On-vehicle controller

Abstract

To address a situation in which the remaining amount of hydrogen falls below a predetermined amount while supplying electric power generated by a fuel cell to an external part.SOLUTION: An on-vehicle controller according to the present disclosure is mounted on a vehicle comprising a fuel cell, a hydrogen tank that supplies hydrogen to the fuel cell, a secondary battery connected to a power line that supplies generated electric power from the fuel cell to a load, a DC power feeder that is connected to the power line and performs external power supply with DC power using the electric power generated by the fuel cell, and an AC power feeder that is connected to the power line and performs external power supply with AC power. The on-vehicle controller controls the fuel cell, the DC power feeder, and the AC power feeder. When the remaining amount of hydrogen in the hydrogen tank falls below a predetermined amount during external power supply by the DC power feeder, the controller stops the external power supply by the DC power feeder, performs external power supply by the AC power feeder, and notifies that the external power supply has been switched from the DC power feeder to the AC power feeder.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an on-board control device, and more particularly to an on-board control device mounted on a vehicle equipped with a fuel cell, a secondary battery, a DC power feeder, and an AC power feeder. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, as this type of on-board control device, one has been proposed that issues a warning to a user's information terminal when the remaining fuel in the fuel cell system falls to a warning level while the fuel cell system is stopped (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-165138 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] If the hydrogen level in a vehicle running low while generating electricity from the fuel cell is low, it may not be possible to travel to the nearest hydrogen station. For this reason, it is necessary to frequently check the hydrogen level while the vehicle is supplying power to an external device.

[0005] The main purpose of the on-vehicle control device of the present disclosure is to deal with the situation when the remaining amount of hydrogen falls below a predetermined remaining amount when power generated by a fuel cell is supplied to an external device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The in-vehicle control device of the present disclosure employs the following means to achieve the above-mentioned main object.

[0007] The in-vehicle control device of the present disclosure includes: A fuel cell; a hydrogen tank for supplying hydrogen to the fuel cell; a secondary battery connected to a power line that supplies power generated by the fuel cell to a load; a DC power feeder connected to the power line and configured to feed DC power to an external source using power generated by the fuel cell; an AC power feeder connected to the power line for externally feeding AC power; an on-board control device mounted on a vehicle and controlling the fuel cell, the DC power feeder, and the AC power feeder, when the remaining amount of hydrogen in the hydrogen tank falls below a predetermined remaining amount while external power is being fed by the DC power feeder, the external power feeding by the DC power feeder is stopped and external power feeding is started by the AC power feeder, and a notification is given that the external power feeding by the DC power feeder has been switched to the external power feeding by the AC power feeder. It is characterized by:

[0008] In the on-board control device disclosed herein, when the remaining hydrogen level in a hydrogen tank that supplies hydrogen to a fuel cell falls below a predetermined level while external power is being supplied from a DC power supply, the external power supply from the DC power supply, which supplies DC power using power generated by the fuel cell, is stopped and external power supply from an AC power supply is started. This prevents the remaining hydrogen level in the hydrogen tank from decreasing more than necessary from the predetermined level. The on-board control device disclosed herein also notifies the user that external power supply from the DC power supply has been switched to external power supply from an AC power supply. This notifies the user that external power supply from the DC power supply has been switched to external power supply from an AC power supply, and that the remaining hydrogen level has fallen below the predetermined level. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing an outline of the configuration of a vehicle 20 equipped with an on-board control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2]6 is a flowchart showing an example of an external power supply process executed by an electronic control unit 70. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Next, a mode (embodiment) for carrying out the present disclosure will be described. Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of the configuration of a vehicle 20 equipped with an on-board control device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 1, the vehicle 20 of the embodiment includes a secondary battery 30, a fuel cell 40, an inverter 50, a traction motor 54, the fuel cell 40, an AC outlet 37, a DC power supply device 60, and an electronic control unit 70.

[0011] The secondary battery 30 is configured as, for example, an alkaline ion secondary battery or a nickel-metal hydride secondary battery, and is connected to a high-voltage power line 32 via a system main relay 31. The high-voltage power line 32 is connected to a drive power line 49 connected to an inverter 50 via a boost converter 34 that can step up and down voltage. The high-voltage power line 32 is connected to an air conditioner 36 that conditions the passenger compartment, an AC outlet 37 that supplies 100V AC power, an auxiliary battery 38 that receives power that has been stepped down by a DC / DC converter, and the like.

