates the cross current value when parallelization is performed from the low-voltage side.

[0178] In Fig. 19, in the box-to-box cross current safety value determination step U13, if it is determined in the box-to-box cross current calculation step U12 that the box-to-box cross current value is small and safe parallel connection is possible, the process proceeds to each box contactor closing step S20, and if it is determined that the box-to-box cross current value is large and safe parallel connection is not possible, the process proceeds to the box-to-box voltage adjustment from the traveling cut-in determination step U15 to the box-to-box voltage adjustment completion determination step U23. Storage battery At this stage, there is no way to charge group 111 individually. Storage battery The battery boxes 101 for which it is determined that parallel connection between the groups 111 is not possible cannot be used under automatic control. Storage battery It is necessary to manually connect each group 111 individually to a charging / discharging circuit and adjust the voltage.

[0179] In all multi-pole contactor closing step U14, the multi-pole contactors 116 in the battery pack are closed to connect the battery boxes 101 in parallel within a range where the inter-box cross current value is small and safe parallel connection is possible, based on the contactor closing decision calculated by the cross current calculation unit 208. In traveling cut-in decision step U15, as the first stage of inter-box voltage adjustment, if the parallel control unit 210 of the vehicle control device 13 receives a traveling cut-in command from the cab 12, it interrupts inter-box voltage adjustment and proceeds to traveling cut-in start step T1 in the traveling cut-in control flowchart 400 of Figure 7.

[0180] The reason why there is no travel interruption determination step in the inter-group voltage adjustment from inter-group cross current safety value determination step U8 to multi-pole contactor open step U11 is because there is no operation requiring interruption since there is no voltage adjustment due to charging / discharging on a group basis. In target box selection step U16, a target box i for parallelizing the storage battery boxes 101 in the battery system is selected. The order of i can be arbitrary, but it is preferable to select the box i later if a battery abnormality or contactor abnormality has been determined.

[0181] In chargeability status determination step U17, the vehicle status of whether charging is possible or not corresponding to the contact status of the pantograph 2 with the overhead line is determined, and it is decided whether voltage adjustment should be performed by charging or discharging, and the voltage adjustment target value calculation unit 209 calculates the voltage adjustment target value. In charging box connection step U18, if the target battery box i needs to be charged at a voltage lower than the voltage adjustment target value, the multi-pole contactor 116 corresponding to the target battery box i is closed, and the target battery box i is connected to the battery train traction system 1A and placed in a chargeable state. If the target battery box i needs to be charged at a voltage higher than the voltage adjustment target value, the process proceeds to the next step.

[0182] In the battery box charging step U19, if the target battery box i is at a lower voltage than the voltage adjustment target value and charging is required, the converter 5 is started and the target battery box i is charged up to the voltage adjustment target value. If the target battery box i is at a higher voltage than the voltage adjustment target value and charging is not required, the process proceeds to the next step. In the discharge box connection step U20, if the target battery box i is at a higher voltage than the voltage adjustment target value and discharging is required, the box internal contact unit control unit 207 closes the multi-pole contactor 116 corresponding to the target battery box i, connecting it to the battery train traction system 1A and making it available for discharging. If the target battery box i is at a lower voltage than the voltage adjustment target value and discharging is not required, the process proceeds to the next step.

[0183] In the battery box discharging step U21, if the target battery box i has a higher voltage than the voltage adjustment target value and needs to be discharged, the paralleling control unit 210 starts the auxiliary inverter 10 to discharge the target battery box i to the voltage adjustment target value. If the target battery box i has a lower voltage than the voltage adjustment target value and does not need to be discharged, the process proceeds to the next step. In the multi-pole contactor opening step U22, the box contactor control unit 207 opens the multi-pole contactor 116 of the battery box 101i. This is to isolate the battery box 101i from the battery train traction system 1A and prevent cross current from flowing between the battery boxes 101i and 101i+1 when adjusting the voltage of the next battery box 101i+1.

