Temperature adjustment device of on-vehicle instrument

Abstract

To provide a temperature adjustment device of an on-vehicle instrument that mixes heating media circulating through first and second temperature adjustment circuits, using a mixing valve.SOLUTION: In a temperature adjustment device of an on-vehicle instrument, a mixing valve 16, which mixes a first heating medium with a second heating medium to make mixed heating media, is interposed between the first temperature adjustment circuit 2 that circulates the first heating medium using a first pump 7 and the second temperature adjustment circuit 3 that circulates the second heating medium using a second pump 13. The device calculates a target outflow temperature tgtTout of the mixed heating media flowing out into the second temperature adjustment circuit 3; calculates, as a flow ratio R, a ratio of the first heating medium included in the mixed heating media, on the basis of rotation speeds N1 and N2 of the first and second pumps 7 and 13 and an aperture θ of the mixing valve 16; and calculates an inflow temperature Tin2 of the second heating medium on the basis of an inflow temperature Tin1 of the first heating medium, an outflow temperatures Tout of the mixed heating media and the flow ratio R; calculates an aperture correction coefficient K from the R and the θ; calculates a target flow ratio tgtR from Tin1. Tin2 and tgtTout; and calculates a target aperture Tgtθ of the mixing valve 16 from TgtR and K to control the aperture.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a temperature adjustment device for in-vehicle equipment. [Background technology]

[0002] As an example of a temperature adjustment device for on-board equipment, Patent Document 1 discloses a hybrid vehicle that uses an engine and a motor as a power source for running, and uses the heat of the engine coolant to warm up the running battery that drives the motor when the engine is stopped.

[0003] The temperature adjustment device has a changeover valve interposed between the engine coolant circuit and the driving battery coolant circuit, and allows coolant to be exchanged between them depending on the switching of the changeover valve. For example, when the battery temperature is lower than the warm-up start temperature and warm-up is required, and the engine coolant temperature is equal to or higher than the lower limit temperature and equal to or lower than the upper limit temperature, the changeover valve is opened to connect both coolant circuits. This allows the engine coolant to be guided to the driving battery, and the heat from the engine coolant warms up the driving battery.

[0004] Also, when the engine coolant temperature is higher than the upper limit temperature, it is possible to dissipate the heat using a radiator provided in the engine coolant circuit, but this would waste the heat of the engine coolant. In this case, the switching valve is controlled to mix the engine coolant and the battery coolant at a predetermined ratio. The engine coolant, whose temperature has been reduced by mixing with the battery coolant, is guided to the driving battery and used to warm it up. At this time, not only the opening of the switching valve but also the rotation speed of the pump that circulates the coolant in each coolant circuit is controlled. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6079417 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, Patent Document 1 does not describe the specific control content when mixing the engine coolant and the battery coolant, i.e., the content of the control of the opening degree of the switching valve and the control of the rotation of the pump, and therefore it was not possible to implement the invention.

[0007] The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and its object is to provide a temperature control device for on-board equipment that can effectively use the heat transfer media circulating in the first temperature control circuit and the second temperature control circuit by appropriately mixing them using a mixing valve to control the temperature of the on-board equipment. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to achieve the above object, a temperature adjustment device for an in-vehicle device of the present invention includes a first temperature control circuit that circulates a heat medium as a first heat medium by a first pump to adjust the temperature of a first in-vehicle device, a second temperature control circuit that circulates a heat medium as a second heat medium by a second pump to adjust the temperature of a second in-vehicle device, a mixing valve that mixes the first heat medium flowing in from the first temperature control circuit and the second heat medium flowing in from the second temperature control circuit in a ratio according to an opening degree and flows the mixed heat medium into the first temperature control circuit and the second temperature control circuit, respectively, a valve opening detection unit that detects the opening degree of the mixing valve, a first inflow temperature detection unit that detects the temperature of the first heat medium flowing into the mixing valve from the first temperature control circuit as a first inflow temperature, an outflow temperature detection unit that detects the temperature of the mixed heat medium flowing out from the mixing valve to the second temperature control circuit as an outflow temperature, and a mixing control unit that controls the opening degree of the mixing valve to mix the first heat medium and the second heat medium when temperature adjustment of the second in-vehicle device is required, and the mixing control unit is at least a target outflow temperature calculation unit that calculates a target value of the outflow temperature as a target outflow temperature based on the temperature of the second in-vehicle device; a flow ratio calculation unit that calculates a ratio of the first heat medium contained in the mixed heat medium flowing out from the mixing valve to the second temperature control circuit as a flow ratio based on the rotation speed of the first pump, the rotation speed of the second pump, and the opening of the mixing valve; a second inflow temperature calculation unit that calculates the temperature of the second heat medium flowing from the second temperature control circuit into the mixing valve as a second inflow temperature based on the first inflow temperature, the outflow temperature, and the flow ratio; an opening correction coefficient calculation unit that calculates an opening correction coefficient that defines the relationship between the flow ratio and the opening based on the flow ratio and the opening of the mixing valve; a target flow rate ratio calculation unit that calculates a target value of the flow rate ratio as a target flow rate ratio based on the first inflow temperature, the second inflow temperature, and the target outflow temperature; a target opening calculation unit that calculates a target opening of the mixing valve based on the opening correction coefficient and the target flow rate ratio; and a valve drive unit that controls the opening of the mixing valve based on the target opening. In another aspect, the flow rate ratio calculation unit may calculate the flow rate ratio based on a preset relationship between the rotation speed ratio of the first pump and the second pump and the opening degree of the mixing valve, and the second inflow temperature calculation unit may calculate the second inflow temperature Tin2 according to the following equation (6) when the flow rate ratio is R, the first inflow temperature is Tin1, the second inflow temperature is Tin2, and the outflow temperature is Tout.

number

[0009] In another aspect, the flow rate ratio calculation unit calculates y according to the following formula (4) when the ratio N1 / N2 between the rotation speed N1 of the first pump and the rotation speed N2 of the second pump is x, the flow rate ratio is R, the ratio R / Rideal between the flow rate ratio R and the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal when the flow rates of the first heat medium and the second heat medium are equal is y, and preset coefficients are a and b. The flow rate ratio calculation unit calculates y according to the following formula (4) and calculates the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal from the opening of the mixing valve based on a preset relationship between the opening of the mixing valve and the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal, and calculates the flow rate ratio R according to the following formula (5): y=a×x+b ... (4), R=y×Rideal ... (5). The second inflow temperature calculation unit calculates the second inflow temperature Tin2 according to the following formula (6) when the first inflow temperature is Tin1, the second inflow temperature is Tin2, and the outflow temperature is Tout.

number

[0010] In another aspect, the flow rate ratio calculation unit calculates y according to the following formula (7) when the ratio N1 / N2 of the rotation speed N1 of the first pump and the rotation speed N2 of the second pump is x, the flow rate ratio is R, the ratio R / Rideal of the flow rate ratio R and the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal when the flow rates of the first heat medium and the second heat medium are equal is y, and c, d, and e are preset coefficients. At the same time, the flow rate ratio calculation unit calculates the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal from the opening of the mixing valve based on a preset relationship between the opening of the mixing valve and the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal, and calculates the flow rate ratio R according to the following formula (5), y=cx 2 ×dx+e ... (7), R = y × Rideal ... (5), the second inflow temperature calculation unit may calculate the second inflow temperature Tin2 according to the following equation (6) when the first inflow temperature is Tin1, the second inflow temperature is Tin2, and the outflow temperature is Tout.

number

[0011] In another aspect, the flow ratio calculation unit may set the ideal flow ratio Rideal as the flow ratio R when x is 1, and apply different coefficients c, d, and e to equation (7) when x is less than 1 and when x is greater than 1.

[0012] As another aspect, the flow rate ratio calculation unit may obtain the rotation speed of the first pump and the rotation speed of the second pump from an existing external device.

[0013] In another aspect, the target outflow temperature calculation unit, the flow rate ratio calculation unit, the second inflow temperature calculation unit, the opening correction coefficient calculation unit, the target flow rate ratio calculation unit, the target opening calculation unit, and the valve drive unit may repeat their respective processes at a predetermined control interval.

[0014] In another aspect, the mixing control unit may further include a stabilization determination unit that determines whether or not the mixed state of the first heat medium and the second heat medium in response to control of the opening of the mixing valve is stable, and a feedback control unit that executes feedback control including at least one of an integral term and a differential term determined from the deviation between the outflow temperature and a target outflow temperature, and the feedback control unit may start the feedback control when the stabilization determination unit determines that the outflow temperature is stable after starting control of the opening of the mixing valve.

[0015] In another aspect, the mixing control unit may control the opening degree of the mixing valve to warm up the second in-vehicle device when the outflow temperature is lower than the target outflow temperature and the first inflow temperature is equal to or higher than the target outflow temperature.

[0016] In another aspect, the mixing control unit may control the opening degree of the mixing valve to cool the second vehicle-mounted device when the outflow temperature is equal to or higher than the target outflow temperature and the first inflow temperature is lower than the target outflow temperature.