[0012] The fuel cell 40 is configured, for example, by a polymer electrolyte fuel cell stack, and generates electricity upon receiving a supply of hydrogen and air, and is connected to a drive power line 49 via a boost converter 46 that boosts the generated power and a fuel cell relay 48. Hydrogen is supplied to the fuel cell 40 by pressure-fed hydrogen from a hydrogen tank 41 by a hydrogen pump 43 driven by power supplied from the high-voltage power line 32. A cooling water passage (not shown) is formed in the fuel cell 40, and cooling water is circulated through this cooling water passage by a cooling pump 44 driven by power supplied from the high-voltage power line 32.

[0013] The inverter 50 is configured as a plurality of well-known inverter circuits that convert DC power into three-phase AC power, and drives an air compressor 52 and a traction motor 54. The motor 54 is configured as, for example, a synchronous generator motor.

[0014] The DC power supply device 60 includes a DC power supply line 62 connected to the high-voltage power line 32, a power supply relay 64 attached to the DC power supply line 62, and a vehicle-side connector 66 attached to an end of the DC power supply line 62. The vehicle-side connector 66 is connectable to an external connector 102 connected to the external power supply device 100. With the external connector 102 connected to the vehicle-side connector 66, the DC power supply device 60 basically operates when power is being generated by the fuel cell 40, and supplies the generated power from the fuel cell 40 to the external power supply device 100 after its voltage has been adjusted via the boost converter 46 and the boost converter 34.

[0015] The electronic control unit 70 is configured, for example, as a microcomputer centered around a CPU. The electronic control unit 70 receives inputs such as detection values ​​from various sensors required for the operation of the fuel cell 40, the voltages and currents of the various power lines, and the three-phase current required to control the motor 54. It also receives the remaining hydrogen quantity Qh from the hydrogen quantity sensor 42 attached to the hydrogen tank 41. The electronic control unit 70 outputs switching control signals to the inverter 50, switching control signals to the boost converters 34 and 46, drive control signals to the system main relay 31, fuel cell relay 48, and power supply relay 64, and drive control signals to the hydrogen pump 43, cooling pump 44, and air conditioner 36. The electronic control unit 70 also outputs display control signals to a display 72, which is also capable of audio output and is incorporated into the installation panel in front of the driver's seat.

[0016] Next, the operation of vehicle 20 of this embodiment configured as described above will be described, particularly the operation when external power is being fed by DC power feeder 60. External power feeding by DC power feeder 60 is performed after power feeding relay 64 is turned on while system main relay 31 and fuel cell relay 48 are on, boost converter 34 and boost converter 46 are operating, and vehicle-side connector 66 and external connector 102 are connected. Figure 2 is a flowchart showing an example of an external power feeding process executed by electronic control unit 70 when external power is being fed by DC power feeder 60.

[0017] When the external power feeding process is executed, the electronic control unit 70 first turns on the power feeding relay 64 (step S100) and starts external power feeding by the DC power feeder 60 (step S110). Once external power feeding has started, the electronic control unit 70 waits to determine whether to end the power feeding or whether the remaining hydrogen amount Qh in the hydrogen tank 41, detected by the hydrogen level sensor 42 during the power feeding, falls below a threshold value Qref (steps S120 and S130). The threshold value Qref can be determined by using the remaining hydrogen amount sufficient to travel to the nearest hydrogen station, and can be calculated from the distance from the current location to the nearest hydrogen station, for example. If it is determined that power feeding should be ended before the remaining hydrogen amount Qh falls below the threshold value Qref, the electronic control unit 70 shuts off the power feeding relay 64 (step S140) and ends this process.

[0018] If it is determined in steps S120 and S130 that the remaining hydrogen amount Qh has fallen below the threshold Qref during power supply, the high-pressure actuators are stopped (step S150). The high-pressure actuators are actuators connected to the high-pressure power line 32 and the drive power line 49, and include the hydrogen pump 43, the cooling pump 44, the air conditioner 36, the DC / DC converter that supplies power to the auxiliary battery 38, the boost converters 34 and 46, the air compressor 52, and the motor 54.