[0184] In step U23 for determining whether inter-box voltage adjustment is complete, the parallelization control unit 210 determines whether voltage adjustment is complete in all battery boxes 101. If not complete, the process returns to step U16 for selecting the target box, and the next battery box i+1 is selected as the target battery box for voltage adjustment, and the process of adjusting the voltage within the box is repeated. If voltage adjustment is complete in all battery boxes 101, the process proceeds to step U14 for closing all multi-pole contactors. In step U24, the parallelization process is completed, and the battery system 199 is connected to the battery train traction system 1A and is in a battery-powered running state.

[0185] FIG. 20 is a table comparing the effects of the battery boxes 101a, 101b, 101c, and 101d of the modified examples a to d with the battery box 101 of FIG. 16. This table compares the effects of the battery boxes 101a, 101b, 101c, and 101d of the modified examples shown in FIG. 10 to FIG. 13 with the battery box 101 of the embodiment 2 shown in FIG. 16. In the embodiment 2, the contacts of all the contactors 112a and 113a in the box 101 are multi-pole contactors that open and close simultaneously. The only difference between the effect comparison table of the modified examples of the embodiment 1 shown in FIG. 14 and FIG. 19 is the items shown in rows No. 3 and 4, and the rest are the same.

[0186] Item No. 3, box Storage battery Whether the voltage of each group 111 can be adjusted individually is determined by the Storage batteryThis is not possible in all circuit configurations because the group 111 contacts 112a operate simultaneously within the box. Storage battery Whether the parallel connection of the group 111 and the parallel connection between boxes can be performed separately is determined by the respective Storage battery This is generally not possible since the group 111 contacts 112a and each box contact 113a operate simultaneously, but in a limited sense it is possible if all the contactors of the other battery boxes 101 are open.

[0187] As described above, even in the second embodiment using a multi-pole contactor, the storage battery box 101 in FIG. 4 can suppress the number of contactors to a small number (N+1 [pieces / box]) and can fulfill the functions of No. 1, 2 to 4 to 6. No. 3 can also be achieved by opening the contactors of the other boxes. Storage battery The battery box 101 has contactors on the P side and N side of the group 111, and can achieve the same effect as the battery box 101b having a large number of contactors while reducing the number of contacts.

[0188] However, in Example 2, Storage battery Since there is no way to charge group 111 individually, Storage battery The battery boxes 101 that are determined to be incapable of being connected in parallel between the groups 111 cannot be used under automatic control. Storage battery It is necessary to manually connect each group 111 individually to a charging / discharging circuit and adjust the voltage.

[0189] The above-mentioned railway vehicle storage battery systems 100 and 199 require a larger amount of battery capacity than automobiles. The storage battery is a battery module ( Storage battery The batteries are stored in the battery box 101 in the form of a battery group 111) and are connected in series to meet the performance requirements of the railway vehicle. Storage battery Groups 111 are further connected in parallel.

[0190] In order to increase the maximum current value and charge capacity of the battery pack, Storage battery It is necessary to increase the number of parallel groups in group 111, and multiple Storage batteryThe groups 111 are connected in parallel, and further, a plurality of battery boxes 101 are connected in parallel. A contactor that connects or disconnects the battery box 101 to a peripheral circuit is disposed inside the battery box 101. For example, the contactor disconnects (opens) when the vehicle system is off, and connects (closes) when the vehicle system is on.

[0191] In the above embodiment, the storage battery system mounted on a railway vehicle is exemplified, but the application is not limited to railway vehicles. The technical concept of the present invention can be applied to storage battery systems in various systems, including stationary systems. In the above embodiment, the storage battery constituting the power storage device is exemplified as a lithium-ion battery, but the present invention can be similarly applied to other power storage elements, such as lead batteries, nickel-metal hydride batteries, or capacitors.

[0192] The storage battery system 100 can be summarized as follows. [1] The present battery system 100 shown in Figures 2 to 5 includes a battery pack, a charging device (converter 5) and a discharging device (auxiliary inverter 10) for the battery pack, group switching devices 112 for each group arranged in a battery box 101, and a paralleling control unit 210. The battery pack has one or more battery boxes 101 and mainly constitutes the present battery system 100.

[0193] The battery box 101 includes a plurality of Storage battery The group 111 is connected in parallel and stored. Storage battery The group 111 is maintained at an equal voltage. The group switchgear 112 is Storage battery At least one pole (for example, a positive pole) of each group 111 is connected in series to each group. Storage battery The groups 111 are connected in parallel to a connection point 115N. Each box opening and closing device 113 is connected in series to the connection point 115N.