[0017] In another aspect, either the first temperature control circuit or the second temperature control circuit may be a powertrain coolant circuit that adjusts the temperature of a powertrain for propelling the vehicle, and the other of the first temperature control circuit or the second temperature control circuit may be a battery coolant circuit that adjusts the temperature of a driving battery.

[0018] In another aspect, either the first temperature control circuit or the second temperature control circuit may be an air conditioning core coolant circuit that adjusts the temperature of the vehicle's air conditioning core, and the other of the first temperature control circuit or the second temperature control circuit may be a battery coolant circuit that adjusts the temperature of the driving battery.

[0019] In another aspect, either the first temperature control circuit or the second temperature control circuit may be an air conditioning core coolant circuit that adjusts the temperature of the air conditioning core of the vehicle, and the other of the first temperature control circuit or the second temperature control circuit may be a powertrain coolant circuit that adjusts the temperature of a powertrain for propelling the vehicle.

[0020] In another aspect, the powertrain may be an engine installed in a vehicle as a power source for running the vehicle.

[0021] In another embodiment, the power train may be a driving motor mounted on a vehicle as a driving power source, and an inverter and a DC-DC converter for driving the driving motor. Effect of the Invention

[0022] According to the temperature adjustment device for on-vehicle equipment of the present invention, the heat transfer media circulating in the first temperature adjustment circuit and the second temperature adjustment circuit can be appropriately mixed by the mixing valve, and the heat transfer media can be effectively used for adjusting the temperature of the on-vehicle equipment. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0023] [Figure 1] 1 is a circuit diagram showing a temperature adjustment device according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2]5 is a flowchart showing a bypass valve switching routine executed by an engine temperature control unit of the controller. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a controller. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a characteristic diagram showing test results when the rotational speed ratio N1 / N2>1. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a characteristic diagram showing test results when the rotational speed ratio N1 / N2<1. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a control map set based on test results. [Figure 7] 4 is a flowchart showing a mixing valve opening control routine executed by a mixing control unit of the controller. [Figure 8] 4 is a flowchart showing a flow ratio control routine executed by a mixing control section of the controller. [Figure 9] 13 is a test result showing the control state of the outflow temperature when PID control is performed in parallel with the flow rate ratio control. [Figure 10] 4 is a time chart showing test conditions related to the engine side inlet temperature and the battery side inlet temperature. [Figure 11] 4 is a time chart showing test conditions related to the rotation speed of a cooling water pump. [Figure 12] 4 shows test results showing the control status of outflow temperature using general PID control. [Figure 13] FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing a temperature adjustment device according to a second embodiment. [Figure 14] FIG. 11 is a circuit diagram showing a temperature adjustment device according to a third embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0024] [First embodiment] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment in which the present invention is embodied in a temperature adjustment device for on-board equipment mounted on a hybrid vehicle will be described below. FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing a temperature adjustment device of the present embodiment. A hybrid vehicle (not shown) (hereinafter, sometimes simply referred to as a vehicle) is equipped with an engine and a motor as a power source for driving. The basic configuration of a hybrid vehicle is well known and will not be described in detail, but the vehicle drives while appropriately switching the power source for driving according to the driver's accelerator operation, the driving state of the vehicle, and the like. The engine generates heat as it is driven, and needs to be kept in a temperature range where good exhaust gas performance and fuel efficiency performance can be obtained. In addition, the driving battery that drives the motor also generates heat as it is charged and discharged, and needs to be kept in a temperature range where good charging and discharging performance can be obtained. For this reason, the vehicle is equipped with a temperature adjustment device 1 shown in FIG. 1, and the temperature of the engine 4 is adjusted by its engine coolant circuit 2, and the temperature of the driving battery 5 is adjusted by its battery coolant circuit 3.

[0025] To explain in detail below, the engine 4, a cooling water pump 7, and a radiator 8 are disposed in a circular flow passage 6 of the engine cooling water circuit 2, and the cooling water discharged from the cooling water pump 7 circulates through the flow passage 6 as engine cooling water. A bypass passage 9 is formed in the flow passage 6 so as to bypass the radiator 8, and a bypass valve 10 is disposed at one end of the bypass passage 9. Depending on switching of the bypass valve 10, the cooling water flows through or bypasses the radiator 8, and when the cooling water flows through, heat is dissipated by the radiator 8. By switching the bypass valve 10 in this manner, the engine cooling water, and ultimately the engine 4, are maintained in an appropriate temperature range.

[0026] Additionally, a battery heat exchanger 12, a cooling water pump 13, and a PTC heater 14, all of which are built into the running battery 5, are interposed in the annular flow path 11 of the battery cooling water circuit 3, and the cooling water discharged from the cooling water pump 13 circulates through the flow path 11 as battery cooling water. When the PTC heater 14 is operating, the temperature of the battery cooling water is appropriately raised, and this battery cooling water exchanges heat with the running battery 5 via the battery heat exchanger 12, thereby maintaining the running battery 5 in an appropriate temperature range.

[0027] In this embodiment, the engine coolant circuit 2 corresponds to the "first temperature adjustment circuit" and "powertrain coolant circuit" of the present invention, the battery coolant circuit 3 corresponds to the "second temperature adjustment circuit" of the present invention, the engine 4 corresponds to the "first vehicle-mounted device" and "powertrain" of the present invention, and the driving battery 5 corresponds to the "second vehicle-mounted device" of the present invention. The coolant corresponds to the "heat medium" of the present invention, the engine coolant corresponds to the "first heat medium" of the present invention, and the battery coolant corresponds to the "second heat medium" of the present invention. The coolant pump 7 corresponds to the "first pump" of the present invention, and the coolant pump 13 corresponds to the "second pump" of the present invention.

[0028] The engine coolant circuit 2 and the battery coolant circuit 3 are connected via a mixing valve 16, which constitutes the temperature control device 1. The engine coolant circulating through the engine coolant circuit 2 and the battery coolant circulating through the battery coolant circuit 3 flow into the mixing valve 16, and then flow out from the mixing valve 16 to the engine coolant circuit 2 and the battery coolant circuit 3. When the mixing valve 16 is fully closed, the engine coolant and the battery coolant flow out to the original coolant circuits 2 and 3 without mixing, and when the mixing valve 16 is fully opened, the engine coolant and the battery coolant flow out to the other coolant circuits 2 and 3 without mixing. When the mixing valve 16 is between fully closed and fully open, the engine coolant and the battery coolant are mixed in a ratio according to the opening degree, and then flow out to each coolant circuit 2 and 3 as mixed coolant. However, the configuration of the mixing valve 16 is not limited to the above, and any other valve may be used as long as it has a function of mixing coolants according to the opening degree.

[0029] The vehicle is equipped with a controller 17, which includes an engine temperature control unit 18 and a battery temperature control unit 19. The engine temperature control unit 18 controls the bypass valve 10 and the cooling water pump 7 to adjust the temperature of the engine 4, and the battery temperature control unit 19 controls the PTC heater 14 and the cooling water pump 13 to adjust the temperature of the driving battery 5. Both control units 18 and 19 are well known in configuration and will not be described in detail, but an example of control of the bypass valve 10 by the engine temperature control unit 18 will be described.

[0030] The engine temperature control unit 18 executes the bypass valve switching routine shown in FIG. 2 at a predetermined control interval. It is assumed that the bypass valve 10 is switched to the bypass passage side at the beginning of the routine. First, in step S1, the engine temperature control unit 18 judges whether the ignition switch of the vehicle is turned ON, and ends the routine when the judgement is No (negative). When the judgement in step S1 is Yes (positive), the process proceeds to step S2, where it is judged whether the engine cooling water temperature is equal to or higher than a preset upper limit temperature. It is to be noted that the engine side inflow temperature Tin1 described later may be applied as the engine cooling water temperature. When the judgement is No, the process returns to step S1, and the processes in steps S1 and S2 are repeated. Therefore, by holding the bypass valve 10 on the bypass passage 9 side, the engine cooling water circulates through the engine cooling water circuit 2 without being cooled by the radiator 8.

[0031] When the engine coolant temperature gradually rises due to heat received from the engine 4 and the engine temperature control unit 18 judges Yes in step S2, the process proceeds to step S3 and controls the opening of the bypass valve 10 toward the radiator 8. For example, the bypass valve 10 is controlled so that the opening area of ​​the bypass valve 10 on the radiator 8 side increases as the deviation between the engine coolant temperature and the upper limit temperature increases. When the engine coolant temperature gradually decreases due to heat dissipation by the radiator 8, the opening area of ​​the bypass valve 10 on the radiator 8 side gradually decreases accordingly by the process of step S3, and when the judgment in step S2 changes from Yes to No, the bypass valve 10 is returned to the initial switching state to the bypass passage 9 side. This routine is repeated to keep the engine 4 in an appropriate temperature range.

[0032] In addition to the above controls, the controller 17 of this embodiment controls the opening degree of the mixing valve 16 to utilize the heat of the engine coolant to warm up the driving battery 5. Hereinafter, this control will be referred to as the opening degree control of the mixing valve 16, and this control is executed by a mixing control unit 20 provided in the controller 17.