[0019] Next, the power supply relay 64 is turned off (step S160), and then the stop of the high-voltage actuator is released (step S170). Then, a notification is issued that the external load connected to the external power supply device 100 has been switched to the AC outlet 37 (step S180), power supply via the AC outlet 37 begins (step S190), and this process ends. The notification that the external load connected to the external power supply device 100 has been switched to the AC outlet 37 can be made by, for example, displaying and outputting a message such as "Power supply to the external power supply device has ended. Please switch to an AC outlet," on the display 72 and simultaneously outputting it as an audio message, or by displaying and outputting it as an audio message from the external power supply device 100.

[0020] In the vehicle 20 of the embodiment described above, when the remaining amount of hydrogen Qh in the hydrogen tank 41 falls below a threshold value Qref that is defined as a sufficient amount of hydrogen to drive to the nearest hydrogen station while the vehicle is receiving external power feeding from the DC power feeder 60, the external power feeding from the DC power feeder 60 is stopped and power feeding is switched to the AC outlet 37. A notification is then issued that the external power feeding from the DC power feeder 60 will be stopped and power feeding will be switched to the AC outlet 37. This makes it possible to prevent the remaining amount of hydrogen Qh in the hydrogen tank 41 from decreasing excessively, and to prompt the user to switch from external power feeding from the DC power feeder 60 to external power feeding from the AC outlet 37.

[0021] The correspondence between the main elements of the embodiment and the main elements of the invention described in the "Means for Solving the Problems" section will be explained below. In the embodiment, fuel cell 40 corresponds to the "fuel cell," hydrogen tank 41 corresponds to the "hydrogen tank," secondary battery 30 corresponds to the "secondary battery," DC power feeder 60 corresponds to the "DC power feeder," AC outlet 37 corresponds to the "AC power feeder," and electronic control unit 70 corresponds to the "on-vehicle control device."

[0022] The correspondence between the main elements of the embodiments and the main elements of the invention described in the "Means for Solving the Problem" section does not limit the elements of the invention described in the "Means for Solving the Problem" section, since the embodiments are examples for specifically explaining the mode for implementing the invention described in the "Means for Solving the Problem" section. In other words, the interpretation of the invention described in the "Means for Solving the Problem" section should be based on the description in that section, and the embodiments are merely specific examples of the invention described in the "Means for Solving the Problem" section.

[0023] The present disclosure has been described above using embodiments, but the present disclosure is not limited to these embodiments in any way, and it goes without saying that the present disclosure can be embodied in various forms within the scope that does not deviate from the gist of the present disclosure. [Industrial Applicability]

[0024] The present disclosure is applicable to the manufacturing industry of in-vehicle control devices, etc. [Explanation of symbols]

[0025] 20 vehicle, 30 secondary battery, 31 system main relay, 32 high-voltage power line, 34 boost converter, 36 air conditioner, 37 AC outlet, 38 auxiliary battery, 40 fuel cell, 41 hydrogen tank, 42 ​​hydrogen remaining sensor, 43 hydrogen pump, 44 cooling pump, 46 boost converter, 48 fuel cell relay, 49 drive power line, 50 inverter, 52 air compressor, 54 motor, 60 DC power supply, 62 DC power supply line, 64 power supply relay, 66 vehicle-side connector, 70 electronic control unit, 72 display, 100 external power supply, 102 external connector.

Claims

1. A fuel cell; a hydrogen tank for supplying hydrogen to the fuel cell; a secondary battery connected to a power line that supplies power generated by the fuel cell to a load; a DC power feeder connected to the power line and configured to feed DC power to an external source using power generated by the fuel cell; an AC power feeder connected to the power line for externally feeding AC power; an on-board control device mounted on a vehicle and controlling the fuel cell, the DC power feeder, and the AC power feeder, when the remaining amount of hydrogen in the hydrogen tank falls below a predetermined remaining amount while external power is being fed by the DC power feeder, the external power feeding by the DC power feeder is stopped and external power feeding is started by the AC power feeder, and a notification is given that the external power feeding by the DC power feeder has been switched to the external power feeding by the AC power feeder.

1. An in-vehicle control device comprising:

Images