[0194] The parallelization control unit 210 closes each of the group switchgears 112 connected in series for each group, thereby Storage batteryThe groups 111 are connected in parallel. That is, the parallelization control unit 210 connects the battery boxes 101 in the assembled battery in parallel by closing all of the group opening and closing devices 112 and the box opening and closing devices 113.

[0195] The present storage battery system 100 includes a plurality of Storage battery When multiple storage battery boxes 101 with groups 111 inside are connected in parallel, it is possible to reduce the total number of contactors 112, 113 that control cross current. In other words, in the conventional system, one switchgear is required for each group and each pole. In comparison, as shown in Figure 4, the storage battery system 100 can reduce the number of contactors from four in one box with two groups to three, and from six to four in one box with three groups.

[0196] Despite being simplified in this way, the battery storage system 100 can reduce the total number of group opening / closing devices 112 and box opening / closing devices 113 while still taking into consideration the prevention of danger (remote operation) associated with battery replacement work. Storage battery Immediately after replacing only group 111, the minimum number of switches required to equalize the voltage differences between each box in each group with less cross current can be achieved.

[0197] [2] In the above [1] shown in FIG. 4, the parallelization control unit 210 Storage battery When the group 111 is connected to a battery pack for charging or discharging, a specific Storage battery The group switchgear 112 connected in series to the group 111 is closed, and a specific Storage battery The box opening / closing device 113 of the storage battery box 101 having the group 111 is closed, and a specific Storage battery The other group opening / closing devices 112 of the storage battery box 101 having the group 111 are opened, and a specific Storage battery The box opening / closing device 113 of the battery box 101 other than the battery box 101 having the group 111 is opened. Storage battery By isolating the group 111 and the storage battery box 101 including it so as to distinguish them from the others and charging and discharging them separately, it is possible to eliminate the difference in the charging rate or voltage difference that causes cross current. Storage battery This is also convenient for streamlining the work of replacing only group 111.

[0198] [3] As shown in FIG. 6 to FIG. 9, in the above [1], the parallelization control unit 210 controls the parallel connection of the batteries in the storage battery box 101. Storage battery The current value generated from the voltage difference between the groups 111 is calculated as a calculated current value, and when the calculated current value exceeds a safety threshold and voltage adjustment is required, it is determined whether the assembled battery is in a chargeable state, and when chargeable, it is determined that the assembled battery is in a low voltage state. Storage battery Group 111 is the highest voltage Storage battery Charge to the voltage of group 111, and if charging is not possible, use high voltage Storage battery Group 111 is the lowest voltage Storage battery Discharge to group 111 voltage.

[0199] In other words, when the battery system 100 is connected to an overhead line and charging is possible, it controls parallelization by charging in a direction that brings low voltages to high voltages. Conversely, when the battery system 100 is not connected to an overhead line, it determines that charging is not possible and controls parallelization by discharging in a direction that brings high voltages to low voltages. Therefore, the battery system 100 is suitable not only for battery trains but also for hybrid diesel railcars. The battery system 100 has multiple Storage battery Regardless of the voltage of each of the group 111 and the one or more battery boxes 101, the parallel connection can be realized by automatically adjusting the voltage and avoiding excessive cross current.

[0200] [4] In the above [1], the parallelization control unit 210 calculates the current value generated from the voltage difference between the parallel-connected battery boxes 101, and when the calculated current value exceeds a safety threshold and voltage adjustment is required, determines whether the assembled battery is in a chargeable state, and when chargeable, charges the low-voltage battery box 101 to the voltage of the highest-voltage battery box 101, and when chargeable, discharges the high-voltage battery box 101 to the voltage of the lowest-voltage battery box 101. This battery system 100 is configured to suppress cross currents at the battery box 101 level, and is easy to design, manufacture, and maintain as an actual on-board device.