[0033] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the controller 17. As shown in FIG. As shown in Figures 1 and 3, various sensors are connected to the input side of the controller 17, such as a valve opening sensor 21 that detects the opening θ of the mixing valve 16, an engine side inlet temperature sensor 22 that detects the temperature of the engine coolant flowing into the mixing valve 16 from the engine coolant circuit 2 as an engine side inlet temperature Tin1, an outlet temperature sensor 24 that detects the temperature of the mixed coolant flowing out from the mixing valve 16 to the battery coolant circuit 3 as an outlet temperature Tout, an outside air temperature sensor 25 that detects the outside air temperature Ta, and a battery temperature sensor 26 that detects the temperature Tb of the driving battery 5.

[0034] In this embodiment, the valve opening sensor 21 corresponds to the "valve opening detection unit" of the present invention, and the engine side inflow temperature sensor 22 that detects the engine side inflow temperature Tin1 corresponds to the "first inflow temperature detection unit that detects the first inflow temperature" of the present invention. Also, the outflow temperature sensor 24 that detects the outflow temperature Tout of the mixed cooling water flowing out to the battery coolant circuit 3 corresponds to the "outflow temperature detection unit that detects the outflow temperature of the mixed heat medium" of the present invention.

[0035] In addition, various devices such as the mixing valve 16, the cooling water pump 7 and bypass valve 10 of the engine cooling water circuit 2, and the cooling water pump 13 and PTC heater 14 of the battery cooling water circuit 3 are connected to the output side of the controller 17. As described above, the cooling water pump 7 and the bypass valve 10 are controlled by the engine temperature control unit 18, and the cooling water pump 13 and PTC heater 14 are controlled by the battery temperature control unit 19.

[0036] The mixing control unit 20 of the controller 17 includes a target outflow temperature calculation unit 20a, a flow rate ratio calculation unit 20b, a second inflow temperature calculation unit 20k, an opening correction coefficient calculation unit 20c, a target flow rate ratio calculation unit 20d, a basic target opening calculation unit 20e, a stabilization determination unit 20f, a PID control unit 20g, a target opening calculation unit 20i, and a valve drive unit 20j. The PID control unit 20g corresponds to the feedback control unit of the present invention.

[0037] The target outflow temperature calculation unit 20a calculates the target outflow temperature tgtTout as a target value of the outflow temperature Tout capable of maintaining the traveling battery 5 in an appropriate temperature range based on the outside air temperature Ta detected by the outside air temperature sensor 25 and the battery temperature Tb detected by the battery temperature sensor 26. This calculation process is performed, for example, based on a control map that specifies the relationship between the outside air temperature Ta and the battery temperature Tb and the target outflow temperature tgtTout. Note that the target outflow temperature tgtTout does not necessarily have to be based on the outside air temperature Ta and the battery temperature Tb, and may be calculated based on the battery temperature Tb, for example.

[0038] The flow rate ratio calculation unit 20b calculates a flow rate ratio R as a ratio of engine coolant contained in the mixed coolant flowing out from the mixing valve 16 to the battery coolant circuit 3, based on the rotation speed N1 of the coolant pump 7 of the engine coolant circuit 2, the rotation speed N2 of the coolant pump 7 of the battery coolant circuit 3, and the opening θ of the mixing valve 16 detected by the valve opening sensor 21. In this embodiment, information on the rotation speed N1 is input from the engine temperature control unit 18 that controls the coolant pump 7, and information on the rotation speed N2 is input from the battery temperature control unit 19 that controls the coolant pump 13. However, this is not limited to the above, and for example, a rotation speed sensor may be attached to each of the coolant pumps 7, 13 to detect the respective rotation speeds N1, N2.

[0039] The second inflow temperature calculation unit 20k calculates the temperature of the battery coolant flowing into the mixing valve 16 from the battery coolant circuit 3 as the battery side inflow temperature Tin2 based on the engine side inflow temperature Tin1, the outflow temperature Tout, and the flow rate ratio R calculated by the flow rate ratio calculation unit 20b. The processing of the flow rate ratio calculation unit 20b and the second inflow temperature calculation unit 20k is one of the gist of the present invention, and will be described in detail later.

[0040] The opening correction coefficient calculation unit 20c calculates an opening correction coefficient K that defines the relationship between the flow rate ratio R and the opening degree θ of the mixing valve 16, based on the flow rate ratio R calculated by the flow rate ratio calculation unit 20b and the opening degree θ of the mixing valve 16, using the following equation (1).

number

[0041] The target flow ratio calculation unit 20d calculates a target flow ratio tgtR as a target value of the flow ratio R for achieving the target outflow temperature tgtTout based on the engine side inflow temperature Tin1, the battery side inflow temperature Tin2, and the target outflow temperature tgtTout calculated by the target outflow temperature calculation unit 20a, using the following equation (2).

number

[0042] The basic target opening calculation unit 20e calculates a basic target opening tgtθbase as a target value of the opening θ of the mixing valve 16 for achieving the target outflow temperature tgtTout, based on the opening correction coefficient K calculated by the opening correction coefficient calculation unit 20c and the target flow rate ratio tgtR, using the following equation (3). tgtθbase=K×tgtR ……(3)

[0043] The stabilization determination unit 20f determines whether the mixed state of the engine coolant and the battery coolant has stabilized according to the opening degree θ of the mixing valve 16. In detail, the stabilization determination unit 20f determines that the mixed state has stabilized when the engine side inlet temperature Tin1, the battery side inlet temperature Tin2, and the outlet temperature Tout each fall within a predetermined fluctuation range over a predetermined time. Note that this does not necessarily have to be based on each temperature Tin1, Tin2, and Tout, and the mixed state may be determined to have stabilized when, for example, the fluctuation state of the outlet temperature Tout falls within a predetermined fluctuation range over a predetermined time.

[0044] When the stabilization determination unit 20f determines that the temperatures Tin1, Tin2, and Tout are stable, the PID control unit 20g calculates a basic water temperature deviation as the deviation between the outflow temperature Tout and the target outflow temperature tgtTout, and calculates an opening correction amount Δθ based on the proportional term P, integral term I, and differential term D obtained from the basic water temperature deviation.

[0045] The target opening calculation unit 20i calculates the target opening tgtθ by adding the opening correction amount Δθ calculated by the PID control unit 20g to the basic target opening tgtθbase calculated by the basic target opening calculation unit 20e. If the stabilization determination unit 20f does not determine that the mixture state is stable, the PID control unit 20g does not calculate the water temperature deviation ΔT, and the target opening calculation unit 20i sets the basic target opening tgtθbase as the target opening tgtθ. Therefore, in this case, the PID control based on the water temperature deviation ΔT is stopped.

[0046] The valve driving unit 20j drives and controls the mixing valve 16 based on the deviation between the target opening tgtθ and the opening θ of the mixing valve 16 so that the opening θ becomes the target opening tgtθ. In addition to controlling the opening degree of the mixing valve 16, the mixing control unit 20 also performs control such as holding the mixing valve 16 fully open to cause the engine coolant to flow into the battery coolant circuit 3 and raise the temperature of the driving battery 5, as in the technology of Patent Document 1, for example; however, as this is not directly related to the gist of the present invention, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0047] Next, the processing of the flow rate ratio calculation section 20b and the second inflow temperature calculation section 20k will be described in detail. As described above, in order for the target flow rate ratio calculation unit 20d to calculate the target flow rate ratio tgtR, information on the battery side inlet temperature Tin2 is required. For this purpose, it is possible to detect the battery side inlet temperature Tin2 by adding a battery side inlet temperature sensor to the inlet on the battery cooling water circuit 3 side of the mixing valve 16, for example. However, adding the battery side inlet temperature sensor can be a factor in increasing the manufacturing cost of the temperature adjustment device 1.

[0048] Therefore, the role of the flow rate ratio calculation unit 20b and the second inflow temperature calculation unit 20k is to obtain information on the rotation speeds N1, N2 of the cooling water pumps 7, 13 from the existing engine temperature control unit 18 and battery temperature control unit 19, and to calculate the battery side inflow temperature Tin2 using this information, and to calculate the flow rate ratio R accordingly. This achieves a reduction in cost of the temperature adjustment device 1 by omitting the battery side inflow temperature sensor. The engine temperature control unit 18 and the battery temperature control unit 19 correspond to the "existing external device" of the present invention.

[0049] The processing contents of the flow rate ratio calculation section 20b and the second inflow temperature calculation section 20k are set based on the following findings. The inventors have found that when the relationship between the opening θ of the mixing valve 16 and the flow rate ratio R is a linear characteristic, a positive correlation is established between this ratio R / θ and the rotation speed ratio N1 / N2 of the cooling water pumps 7, 13. Therefore, the flow rate ratio calculation unit 20b in this case can calculate the flow rate ratio R based on the relationship between the preset rotation speed ratio N1 / N2 and the opening θ of the mixing valve 16, and the second inflow temperature calculation unit 20k can calculate the battery side inflow temperature Tin2 using this flow rate ratio R. Such an embodiment is also included in the present invention.

[0050] However, when the mixing valve 16 has a nonlinear opening characteristic, i.e., when the relationship between the opening θ and the flow rate ratio R is nonlinear, it becomes necessary to correct the opening characteristic to a linear one. For ease of explanation, the flow rate ratio R when the flow rate of the engine coolant circulating through the engine coolant circuit 2, in other words the flow rate of the engine coolant flowing into the mixing valve 16, and the flow rate of the battery coolant circulating through the battery coolant circuit 3, in other words the flow rate of the battery coolant flowing into the mixing valve 16, are equal is defined as the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal.

[0051] The inventor carried out a test in which the rotation speeds of the engine-side and battery-side cooling water pumps 7, 13 were changed to create operating conditions with rotation speed ratios N1 / N2 ranging from 0.10 to 7.00, and the ratio R / Rideal between the flow rate ratio R and the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal was measured. The cooling water pumps 7, 13 at this time were controlled so that the rotation speeds N1, N2 periodically fluctuated in opposite directions to each other, for example, as shown in Fig. 11, which will be described later.

[0052] FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram showing test results when the rotation speed ratio N1 / N2>1, and FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram showing test results when the rotation speed ratio N1 / N2<1. In both figures, it can be seen that a positive linear correlation is established between the rotational speed ratio N1 / N2 and the ratio R / Rideal, and this is represented by the straight dotted characteristic line L in each figure. These characteristic lines L can be approximated by the following equation (4), where the rotational speed ratio N1 / N2 is x and the ratio R / Rideal is y. Therefore, the ratio R / Rideal can be calculated from the rotational speed ratio N1 / N2 according to the same equation (4). y = a × x + b ……(4)

[0053] Moreover, since each characteristic line L has a different slope and intercept, it can be seen that the correlation between the rotational speed ratio N1 / N2 and the ratio R / Rideal changes with the rotational speed ratio N1 / N2=1 as the boundary. Specifically, in the specifications of the mixing valve 16 of this embodiment, when x>1, a=0.5115 and b=0.4056 are applied to the above formula (4), and when x<1, a=0.475 and b=0.5377 are applied to the above formula (4). Therefore, these two types of coefficients a and b are pre-stored in the storage area of ​​the controller 17.

[0054] On the other hand, the inventor conducted a test in which the coolant flow rates on the engine coolant circuit 2 side and the battery coolant circuit 3 side were made equal, and the opening degree θ of the mixing valve 16 was changed to measure the flow rate ratio R, i.e., the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal.

[0055] 6 is a diagram showing a control map set based on test results, and this control map is stored in advance in the storage area of ​​the controller 17. Therefore, it is possible to calculate the ideal flow ratio Rideal from the current opening θ of the mixing valve 16 based on the control map.

[0056] Using the coefficients a, b and the control map set through the above process, the flow rate ratio calculation unit 20b calculates the flow rate ratio R as the proportion of engine coolant contained in the mixed coolant flowing out from the mixing valve 16 to the battery coolant circuit 3. That is, the rotation speed ratio N1 / N2 of the cooling water pumps 7, 13 obtained from the engine temperature control unit 18 and the battery temperature control unit 19 is set as x, and the value corresponding to x is selected and read from the two coefficients a and b in the storage area, and then applied to the above formula (4) to calculate y, i.e., the ratio R / Rideal between the flow rate ratio R and the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal. At the same time, the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal is calculated from the opening θ of the mixing valve 16 detected by the valve opening sensor 21 using the control map in Fig. 6. Then, the flow rate ratio R is calculated from y and the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal according to the following formula (5). R = y × Rideal ……(5)

[0057] Depending on the specifications of the mixing valve 16, the correlation between the rotational speed ratio N1 / N2 and the ratio R / Rideal may be substantially the same in all ranges of the rotational speed ratio N1 / N2. In that case, it is not necessary to switch the coefficients a and b, and the same coefficients a and b may be applied.

[0058] In addition, the second inflow temperature calculation unit 20k calculates the battery side inflow temperature Tin2 from the engine side inflow temperature Tin1 detected by the engine side inflow temperature sensor 22, the outflow temperature Tout detected by the outflow temperature sensor 24, and the flow ratio R calculated by the flow ratio calculation unit 20b according to the following equation (6).

number

[0059] Incidentally, the above formula (4) is premised on the establishment of a linear correlation between the rotational speed ratio N1 / N2 and the ratio R / Rideal, but as a result of a preliminary test, a non-linear correlation may be established between the rotational speed ratio N1 / N2 and the ratio R / Rideal. In that case, the characteristic line L can be approximated by the following formula (7), so the flow rate ratio calculation unit 20b calculates the ratio R / Rideal from the rotational speed ratio N1 / N2 according to the formula (7) using the coefficients c, d, and e that are set and stored in advance.

[0060] Even in this case, when the relationship between the rotational speed ratio N1 / N2 and the ratio R / Rideal changes with the rotational speed ratio N1 / N2=1 as the boundary, two corresponding coefficients c, d, and e are set and stored in advance, and the value corresponding to the rotational speed ratio N1 / N2 is applied to the following equation (7). Note that the subsequent calculation process of the flow rate ratio R and the calculation process of the battery side inlet temperature Tin2 by the second inlet temperature calculation unit 20k are similar to those described above. y=cx 2 ×dx+e ……(7)

[0061] Also, for example, in the characteristic line L shown in Fig. 5, the region where the rotation speed ratio N1 / N2 is 0.20 or less can be interpreted as nonlinear. In that case, the above formula (4) should be applied to the calculation process of the ratio R / Rideal in the region where N1 / N2>0.20, and the above formula (7) should be applied to the calculation process of the ratio R / Rideal in the region where N1 / N2<0.20.

[0062] The mixing control section 20 of the controller 17 configured as above executes the mixing valve opening control routine shown in Fig. 7 at a predetermined control interval. This routine is executed regardless of whether the engine 4 is running or stopped, and is executed in parallel with the control by the engine temperature control section 18 when the engine is running. This routine may also be executed in parallel with the control by the battery temperature control section 19. For ease of explanation, it is assumed that the mixing valve 16 is kept fully closed when this routine is started.

[0063] First, in step S11, the mixing control unit 20 judges whether the ignition switch of the vehicle is turned ON, and ends the routine when the judgment is No. When the judgment in step S11 is Yes, the process proceeds to step S12, where it judges whether the outflow temperature Tout is less than the target outflow temperature tgtTout, and when the judgment is No, it is determined that warming up of the running battery 5 is unnecessary and returns to step S11. When the judgment in step S12 is Yes, it is determined that warming up of the running battery 5 is necessary and the process proceeds to step S13, where it judges whether the engine side inflow temperature Tin1 is equal to or higher than the target outflow temperature tgtTout, in other words, whether the engine coolant has heat sufficient to warm up the running battery 5. When the judgment is No, the flow ratio control is turned OFF in step S14, and the PID control is turned OFF in the following step S15, and the process returns to step S11.

[0064] The flow rate ratio control is mainly executed by the target outflow temperature calculation unit 20a, the flow rate ratio calculation unit 20b, the opening correction coefficient calculation unit 20c, the target flow rate ratio calculation unit 20d, the basic target opening calculation unit 20e, and the valve drive unit 20j, and is a process for controlling the opening of the mixing valve 16 based on the calculated basic target opening tgtθbase, and will be described in detail later. Meanwhile, the PID control is mainly executed by the PID control unit 20g, and is a process for PID control based on the water temperature deviation ΔT. Therefore, when the determination in step S13 is No, neither the flow rate ratio control nor the PID control is executed, and the mixing valve 16 is kept in a fully closed state, so that the coolant circulates in the engine coolant circuit 2 and the battery coolant circuit 3 separately.

[0065] When the determination in step S13 becomes Yes, the process proceeds to step S16 to determine whether or not PID control is OFF. At the beginning of the routine, since PID control is OFF in step S15, the determination is Yes and the process proceeds to step S17. In step S17, it is determined whether or not flow ratio control is OFF, and since flow ratio control is OFF in step S14, the determination is Yes and the process proceeds to step S18 to turn flow ratio control ON, and then returns to step S11.

[0066] When the process proceeds to step S17 again, since the flow ratio control is ON, the determination is No, and in step S19, it is determined whether or not the mixed state of the engine coolant and the battery coolant is stable. The process of step S19 is executed by the stabilization determination unit 20f in FIG. 3. When the flow ratio control is started, the engine coolant and the battery coolant start mixing according to the opening degree θ of the mixing valve 16, and the mixed state, in other words, the flow ratio R, which fluctuates at the beginning of the start, gradually stabilizes. Therefore, before the mixed state stabilizes at the beginning of the flow ratio control, the processes of steps S11 to 13, 16, 17, and 19 are repeated based on the determination of No in step S19. Since the flow ratio control has already been ON in step S18, only the flow ratio control continues to be executed at this time.