[0201] As shown in Figs. 6, 18 and 19, the present storage battery system 100 described in [3] and [4] above has the following features: Storage battery If the cross current value when connecting the group 111 or the storage battery box 101 in parallel exceeds the safety threshold, each group contactor 112 and each box contactor 113 are individually operated to adjust the voltage of the target Storage battery The battery pack 111 and the battery box 101 are connected to an external circuit and the voltage is adjusted by charging or discharging. The battery storage system 100, which is applied to rail vehicles, reduces cross currents and equalizes voltages, so that it is possible to reliably realize specific switch control including running cut-in and discharging to auxiliary equipment as a countermeasure against overvoltage caused by regenerative power.

[0202] [5] In the above [3] or [4], the parallelization control unit 210 first Storage battery After the group 111 is voltage-adjusted and connected in parallel, the battery boxes 101 of the entire battery pack are voltage-adjusted and connected in parallel. In the case of a battery train, even if it takes about 10 minutes to control the parallelization of the entire battery pack, if just one of the multiple battery boxes 101 can complete the parallelization in a short time and function effectively, it can still be powered, making it easier to maintain availability. In other words, Storage battery If the voltages of the group 111 are adjusted, even if they are not all adjusted simultaneously, only the battery box 101 that has completed voltage adjustment first may be selected for use.

[0203] [6] As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 17, in the above [3] or [4], when the paralleling control unit 210 receives an interrupt of a running command from the cab 12 during the voltage adjustment, the paralleling control unit 210 stops the voltage adjustment and simultaneously controls the parallel connection of the parallel-connected vehicles. Storage battery All of the switching devices directly connected to the group 111 are closed. Storage battery Since only group 111 can be selectively connected and powered, there is less risk of being stranded in an emergency.

[0204] [7] As shown in Fig. 9, in the above [6], the parallelization control unit 210 first connects the battery box 101 with the highest voltage to the assembled battery, and when the voltage of the connected battery box 101 drops during traveling and becomes the same as that of the unconnected battery box 101, the unconnected battery box 101 is newly connected to the assembled battery. In a battery train that is discharging because it cannot obtain power supply from the overhead lines, this type of battery system 100, among a mixture of usable and unusable battery boxes, sequentially connects and incorporates those that have become usable as the voltage difference disappears among them into the assembled battery, thereby maximizing the cruising distance.

[0205] [8] In the above [3], the parallelization control unit 210 controls the Storage battery The group 111 is selected in order of the amount of charge / discharge required for voltage regulation, starting from the group 111 that requires the least amount of charge / discharge. A vehicle to which this storage battery system 100 is applied can achieve rational and optimal parallel control to enable the vehicle to run in the event of an emergency.

[0206] [9] In the above [3] or [4], the parallelization control unit 210 is Storage battery Group 111 is selected from those for which neither battery nor switching gear abnormality has been determined. In a vehicle to which this type of storage battery system 100 is applied, even if there is a mixture of usable and unusable battery packs in a redundantly configured battery pack, rational and optimal control is realized to enable the vehicle to run for the time being, making it easier to operate according to the schedule and maintaining availability.

[0207]

[10] As shown in Figs. 5, 8, 9 and 17, in the above [3] or [4], the parallelization control unit 210 controls the opening and closing status of the contactors in the battery pack and each Storage battery The battery system 100 transmits information including at least one of the group 111 voltage, the voltage of each battery box 101, the remaining time for voltage regulation, the cruising distance, and the maximum acceleration force to the driver's cab 12, and displays the information on a monitor disposed in the driver's cab 12. Storage battery The burden of control can be reduced.

[0208]

[11] As shown in Figures 8 and 9, in the above

[10] , the information displayed on the monitor further includes at least one of the contactor open / close status, the cruising range, and the acceleration force when the voltage regulation is continued from the current time and a running command is issued in the future. A vehicle equipped with such a storage battery system 100 shows the vehicle status to the driver waiting to depart, giving the driver peace of mind.

[0209]

[12] In the above

[11] , the information displayed on the monitor is the value at the time when the battery boxes 101 are parallelized, and is used to calculate the cruising distance from the time when the vehicle starts traveling during voltage adjustment. Storage battery In actual vehicles, parallel control is mainly performed on a battery box 101 basis, but Storage battery It is also possible in units of group 111.