[0067] Then, when the mixed state of the engine coolant and the battery coolant becomes stable, the determination in step S19 changes to Yes and the process proceeds to step S20. In step S20, PID control is turned ON, and the process then returns to step S11. When the process proceeds to step S16 again, since PID control is ON, the determination is No, and the processes in steps S11-13 and S16 are repeated. Therefore, after the mixed state becomes stable, PID control continues to be executed in parallel with the flow ratio control.

[0068] On the other hand, during the period in which the flow rate ratio control is ON in step S18, mixing control unit 20 executes the flow rate ratio control routine shown in FIG. 8 at predetermined control intervals. First, in step S21, the mixing control unit 20 judges whether the rotation speed ratio N1 / N2 of the cooling water pumps 7, 13, i.e., x, is 1 (x=1). If the judgment is Yes, the process proceeds to step S22, where the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal is calculated from the opening degree θ of the mixing valve 16 based on the control map in FIG. 6. In the following step S23, the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal is set as the flow rate ratio R, and then the process proceeds to step S30. Since the rotation speed ratio N1 / N2=1, the subsequent processes are executed based on the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal.

[0069] If the determination in step S21 is No, the process proceeds to step S24, where it is determined whether or not x is greater than 1 (x>1). If the determination in step S24 is Yes, the process proceeds to step S25, where the coefficients a and b corresponding to X>1 are selected and read out. If the determination in step S24 is No (x<1), the process proceeds to step S26, where the coefficients a and b corresponding to x<1 are selected and read out.

[0070] In the next step S27, y, that is, the ratio R / Rideal between the flow rate ratio R and the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal is calculated from x and the coefficients a and b according to the above formula (4). Then, the process proceeds to step S28, where the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal is calculated from the opening degree θ of the mixing valve 16 according to the control map in Fig. 6, and in step S29, the flow rate ratio R is calculated from y and the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal according to the above formula (5), and then the process proceeds to step S30. The above processes in steps S21 to S29 are executed by the flow rate ratio calculation unit 20b in Fig. 3.

[0071] In step S30, the battery side inlet temperature Tin2 is calculated according to the above formula (6) from the engine side inlet temperature Tin1, the outflow temperature Tout, and the flow rate ratio R. This process is executed by the second inlet temperature calculation unit 20k in FIG.

[0072] In the next step S31, a target outflow temperature tgtTout is calculated from the outside air temperature Ta and the battery temperature Tb using a control map (not shown). In step S32, an opening correction coefficient K is calculated using the above formula (1) based on the flow ratio R and the opening θ of the mixing valve 16. In step S33, a target flow ratio tgtR is calculated using the above formula (2) based on the engine side inlet temperature Tin1, the battery side inlet temperature Tin2, and the target outflow temperature tgtTout. In step S34, a basic target opening tgtθbase is calculated using the above formula (3) based on the opening correction coefficient K and the target flow ratio tgtR, and in the next step S35, the opening of the mixing valve 16 is controlled based on the target opening tgtθ.

[0073] The process of step S31 is executed by the target outflow temperature calculation unit 20a in FIG. 3, the process of step S32 is executed by the opening correction coefficient calculation unit 20c in FIG. 3, the process of step S33 is executed by the target flow rate ratio calculation unit 20d in FIG. 3, the process of step S34 is executed by the basic target opening calculation unit 20e in FIG. 3, and the process of step S35 is executed by the valve drive unit 20j in FIG. 3.

[0074] Before the mixture state of the engine coolant and the battery coolant is stabilized, the PID control is OFF, so the basic target opening tgtθbase calculated in step S34 is set as the target opening tgtθ and applied to the opening control of the mixing valve 16 in step S35. If the PID control is started before the mixture state is stabilized, there is a possibility that the essential flow ratio control will not be executed properly due to interference between the controls. In order to prevent such a situation, the PID control is put on hold until the mixture state is stabilized. After the mixture state is stabilized, the PID control is executed in parallel with the flow ratio control, and in step S35, the target opening tgtθ obtained by adding the opening correction amount Δθ based on the PID control to the basic target opening tgtθbase is applied to the opening control of the mixing valve 16.

[0075] Then, through the above control, the opening θ of the mixing valve 16 is adjusted to the target opening tgtθ, and the battery coolant circulating through the battery coolant circuit 3 is mixed with the engine coolant and adjusted to the target outflow temperature tgtTout.

[0076] Next, the effects of the temperature adjustment device 1 of this embodiment will be described. Fig. 9 shows the control state of the outflow temperature Tout when PID control is executed in parallel with the flow ratio control. As test conditions, the engine side inflow temperature Tin1 and the battery side inflow temperature Tin2 were randomly changed as shown in Fig. 10. Also, as shown in Fig. 11, the rotation speeds of the engine side and battery side cooling water pumps 7, 13 were periodically changed in the opposite directions to each other, thereby changing the flow rates of the engine cooling water and the battery cooling water, respectively. Under such test conditions, the target outflow temperature tgtTout was set to 50°C, and the actual outflow temperature Tout was measured.

[0077] As shown in Fig. 9, the outflow temperature Tout is almost kept within a range of about 50±2°C, and it can be seen that the outflow temperature Tout can be controlled with high accuracy. This test result also reflects the effect of suppressing hunting by D control and the effect of suppressing steady-state deviation by I control, but it is estimated that even if flow ratio control is performed alone, the control accuracy of the outflow temperature Tout does not decrease significantly. Note that, depending on the specifications of the temperature adjustment device 1 including the cooling water circuit, sufficient effects can be obtained even when PD control or PI control is performed, so the "feedback control" of the present invention is not limited to PID control, and may be PD control or PI control.

[0078] FIG. 12 shows the control state of the outflow temperature Tout by a general PID control that feeds back the opening degree θ of the mixing valve 16 based on the deviation ΔT between the target outflow temperature tgtTout and the outflow temperature Tout without performing the flow ratio control, and the test conditions are the same as those of FIG. 9 and FIG. 11. Compared to FIG. 9, there is a noticeable hunting in the outflow temperature Tout, and it can be seen that the robustness against the flow rate fluctuation is poor. Also, it is presumed that the control accuracy is not good compared to the case where the flow ratio control of this embodiment is performed alone. Therefore, only the flow ratio control may be performed alone without performing the PID control in parallel, and such an embodiment is also included in the present invention.

[0079] When the control of the engine temperature control unit 18 and the battery temperature control unit 19 is executed in parallel with the flow rate ratio control, the temperatures of the engine coolant and the battery coolant constantly fluctuate, and the flow rates of each constantly fluctuate with the rotation speeds of the coolant pumps 7, 13. The test results in Fig. 9 can be regarded as evidence that the outflow temperature Tout can be appropriately controlled even in such a situation.

[0080] In addition, in Patent Document 1, the details of the opening control of the switching valve and the rotation control of the pump when mixing the engine coolant and the battery coolant are unclear. In contrast, in this embodiment, the above explanation makes the details of the opening control of the mixing valve 16 clear, and it can be seen that the outflow temperature Tout can be appropriately controlled by controlling the opening of the mixing valve 16, regardless of the details of the rotation control of the cooling water pumps 7, 13, for example. As a result, according to the flow rate ratio control of this embodiment, the engine coolant and the battery coolant can be appropriately mixed by the mixing valve 16 and effectively used to warm up the running battery 5.

[0081] On the other hand, the characteristic of the flow ratio control of this embodiment can be simply expressed as follows: an opening correction coefficient K is calculated based on the flow ratio R and the opening θ of the mixing valve 16, and the opening of the mixing valve 16 is controlled using the opening correction coefficient K as an index. As one piece of information for calculating the flow ratio R and the opening correction coefficient K, the engine side inlet temperature Tin1, the battery side inlet temperature Tin2, and the outflow temperature Tout are used.

[0082] For example, a method for controlling the opening degree of the mixing valve 16 may be considered in which the flow rates of the engine cooling water flowing into the mixing valve 16, the battery cooling water flowing into the mixing valve 16, and the mixed cooling water flowing out from the mixing valve 16 to the battery cooling water circuit 3 are detected, and the opening degree of the mixing valve 16 is controlled using the relationship between these flow rates and the opening degree θ of the mixing valve 16 as an index. However, compared to the temperature sensors 22 and 24, the flow rate sensor is heavy and requires space, making it difficult to mount on a vehicle, and is also expensive to manufacture, which increases the cost of the temperature adjustment device 1. In this embodiment, the opening degree of the mixing valve 16 is controlled based on the temperatures Tin1, Tin2, and Tout as described above, and the temperatures Tin1 and Tout are detected by the temperature sensors 22 and 24, which are lighter and smaller than the flow rate sensors. Therefore, compared to the case where a flow rate sensor is used, the mounting ability on a vehicle can be improved and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

[0083] In addition, the vehicle may already be equipped with temperature sensors 22, 24 for use in controlling, for example, the engine temperature control unit 18 and the battery temperature control unit 19. In that case, by using the detection information from the existing temperature sensors 22, 24, further cost reduction can be achieved.

[0084] Additionally, in this embodiment, the battery side inlet temperature Tin2 is calculated based on the rotation speed ratio N1 / N2 of the cooling water pumps 7, 13 and the opening degree θ of the mixing valve 16, and information on the rotation speed ratio N1 / N2 is obtained from the existing engine temperature control unit 18 and battery temperature control unit 19. As a result, the battery side inlet temperature sensor for detecting the battery side inlet temperature Tin2 can be omitted, thereby achieving further cost reduction of the temperature adjustment device 1.

[0085] In addition, the general PID control illustrated in Fig. 12 as described above not only has poor robustness against flow rate fluctuations, but also requires switching of PID control gains according to flow rate fluctuations of engine coolant and battery coolant, etc. This poses the problem of requiring a huge amount of effort for advance calibration to set a large number of gains.

[0086] This problem also occurs in a method of calculating the target opening tgtθ of the mixing valve 16 based on a preset control map, for example. Establishing such control requires a large number of control maps that take into account various factors such as the flow rates of the engine coolant, the battery coolant, and the mixed coolant, and therefore requires a huge amount of work for advance calibration, as in the case of general PID control.

[0087] In contrast, in the flow rate ratio control of this embodiment, the temperatures Tin1, Tin2, Tout and the opening θ of each cooling water are detected as values ​​reflecting the specifications of the cooling water circuits 2, 3 and the mixing valve 16 constituting the temperature control device 1, and the opening of the mixing valve 16 is controlled based on the opening correction coefficient K calculated from these values. Therefore, since there is no need to set the gain and control map of the PID control, advance calibration is also not required, and further, even if the specifications of the temperature control device 1 are changed, calibration for resetting the gain and control map is not required. In addition, even in the case of temperature control devices 1 with the same specifications, there are individual differences due to manufacturing errors of each part, but since the individual differences are also reflected in the opening correction coefficient K, it is possible to obtain the effect of more appropriately controlling the opening of the mixing valve 16 without being affected by the individual differences.

[0088] On the other hand, the flow rate ratio control of this embodiment is repeated at each control interval of the controller 17, so that high control responsiveness can be achieved. When the control of the engine temperature control unit 18 and the battery temperature control unit 19 is executed in parallel with the flow rate ratio control as described above, the temperature and flow rate of the engine coolant and the battery coolant fluctuate significantly compared to when these controls are not executed. However, as already described based on the test results in FIG. 9, even in such a situation, the outflow temperature Tout can be appropriately controlled in response to the fluctuations in the temperature and flow rate of each coolant. This is because the flow rate ratio control at each control interval allows the flow rate ratio R corresponding to the fluctuations in the temperature and flow rate of each coolant, and thus the opening correction coefficient K, to be calculated in real time and reflected in the opening control of the mixing valve 16 without delay.

[0089] As a result, flow rate ratio control can be performed accurately not only when the control by engine temperature control unit 18 and battery temperature control unit 19 is suspended, but also when the temperature and flow rate of each coolant fluctuates due to the execution of each control. This means that there are more opportunities to effectively use the heat of the engine coolant to warm up the driving battery 5. As a result, for example, the operating time of the PTC heater 14 can be shortened by the amount of heat used by the engine coolant, and power consumption of the on-board battery, which is the power source, can be reduced.

[0090] However, the present invention is not limited to the above, and for example, the flow ratio control may be performed periodically at a predetermined time interval. Alternatively, when warming up of the driving battery 5 is required, the flow ratio control may be performed once first, and thereafter, when the deviation between the outflow temperature Tout and the target outflow temperature tgtTout increases, the flow ratio control may be performed as necessary. These embodiments are also included in the present invention.

[0091] In addition, in this embodiment, the flow rate ratio R and thus the battery side inlet temperature Tin2 can be calculated not only when the mixing valve 16 has a linear opening characteristic but also when the mixing valve 16 has a nonlinear opening characteristic. In detail, based on the knowledge that a linear correlation is established between the rotation speed ratio N1 / N2 and the ratio R / Rideal, the ratio R / Rideal is first calculated from the rotation speed ratio N1 / N2 according to the approximation formula (4) based on the test results. Then, after calculating the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal from the opening θ of the mixing valve 16, the flow rate ratio R is calculated according to the above formula (5), and the battery side inlet temperature Tin2 is calculated according to the following formula (6). Therefore, the battery side inlet temperature Tin2 can be calculated regardless of the opening characteristic of the mixing valve 16 used, and this can be applied to the opening control of the mixing valve 16.

[0092] Furthermore, the present invention can handle not only cases where the correlation between the rotational speed ratio N1 / N2 and the ratio R / Rideal is linear, but also cases where the correlation is nonlinear. In particular, when the correlation is nonlinear, the ratio R / Rideal can be calculated from the rotational speed ratio N1 / N2 without any problems by applying the approximation formula (7) instead of the approximation formula (4). The correlation between the rotational speed ratio N1 / N2 and the ratio R / Rideal also changes depending on the specifications of the mixing valve 16, but regardless of these conditions, the battery side inlet temperature Tin2 can be calculated and applied to the opening control of the mixing valve 16.

[0093] In the present embodiment, the "powertrain" of the present invention is the engine 4, and the "powertrain coolant circuit" of the present invention is the engine coolant circuit 2, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, when the present invention is applied to an electric vehicle equipped with a motor as a driving power source, the "powertrain" of the present invention may be the on-board equipment that generates heat as it operates, such as the driving motor, inverter, and DC-DC converter, and the "powertrain coolant circuit" may be configured as a coolant circuit that adjusts the temperature of these on-board equipment. Although a redundant description will not be given, even in this case, the heat of the powertrain coolant can be effectively used to warm up the driving battery 5, as in the present embodiment.

[0094] In the present embodiment, the driving battery 5 is warmed up using the heat of the engine coolant, but conversely, the engine 4 may be warmed up using the heat of the battery coolant. In the case of this modification 1, since the coolant to be controlled is the engine coolant, the outflow temperature sensor 24 is moved to the engine coolant circuit 2 side, and the temperature of the mixed coolant flowing out from the mixing valve 16 to the engine coolant circuit 2 is detected as the outflow temperature Tout. In addition, in step S21 of FIG. 5, a target outflow temperature tgtTout is calculated as a target value of the outflow temperature Tout that can keep the engine 4 in an appropriate temperature range based on the engine temperature, etc. In addition, in the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 and 5, the engine side inflow temperature Tin1 and the battery side inflow temperature Tin2 are replaced. For example, in step S13 of FIG. 4, it is determined whether the battery side inflow temperature Tin2 is equal to or higher than the target outflow temperature tgtTout. This makes it possible to effectively use the heat of the battery coolant to warm up the engine 4.

[0095] In this modification 1, the engine coolant circuit 2 corresponds to the "second temperature adjustment circuit" and "powertrain coolant circuit" of the present invention, the battery coolant circuit 3 corresponds to the "first temperature adjustment circuit" of the present invention, the engine 4 corresponds to the "second vehicle-mounted device" and "powertrain" of the present invention, and the driving battery 5 corresponds to the "first vehicle-mounted device" of the present invention. The coolant corresponds to the "heat medium" of the present invention, the engine coolant corresponds to the "second heat medium" of the present invention, and the battery coolant corresponds to the "first heat medium" of the present invention.

[0096] Moreover, the engine-side inflow temperature sensor 22 that detects the engine-side inflow temperature Tin1 corresponds to the "second inflow temperature detection unit that detects the second inflow temperature" of the present invention, and the battery-side inflow temperature sensor 23 that detects the battery-side inflow temperature Tin2 corresponds to the "first inflow temperature detection unit that detects the first inflow temperature" of the present invention. Moreover, the outflow temperature sensor 24 that detects the outflow temperature Tout of the mixed cooling water that flows out to the engine cooling water circuit 2 corresponds to the "outflow temperature detection unit that detects the outflow temperature of the mixed heat medium" of the present invention.

[0097] Furthermore, by combining the controls of this embodiment and modification 1, the heat of the engine coolant and the heat of the battery coolant may be mutually utilized to warm up the driving battery 5 and the engine 4, respectively.

[0098] In this embodiment, the temperature of the traveling battery 5 is increased by utilizing the heat of the engine coolant, but the traveling battery 5 may require cooling, in which case the cold heat of the engine coolant may be utilized for cooling. In the case of this modification 2, in step S12 of FIG. 4, it is determined whether the outflow temperature Tout is equal to or higher than the target outflow temperature tgtTout, and if the result is Yes, it is determined that the traveling battery 5 requires cooling, and the process proceeds to step S13, where it is determined whether the engine-side inflow temperature Tin1 is lower than the target outflow temperature tgtTout. If the result is Yes, it is determined that the engine coolant has cold heat capable of cooling the traveling battery 5, and the process from step S16 onward is performed to cool the traveling battery 5. The flowchart of FIG. 5 and the like are the same as those of the embodiment. Contrary to modification 2, the engine 4 may be cooled by utilizing the cold heat of the battery coolant.