[0210]

[13] In the above

[10] , the information displayed on the monitor is used to determine whether or not a specific point on the route can be reached. A vehicle equipped with the battery storage system 100 can not only easily escape from tunnels, bridges, dead sections, etc., but also can more reliably determine whether or not the vehicle can reach a station.

[0211]

[14] As shown in FIG. 15, in [4] above, Storage battery All of the switchgears in the group 111 and each of the box switchgears share one box-shared switching mechanism and can perform switching operations simultaneously. Such contactors 112, 113 are highly reliable, easy to procure, and can be used as well-known off-the-shelf products for single-phase two-pole switching as well as three-phase circuits. The present storage battery system 100 using such contactors is easy to design, manufacture, and maintain, and has high practicality.

[0212]

[15] As shown in Figures 6, 7, 18 and 19, in the above

[14] , all the batteries in the box are Storage batteryThe battery box 101 to be connected in parallel to the group 111 is designated as the battery box 101, and the parallelization control unit 210 controls all the Storage battery A current value generated from the voltage difference between the groups 111 is calculated, and if the calculated current value is within a safety threshold and parallel connection is possible, the box-shared opening / closing mechanism of the battery box 101 is closed, and the boxes-shared opening / closing mechanisms other than the battery box 101 are opened. Storage battery The parallel connection of the group 111 is separated from the storage battery boxes 101 other than the storage battery box 101. Such a storage battery system 100 can achieve rational and optimal parallel control.

[0213] The railway vehicle battery control method according to the embodiment of the present invention (the present method) can be summarized as follows.

[16] As shown in Figs. 2 to 7, 18 and 19, the present method includes: Storage battery A parallelization control unit 210 controls a battery pack formed by one or more storage battery boxes 101 in which a group 111 is stored. Storage battery The groups 111 are parallelized and controlled to maintain the voltages of each group at an equal level.

[0214] The parallel control is performed in the battery box 101 as follows: Storage battery The group switchgear 112 for each group, which is connected in series to at least one pole of each group 111, is controlled to open and close. In this method, each group switchgear 112 is connected in series to a pole opposite (e.g., negative) to the pole (e.g., positive) of the group switchgear 112, and the group switchgear 112 is connected in series to a pole opposite (e.g., negative) to the pole. Storage battery Each group 111 uses one series-connected box opening / closing device 113 at a connection point 115N where the groups 111 are connected in parallel.

[0215] In addition, the parallelization control unit 210 controls the parallelization of the battery box 101 only by closing each of the group switchgears 112. Storage battery The groups 111 can be connected in parallel. Furthermore, if the box opening / closing device 113 is closed in addition to each of the group opening / closing devices 112, the parallelization control unit 210 can connect the closed battery box 101 in parallel within the assembled battery. According to this method, Storage batteryIt is possible to minimize the number of contactors 112, 113 required to suppress cross current between groups 111 or between battery boxes 101. In addition, it is possible to minimize the number of contactors 112, 113 required to suppress cross current between groups 111 or between battery boxes 101. Storage battery The group 111 can be safely detached from the assembled battery. In other words, the deteriorated Storage battery Group 111 can be safely replaced. [Explanation of symbols]