[0099] [Second embodiment] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in which the present invention is embodied in a temperature adjustment device 31 for on-board equipment mounted on an electric vehicle. The main difference from the first embodiment is that instead of the engine coolant circuit 2, an air conditioning core coolant circuit 32 for adjusting the temperature in the vehicle cabin is provided, and the heat of the coolant is used to warm up and cool the traveling battery 5. Therefore, parts that are common to the first embodiment are given the same member numbers and their explanations are omitted, and the differences will be described mainly. In the following explanation, the heat used to warm up the traveling battery 5 is referred to as hot heat, and the heat used to cool it is referred to as cold heat.

[0100] FIG. 13 is a circuit diagram showing a temperature adjustment device 31 of this embodiment. The configuration of the battery coolant circuit 3 is the same as that of the first embodiment, so a duplicated description will be omitted. A heat exchanger 33 for heating, a heat exchanger 34 for cooling, a coolant pump 35, and an air conditioning core 36 are interposed in the annular air conditioning core coolant circuit 32, and the coolant discharged from the coolant pump 35 circulates through the air conditioning core coolant circuit 32 as the air conditioning core coolant. Although not shown, the vehicle is equipped with a heat pump system for air conditioning, and the refrigerant from this heat pump system is used to heat or cool the air conditioning core coolant circulating through the air conditioning core coolant circuit 32, and the interior of the vehicle is heated or cooled through the air conditioning core 36. For example, when heating is required, the refrigerant whose temperature has been increased by adiabatic compression is circulated through the heat exchanger 33 for heating the air conditioning core coolant, and the air in the vehicle interior is circulated through the high-temperature air conditioning core 36 to raise the temperature. In addition, when cooling is required, the refrigerant whose temperature has been reduced by adiabatic expansion is circulated through a cooling heat exchanger 34 to cool the air conditioning core coolant, and the air inside the vehicle cabin is cooled by circulating it through a low-temperature air conditioning core 36.

[0101] The air conditioning core coolant circuit 32 configured in this manner is connected to the battery coolant circuit 3 via the mixing valve 16, thereby configuring a temperature adjustment device 31. In this embodiment, the air conditioning core coolant circuit 32 corresponds to the "first temperature adjustment circuit" of the present invention, the battery coolant circuit 3 corresponds to the "second temperature adjustment circuit" of the present invention, the air conditioning core 36 corresponds to the "first vehicle-mounted device" of the present invention, and the running battery 5 corresponds to the "second vehicle-mounted device" of the present invention. In addition, the coolant corresponds to the "heat medium" of the present invention, the air conditioning core coolant corresponds to the "first heat medium" of the present invention, and the battery coolant corresponds to the "second heat medium" of the present invention.

[0102] Moreover, an air conditioning core side inflow temperature sensor 37 is provided instead of the engine side inflow temperature sensor 22 of the first embodiment, and the temperature of the air conditioning core coolant flowing from the air conditioning core coolant circuit 32 into the mixing valve 16 is detected as the air conditioning core side inflow temperature Tin3. Therefore, the air conditioning core side inflow temperature sensor 37 corresponds to the "first inflow temperature detection unit that detects the first inflow temperature" of the present invention, and the battery side inflow temperature sensor 23 that detects the battery side inflow temperature Tin2 corresponds to the "second inflow temperature detection unit that detects the second inflow temperature" of the present invention. Moreover, the outflow temperature sensor 24 that detects the outflow temperature Tout of the mixed coolant flowing out to the battery coolant circuit 3 corresponds to the "outflow temperature detection unit that detects the outflow temperature of the mixed heat medium" of the present invention.

[0103] 4 and 5, the air conditioning core side inlet temperature Tin3 is applied instead of the engine side inlet temperature Tin1. As a result, the air conditioning core coolant and the battery coolant are appropriately mixed in the mixing valve 16, and the hot and cold energy of the air conditioning core coolant can be effectively used to warm up and cool the traveling battery 5, and other operational effects can be achieved similarly to the first embodiment.

[0104] In this embodiment, the hot and cold energy of the air conditioning core coolant is used to warm and cool the driving battery 5, but conversely, the hot and cold energy of the battery coolant may be used to heat and cool the air conditioning core coolant. In this case, the outflow temperature sensor 24 is moved to the air conditioning core coolant circuit 32 side, and the temperature of the mixed coolant flowing out from the mixing valve 16 to the air conditioning core coolant circuit 32 is detected as the outflow temperature Tout. The load on the heat pump system is reduced by the amount of hot and cold energy of the battery coolant used, so that the power consumption of the on-board battery, which is the power source for the heat pump system, can be reduced.

[0105] [Third embodiment] Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described in which the present invention is embodied in a temperature adjustment device 41 for on-board equipment mounted on a hybrid vehicle. The temperature adjustment device 41 is formed by combining the engine coolant circuit 2 of the first embodiment and the air conditioning core coolant circuit 32 of the second embodiment, and serves the function of warming up and cooling the engine 4 by utilizing the heat of the air conditioning core coolant. Therefore, the same member numbers are assigned to parts having common configurations, and descriptions thereof will be omitted, and differences will be described with emphasis.

[0106] FIG. 14 is a circuit diagram showing a temperature adjustment device 41 of this embodiment. The configurations of the engine coolant circuit 2 and the air conditioning core coolant circuit 32 are the same as those of the first and second embodiments, so duplicated explanations will be omitted. In this embodiment, the air conditioning core coolant circuit 32 corresponds to the "first temperature control circuit" of the present invention, the engine coolant circuit 2 corresponds to the "second temperature control circuit" and the "powertrain coolant circuit" of the present invention, the air conditioning core 36 corresponds to the "first vehicle-mounted device" of the present invention, and the engine 4 corresponds to the "second vehicle-mounted device" and the "powertrain" of the present invention. In addition, the coolant corresponds to the "heat medium" of the present invention, the air conditioning core coolant corresponds to the "first heat medium" of the present invention, and the engine coolant corresponds to the "second heat medium" of the present invention.

[0107] As described above, instead of the engine 4, vehicle-mounted devices such as a driving motor, an inverter, and a DC-DC converter may be considered as the "powertrain" of the present invention, and a "powertrain coolant circuit" may be configured as a coolant circuit that adjusts the temperature of these vehicle-mounted devices.

[0108] In this embodiment, the outflow temperature sensor 24 is provided on the engine coolant circuit 2 side, and the temperature of the mixed coolant flowing out from the mixing valve 16 to the engine coolant circuit 2 is detected as the outflow temperature Tout. The outflow temperature sensor 24 at this time corresponds to the "outflow temperature detection unit that detects the outflow temperature of the mixed heat medium" of the present invention, the air conditioning core side inflow temperature sensor 37 that detects the air conditioning core side inflow temperature Tin3 corresponds to the "first inflow temperature detection unit that detects the first inflow temperature" of the present invention, and the engine side inflow temperature sensor 22 that detects the engine side inflow temperature Tin1 corresponds to the "second inflow temperature detection unit that detects the second inflow temperature" of the present invention.

[0109] According to this embodiment, the air conditioning core cooling water and the engine cooling water are appropriately mixed in the mixing valve 16, so that the hot and cold energy contained in the air conditioning core cooling water can be effectively utilized for warming up and cooling the engine 4, and other effects can be achieved in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

[0110] In this embodiment, the engine 4 is warmed up and cooled by using the hot and cold energy of the air conditioning core coolant, but conversely, the air conditioning core coolant may be heated and cooled by using the hot and cold energy of the engine 4. In this case, the outflow temperature sensor 24 is moved to the air conditioning core coolant circuit 32 side, and the temperature of the mixed coolant flowing out from the mixing valve 16 to the air conditioning core coolant circuit 32 is detected as the outflow temperature Tout. Since the load on the heat pump system is reduced by the amount of the hot and cold energy of the engine coolant used, it is possible to reduce the power consumption of the on-board battery, which is the power source for the heat pump system.