[0216] 1A...battery train drive system, 1B...hybrid diesel railcar drive system (this hybrid drive system), 2...pantograph, 3...engine, 4...generator, 5...converter, 6...motor inverter, 7...motor, 8...reduction gear, 9...wheelset, 10...auxiliary inverter, 11...auxiliary, 12...driver's cab 12, 13...vehicle control device, 14...overhead line, 15...earth, 100...railroad vehicle battery system (assembled battery), 100P...battery system P terminal, 100N...battery system N terminal, 101, 101a, 101b, 101c, 101d...battery box, 101P...battery box P terminal, 101N...battery box N terminal, 111... Storage battery Group, 112... each group contactor, 112a... each group contact, 113... each box contactor, 113a... each box contact, 114... service connector, 115P... Storage battery Group P side connection point, 115N… Storage battery N-side group connection point, 116... multi-pole contactor, 116a... contact point, 116b... opening / closing mechanism, 200, 299... parallelization control system, 201... battery module, 202... cell control board, 203... current sensor, 204... voltage sensor, 205... battery box control board, 206... battery state analysis unit, 207... in-box contactor control unit, 208... cross current calculation unit, 209... voltage adjustment target value calculation unit, 210... parallelization control unit, 300... parallelization control flow Chart, 400...travel interruption flowchart, S1...start step, S2...vehicle system on determination step, S3...battery state analysis step, S4...target box selection step, S5...intergroup cross current calculation step, S6...intergroup cross current safety determination step, S7...each group contactor closing step, S8...travel interruption determination step, S9...target group selection step, S10...chargeable status determination step, S11...charging group connection step, S12... Storage batteryGroup charging step, S13… group discharging connection step, S14… Storage battery Group discharge step, S15...step to determine whether inter-group voltage adjustment is complete, S16...step to open the contactor of each box, S17...step to determine whether all box-to-group voltage adjustments are complete, S18...step to calculate cross current between boxes, S19...step to determine whether cross current between boxes is safe, S20...step to close the contactor of each box, S21...step to determine whether driving is interrupted, S22...step to select the target box, S23...step to determine whether charging is possible, S24...step to connect the charging box, S25...step to charge the battery box, S26...step to connect the discharging box, S27...step to discharge the battery box, S28...step to open the contactor of each box, S29...step to determine whether inter-box voltage adjustments are complete, S30...step to end, T1...step to start driving interruption, T2...step to determine whether battery box can be used, T3...step to connect the box with the highest voltage, T4...step to drive, T5...step to match box voltages, T6...step to close the contactor of each box, T7...step to determine whether all boxes are parallelized, T8...step to end , U1...start step, U2...vehicle system on determination step, U3...battery state analysis step, U4...target box selection step, U5...inter-group cross current calculation step, U6...inter-group voltage agreement determination step, U7...all-box inter-group voltage adjustment completion determination step, U8...inter-group cross current safety value determination step, U9...multi-pole contactor closing step, U10...voltage leveling waiting step, U11...multi-pole contactor opening step, U12...inter-box cross current calculation step, U13...inter-box cross current safety value determination step, U14...all multi-pole contactor closing step, U15...travel interrupt determination step, U16...target box selection step, U17...chargeable status determination step, U18...charging box connection step, U19...battery box charging step, U20...discharging box connection step, U21...battery box discharging step, U22...multi-pole contactor opening step, U23...box-to-box voltage adjustment completion determination step, U24...end step

Claims

1. One or more battery boxes each containing a group of parallel-connected storage batteries; a parallelization control unit that maintains each of the plurality of storage battery groups at an equal voltage; A battery box is provided with: a group switchgear for each of the storage battery groups connected in series to at least one pole of each of the storage battery groups; In a battery system for railway vehicles, which comprises a battery pack, Each of the group opening / closing devices has one box opening / closing device connected in series to a connection point where the plurality of storage battery groups are connected in parallel, with a pole opposite to that of the poles connected in series, the parallelization control unit connects the battery groups in the battery box in parallel by closing each of the group opening / closing devices, and connects the battery boxes in parallel by closing each of the group opening / closing devices and the box opening / closing device. Battery storage system for railway vehicles.

2. The parallelization control unit includes: When a specific storage battery group is connected to the assembled battery for charging or discharging, closing the group switchgear connected in series to the specific storage battery group; closing the box opening / closing device of the battery box having the specific battery group; opening the other group opening / closing devices of the battery box having the specific battery group; opening and closing devices of the battery boxes other than the battery box having the specific battery group; 2. A railway vehicle battery system according to claim 1.

3. The parallelization control unit includes: A current value generated from a voltage difference between the storage batteries connected in parallel in the storage battery box is calculated as a calculated current value; determining whether the battery pack is in a chargeable state when the calculated current value exceeds a safety threshold and voltage adjustment is required; If charging is possible, charging the low voltage storage battery group to the voltage of the highest voltage storage battery group; If charging is not possible, the high-voltage storage battery group is discharged to the voltage of the lowest-voltage storage battery group.

2. A battery system for railway vehicles according to claim 1.

4. The parallelization control unit includes: Calculating a current value generated from a voltage difference between the storage battery boxes connected in parallel; determining whether the battery pack is in a chargeable state when the current value exceeds a safety threshold and voltage adjustment is required; If rechargeable, charging the battery box with the lower voltage to the voltage of the battery box with the highest voltage; If charging is not possible, the high-voltage battery box is discharged to the voltage of the lowest-voltage battery box.

2. A battery system for railway vehicles according to claim 1.

5. The parallelization control unit includes: First, the voltage of the storage batteries in all the storage battery boxes is adjusted and connected in parallel, The battery boxes of the entire battery pack are connected in parallel with voltage adjustment.

5. A railway vehicle battery system according to claim 3 or 4.

6. The parallelization control unit includes: If a running command is received from the cab during the voltage adjustment, and at the same time as interrupting the voltage adjustment, closing all of the switching devices directly connected to the storage battery group that can be connected in parallel.

5. A railway vehicle battery system according to claim 3 or 4.

7. The parallelization control unit includes: First, connect the battery box with the highest voltage to the battery pack; If the voltage of the connected battery box drops while driving and becomes the same as that of the unconnected battery box, The disconnected battery box is newly connected to the battery pack.

7. A battery system for railway vehicles according to claim 6.

8. The parallelization control unit includes: The storage battery group to be subjected to the voltage adjustment, Selecting in order of the least amount of charge / discharge required for the voltage adjustment; 4. A railway vehicle battery system according to claim 3.

9. The parallelization control unit includes: The battery box or the battery group to be subjected to the voltage adjustment, Select from among those in which neither battery nor switching device abnormality has occurred; 5. A railway vehicle battery system according to claim 3 or 4.

10. The parallelization control unit includes: Transmitting information including at least one of the contactor opening / closing status in the battery pack, the voltage of each battery group, the voltage of each battery box, the remaining voltage adjustment time, the cruising range, and the maximum acceleration force to a cab; The information is displayed on a monitor disposed in the cab.

5. A railway vehicle battery system according to claim 3 or 4.

11. The information further includes at least one of a contactor opening / closing status, a cruising range, and an acceleration force when the voltage adjustment is continued from the current time and a driving command is issued at a future time. The railway vehicle battery system according to claim 10.

12. The information is a value at the time when the battery boxes are parallelized, and is used to calculate the cruising range from the time when the vehicle starts traveling during the voltage adjustment. The railway vehicle battery system according to claim 11.

13. The information is used to determine whether or not a predetermined point on the route can be reached. The railway vehicle battery system according to claim 10.

14. All of the opening / closing devices provided in the storage battery group and each of the box opening / closing devices share one box-shared opening / closing operation mechanism and can open and close simultaneously.

5. A railway vehicle battery system according to claim 4.

15. A battery box in which all of the storage batteries in the box are to be connected in parallel in the battery pack is defined as a battery box, the parallelization control unit calculates a current value generated from a voltage difference between all of the storage battery groups simultaneously connected in parallel in the storage battery box, If the current value is within a safety threshold and parallel connection is possible, The opening / closing mechanism shared by the battery box is closed, and the opening / closing mechanism shared by boxes other than the battery box is opened. The parallel connection of the battery group in the battery box is separated from the battery box other than the battery box.

15. A railway vehicle battery system according to claim 14.

16. One or more battery boxes each containing a group of parallel-connected storage batteries are connected in parallel to form a battery pack; In order for the parallelization control unit to perform parallelization control so as to maintain the voltages of the plurality of storage battery groups uniform, In the battery box, a group switching device for each group is connected in series to at least one pole of each of the storage battery groups, and the group switching device is controlled to open and close. A method for controlling a storage battery for a railway vehicle, comprising: a pole opposite to the pole at which each of the group switchgears is connected in series is set as a connection point at which the plurality of storage battery groups are connected in parallel, Each box opening / closing device is connected in series to the connection point, the parallelization control unit connects the battery groups in the battery box in parallel by closing each of the group opening / closing devices, and connects the battery boxes in parallel by closing each of the group opening / closing devices and the box opening / closing device. A method for controlling a storage battery for railway vehicles.

17. The parallelization control unit includes: When a specific storage battery group is connected to the assembled battery for charging or discharging, closing the group switchgear connected in series to the specific storage battery group; closing the box opening / closing device of the battery box having the specific battery group; opening the other group opening / closing devices of the battery box having the specific battery group; opening and closing devices of the battery boxes other than the battery box having the specific battery group; 17. A method for controlling a battery for a railway vehicle according to claim 16.