[0111] The aspects of the present invention are not limited to this embodiment. For example, in the first embodiment, the engine coolant circuit 2 and the battery coolant circuit 3 are connected via the mixing valve 16, in the second embodiment, the air conditioning core coolant circuit 32 and the battery coolant circuit 3 are connected via the mixing valve 16, and in the third embodiment, the air conditioning core coolant circuit 32 and the engine coolant circuit 2 are connected via the mixing valve 16, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention may be applied to a coolant circuit that adjusts the temperature of on-board equipment other than the engine 4, the driving battery 5, and the air conditioning core 36, or may be configured as a temperature control circuit that circulates a medium other than coolant. Also, for example, the three coolant circuits 2, 3, 32 may be connected to one another via a mixing valve 16. As an example, in Fig. 1, an air conditioning core coolant circuit 32 may be connected to the right side of the battery coolant circuit 3 via the mixing valve 16, and the hot and cold energy of the air conditioning core coolant may be used to warm and cool the traveling battery 5, just like in the case of the engine coolant, or other combinations of coolant circuits may be used. [Explanation of symbols]

[0112] 1,31,41 Temperature control device 2 Engine coolant circuit (first temperature control circuit or second temperature control circuit, powertrain coolant circuit) 3 Battery cooling water circuit (first temperature control circuit or second temperature control circuit) 4 Engine (first on-board device or second on-board device, powertrain) 5. Battery for running (first on-board device or second on-board device) 7 Cooling water pump (first pump) 13 Cooling water pump (second pump) 16 Mixing valve 20 Mixing control section 20a Target outflow temperature calculation section 20b Flow ratio calculation section 20c Opening correction coefficient calculation section 20d Target flow ratio calculation section 20f Stability judgment section 20g PID control section (feedback control section) 20i Target opening calculation section 20j Valve drive unit 20k 2nd inlet temperature calculation section 21 Valve opening sensor (valve opening detection section) 22 Engine side inflow temperature sensor (first inflow temperature detection unit) 24 Outlet temperature sensor (outlet temperature detection part) 32 Air conditioning core cooling water circuit (first temperature control circuit or second temperature control circuit) 37 Air conditioning core side inflow temperature sensor (first inflow temperature detection unit)

Claims

1. a first temperature control circuit that circulates a heat medium as a first heat medium by a first pump to adjust a temperature of a first in-vehicle device; a second temperature control circuit that circulates the heat medium as a second heat medium by a second pump to adjust a temperature of a second in-vehicle device; a mixing valve that mixes the first heat medium flowing in from the first temperature control circuit and the second heat medium flowing in from the second temperature control circuit at a ratio corresponding to an opening degree thereof and causes the mixed heat medium to flow out into the first temperature control circuit and the second temperature control circuit, respectively; a valve opening detection unit that detects the opening of the mixing valve; a first inflow temperature detection unit that detects a temperature of the first heat medium flowing from the first temperature control circuit into the mixing valve as a first inflow temperature; an outflow temperature detection unit that detects a temperature of the mixed heat medium flowing out from the mixing valve to the second temperature control circuit as an outflow temperature; a mixing control unit that controls an opening degree of the mixing valve to mix the first heat medium and the second heat medium when a temperature adjustment of the second in-vehicle device is required; Equipped with The mixing control unit is a target outflow temperature calculation unit that calculates a target value of the outflow temperature as a target outflow temperature based on at least a temperature of the second in-vehicle device; a flow rate ratio calculation unit that calculates, as a flow rate ratio, a ratio of the first heat medium contained in the mixed heat medium flowing out from the mixing valve to the second temperature control circuit based on a rotation speed of the first pump, a rotation speed of the second pump, and an opening degree of the mixing valve; a second inflow temperature calculation unit that calculates a temperature of the second heat medium flowing from the second temperature control circuit into the mixing valve as a second inflow temperature based on the first inflow temperature, the outflow temperature, and the flow rate ratio; an opening correction coefficient calculation unit that calculates an opening correction coefficient that defines a relationship between the flow rate ratio and the opening degree based on the flow rate ratio and the opening degree of the mixing valve; a target flow rate ratio calculation unit that calculates a target value of the flow rate ratio as a target flow rate ratio based on the first inflow temperature, the second inflow temperature, and the target outflow temperature; a target opening calculation unit that calculates a target opening of the mixing valve based on the opening correction coefficient and the target flow rate ratio; a valve driver that controls an opening degree of the mixing valve based on the target opening degree; A temperature control device for an in-vehicle device comprising:

2. the flow rate ratio calculation unit calculates the flow rate ratio based on a preset relationship between a rotation speed ratio of the first pump and the second pump and an opening degree of the mixing valve; The second inflow temperature calculation unit calculates the second inflow temperature Tin2 according to the following equation (6), where R is the flow ratio, Tin1 is the first inflow temperature, Tin2 is the second inflow temperature, and Tout is the outflow temperature. [0070] 2. The temperature control device for an in-vehicle device according to claim 1.

3. the flow rate ratio calculation unit calculates y according to the following formula (4), where x is a ratio N1 / N2 of the rotation speed N1 of the first pump and the rotation speed N2 of the second pump, R is the flow rate ratio, y is a ratio R / Rideal between the flow rate ratio R and an ideal flow rate ratio Rideal when the flow rates of the first heat medium and the second heat medium are equal, and a and b are preset coefficients. The flow rate ratio calculation unit also calculates the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal from the opening of the mixing valve based on a preset relationship between the opening of the mixing valve and the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal, and calculates the flow rate ratio R according to the following formula (5): y=a×x+b…(4) R = y × R ideal ……(5) The second inflow temperature calculation unit calculates the second inflow temperature Tin2 according to the following equation (6), where the first inflow temperature is Tin1, the second inflow temperature is Tin2, and the outflow temperature is Tout. [0080] 2. The temperature control device for an in-vehicle device according to claim 1.

4. the flow rate ratio calculation unit calculates y according to the following formula (7), where x is a ratio N1 / N2 of the rotation speed N1 of the first pump and the rotation speed N2 of the second pump, R is the flow rate ratio, y is a ratio R / Rideal between the flow rate ratio R and an ideal flow rate ratio Rideal when the flow rates of the first heat medium and the second heat medium are equal, and c, d, and e are preset coefficients, and calculates the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal from the opening of the mixing valve based on a preset relationship between the opening of the mixing valve and the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal, and calculates the flow rate ratio R according to the following formula (5), y=cx 2 ×dx+e ……(7) R = y × R ideal ……(5) The second inflow temperature calculation unit calculates the second inflow temperature Tin2 according to the following equation (6), where the first inflow temperature is Tin1, the second inflow temperature is Tin2, and the outflow temperature is Tout. [0097] 2. The temperature control device for an in-vehicle device according to claim 1.

5. The flow rate ratio calculation unit sets the ideal flow rate ratio Rideal as the flow rate ratio R when the x is 1, and applies different coefficients a and b to the formula (4) when the x is smaller than 1 and when the x is larger than 1.

4. The temperature control device for an in-vehicle device according to claim 3.

6. The flow ratio calculation unit sets the ideal flow ratio Rideal as the flow ratio R when x is 1, and applies different coefficients c, d, and e to the formula (7) when x is smaller than 1 and when x is larger than 1.

5. The temperature control device for an in-vehicle device according to claim 4.

7. The flow rate ratio calculation unit obtains the rotation speed of the first pump and the rotation speed of the second pump from an existing external device.

2. The temperature control device for an in-vehicle device according to claim 1.

8. The target outflow temperature calculation unit, the flow rate ratio calculation unit, the second inflow temperature calculation unit, the opening correction coefficient calculation unit, the target flow rate ratio calculation unit, the target opening calculation unit, and the valve drive unit repeat their respective processes at predetermined control intervals.

8. The temperature control device for an in-vehicle device according to claim 1.

9. The mixing control unit is a stabilization determination unit that determines whether a mixed state of the first heat medium and the second heat medium in response to an opening degree control of the mixing valve is stable; a feedback control unit that executes feedback control including at least one of an integral term and a differential term obtained from a deviation between the outflow temperature and the target outflow temperature, The feedback control unit starts the feedback control when the stabilization determination unit determines that the outflow temperature is stable after starting the opening degree control of the mixing valve.

2. The temperature control device for an in-vehicle device according to claim 1.

10. The mixing control unit controls an opening degree of the mixing valve to warm up the second vehicle device when the outflow temperature is lower than the target outflow temperature and the first inflow temperature is equal to or higher than the target outflow temperature. The temperature control device for an in-vehicle device according to claim 9 .

11. The mixing control unit controls an opening degree of the mixing valve to cool the second vehicle-mounted device when the outflow temperature is equal to or higher than the target outflow temperature and the first inflow temperature is lower than the target outflow temperature.

10. The temperature control device for an in-vehicle device according to claim 9.

12. one of the first temperature control circuit and the second temperature control circuit is a powertrain coolant circuit that adjusts the temperature of a powertrain for running a vehicle; The other of the first temperature control circuit and the second temperature control circuit is a battery coolant circuit that adjusts the temperature of a driving battery.

2. The temperature control device for an in-vehicle device according to claim 1.

13. One of the first temperature control circuit and the second temperature control circuit is an air conditioning core coolant circuit that adjusts a temperature of an air conditioning core of a vehicle, The other of the first temperature control circuit and the second temperature control circuit is a battery coolant circuit that adjusts the temperature of a driving battery.

2. The temperature control device for an in-vehicle device according to claim 1.

14. One of the first temperature control circuit and the second temperature control circuit is an air conditioning core coolant circuit that adjusts a temperature of an air conditioning core of a vehicle, The other of the first temperature control circuit and the second temperature control circuit is a powertrain coolant circuit that adjusts the temperature of a powertrain for running a vehicle.

2. The temperature control device for an in-vehicle device according to claim 1.

15. The power train is an engine mounted on the vehicle as a power source for driving the vehicle.

15. The temperature control device for an in-vehicle device according to claim 12 or 14.

16. The power train includes a driving motor mounted on the vehicle as a driving power source, an inverter for driving the driving motor, and a DC-DC converter.

15. The temperature control device for an in-vehicle device according to claim 12 or 14.

Images