18. The parallelization control unit includes: A current value generated from a voltage difference between the storage batteries connected in parallel in the storage battery box is calculated as a current value; determining whether the battery pack is in a chargeable state when the current value exceeds a safety threshold and voltage adjustment is required; If charging is possible, charging the low voltage storage battery group to the voltage of the highest voltage storage battery group; If charging is not possible, the high-voltage storage battery group is discharged to the voltage of the lowest-voltage storage battery group.

17. A method for controlling a battery for a railway vehicle according to claim 16.

19. The parallelization control unit includes: Calculating a current value generated from a voltage difference between the storage battery boxes connected in parallel; determining whether the battery pack is in a chargeable state when the current value exceeds a safety threshold and voltage adjustment is required; If rechargeable, charging the battery box with the lower voltage to the voltage of the battery box with the highest voltage; If charging is not possible, the high-voltage battery box is discharged to the voltage of the lowest-voltage battery box.

20. A method for controlling a battery for a railway vehicle according to claim 18.

20. The parallelization control unit includes: First, the voltage of the storage batteries in all the storage battery boxes is adjusted and connected in parallel, The battery boxes of the entire battery pack are connected in parallel with voltage adjustment.

20. A method for controlling a storage battery for railway vehicles according to claim 18 or 19.

21. The parallelization control unit includes: If a running command is received from the cab during the voltage adjustment, and at the same time as interrupting the voltage adjustment, closing all of the switching devices directly connected to the storage battery group that can be connected in parallel.

20. A method for controlling a storage battery for railway vehicles according to claim 18 or 19.

22. The parallelization control unit includes: First, connect the battery box with the highest voltage to the battery pack; If the voltage of the connected battery box drops while driving and becomes the same as that of the unconnected battery box, The disconnected battery box is newly connected to the battery pack.

22. A method for controlling a battery for a railway vehicle according to claim 21.

23. The parallelization control unit includes: The storage battery group to be subjected to the voltage adjustment, Selecting in order of the least amount of charge / discharge required for the voltage adjustment; 20. A method for controlling a battery for a railway vehicle according to claim 18.

24. The parallelization control unit includes: The battery box or the battery group to be subjected to the voltage adjustment, Select from among those in which neither battery nor switching device abnormality has occurred; 20. A method for controlling a storage battery for railway vehicles according to claim 18 or 19.

25. The parallelization control unit includes: Transmitting information including at least one of the contactor opening / closing status in the battery pack, the voltage of each battery group, the voltage of each battery box, the remaining voltage adjustment time, the cruising range, and the maximum acceleration force to a cab; The information is displayed on a monitor disposed in the cab.

20. A method for controlling a storage battery for railway vehicles according to claim 18 or 19.

26. The information further includes at least one of a contactor opening / closing status, a cruising range, and an acceleration force when the voltage adjustment is continued from the current time and a driving command is issued at a future time.

26. A method for controlling a battery for a railway vehicle according to claim 25.

27. The information is a value at the time when the battery boxes are parallelized, and is used to calculate the cruising range from the time when the vehicle starts traveling during the voltage adjustment.

27. A method for controlling a battery for a railway vehicle according to claim 26.

28. The information is used to determine whether or not a predetermined point on the route can be reached.

26. A method for controlling a battery for a railway vehicle according to claim 25.

29. All of the opening / closing devices provided in the storage battery group and each of the box opening / closing devices share one box-shared opening / closing operation mechanism and can open and close simultaneously.

20. A method for controlling a battery for a railway vehicle according to claim 19.

30. A battery box in which all of the storage batteries in the box are to be connected in parallel in the battery pack is defined as a battery box, the parallelization control unit calculates a current value generated from a voltage difference between all of the storage battery groups simultaneously connected in parallel in the storage battery box, If the current value is within a safety threshold and parallel connection is possible, The opening / closing mechanism shared by the battery box is closed, and the opening / closing mechanism shared by boxes other than the battery box is opened. The parallel connection of the battery group in the battery box is separated from the battery box other than the battery box.

30. A method for controlling a railway vehicle battery according to claim 29.

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