Charging device

Abstract

To calculate the drive current of electrical equipment with greater accuracy. [Solution] A charging device comprising: an energy storage device; a voltage converter that supplies power from a charging line supplied with power from a charging facility to a power line from the energy storage device, with voltage conversion; an electrical device attached to the power line that operates with power consumption; and a control device that performs external charging to charge the energy storage device with power from the charging facility, wherein the device is equipped with a current sensor that detects the current in the charging line, and the control device calculates the drive current of the electrical device based on the current in the charging line detected by the current sensor and the current of the energy storage device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to a charging device.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, as this type of charging device, there has been proposed one including a power storage device (battery) and a power supply device that supplies power from a charging facility (infrastructure facility) to the power storage device (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this device, based on the input charging time and the charge amount of the power storage device, a charging current required for the battery to complete charging within the charging time is calculated.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] By the way, in a charging device including a power storage device, a voltage conversion device that supplies power from a charging line to which power from a charging facility is supplied to a power line from the power storage device with voltage conversion, and an electrical device attached to the power line and operating with power consumption, accurately calculating the drive current (extraction current) of the electrical device has been recognized as an important problem. However, in the above - mentioned document, a calculation method for the drive current of the electrical device is not disclosed.

[0005] The main object of the charging device of this disclosure is to more accurately calculate the drive current of an electrical device.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The charging device of this disclosure has taken the following means to achieve the above - mentioned main object.

[0007] The charging device of this disclosure is A charging device comprising: an energy storage device; a voltage converter that supplies power from a charging line supplied with power from a charging facility to a power line from the energy storage device, with voltage conversion; an electrical device attached to the power line that operates with power consumption; and a control device that performs external charging to charge the energy storage device with power from the charging facility, Current sensor for detecting the current in the charging line Equipped with, The control device calculates the drive current of the electrical equipment based on the current of the charging line detected by the current sensor and the current of the energy storage device. This is the gist of it.

[0008] The charging device of this disclosure includes a current sensor that detects the current in the charging line. Based on the current in the charging line detected by the current sensor and the current of the energy storage device, the drive current of the electrical equipment is calculated. As a result, the drive current of the electrical equipment can be calculated with greater accuracy. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This diagram shows a schematic configuration of an electric vehicle equipped with a charging device according to an embodiment of the disclosure. [Figure 2] This flowchart shows an example of a configuration routine executed by the ECU. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an electric vehicle equipped with a charging device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in the figure, the electric vehicle 20 of the embodiment includes a driving motor 22, an inverter 24, a battery (energy storage device) 30, auxiliary equipment (electrical equipment) 31, a system main relay SMR, a booster (voltage converter) 40, a circuit breaker relay 50, a charging relay 51, and an electronic control unit (control device, hereinafter referred to as "ECU") 60.

[0011] The motor 22 is configured as a synchronous regenerative motor and comprises a rotor with embedded permanent magnets and a stator around which three-phase coils are wound. The rotor of this motor 22 is connected to a drive shaft 26 which is connected to drive wheels 28a and 28b via a differential gear 27.

[0012] The inverter 24 is configured as a well-known inverter circuit having six transistors and six diodes, and is connected to the motor 22 and the power line 32. The inverter 24 is controlled by the ECU 60.

[0013] The battery 30, for example, has multiple lithium-ion or nickel-metal hydride rechargeable batteries and is connected to the power line 32.

[0014] The auxiliary equipment 31 is connected to the inverter 24 side from the system main relay SMR of the power line 32 and operates while consuming power from the power line 32. Examples of auxiliary equipment 31 include an air conditioning system.

[0015] The system main relay SMR is mounted on the power line 32 on the battery 30 side of the inverter 24. The system main relay SMR is controlled by the ECU 60.

[0016] The boost converter 40 boosts the power from the charging line 44 and supplies it to the connection line 46. The boost converter 40 is controlled by the ECU 60.

[0017] The connection line 46 is connected between the system main relay SMR of the power line 32 and the inverter 24. The disconnection relay 50 is mounted on the connection line 46. The charging relay 51 is mounted on the charging line 44. The disconnection relay 50 and the charging relay 51 are controlled by the ECU 60.

[0018] The ECU60 is equipped with a microcontroller that includes a CPU. Signals from various sensors are input to the ECU60 via input ports. Examples of signals input to the ECU60 include the battery voltage Vb from the voltage sensor 30a that detects the terminal voltage of the battery 30, the battery current Ib from the current sensor 30b that detects the current flowing through the battery 30, the charging voltage Vc from the voltage sensor 44a that detects the voltage on the booster 40 side from the charging relay 51 of the charging line 44, the charging current Ic from the current sensor 44b that detects the current flowing through the charging line 44, the voltage VH from the voltage sensor 46a that detects the voltage on the booster 40 side from the disconnection relay 50 of the connection line 46, the connection signal from the connection detection sensor 52a that detects the connection between the vehicle side connection part 52 and the equipment side connection part 92 that is connected to the charging device 94 of the charging equipment 90, and the start signal from the start switch 62. The ECU 60 outputs various control signals via its output ports, including control signals to multiple switching elements of the inverter 24, drive signals to the system main relay SMR, control signals to the boost converter 40, drive signals to the trip relay 50, and drive signals to the charging relay 51. When the vehicle-side connection 52 and the equipment-side connection 92 of the charging equipment 90 are connected, the signal lines of the equipment-side connection 92 of the charging equipment 90 and the signal lines of the vehicle-side connection 52 are connected, enabling the exchange of various signals with the charging equipment 90. The ECU 60 calculates the state of charge (SOC) of the battery 30 based on the integrated value of the battery current Ib, and calculates the input limit Win based on the SOC and temperature Tb of the battery 30. The SOC is the ratio of the remaining capacity to the total capacity of the battery 30. The input limit Win is the maximum input power allowed for the battery 30.

[0019] In the electric vehicle 20 equipped with the charging device of the embodiment configured in this way, when the start switch 62 is turned on by the user, the ECU 60 turns on the system main relay SMR to become ready on (system on). Subsequently, when the start switch 62 is turned off, the system main relay SMR is turned off to become ready off (system off).

[0020] When the connection detection sensor 52a detects that the vehicle-side connection part 52 and the equipment-side connection part 92 of the charging equipment 90 are connected during parking with the radio off, the ECU 60 turns on the system main relay SMR, the cutoff relay 50, and the charging relay 51. The ECU 60 sets the overall required current It* and transmits it to the charging device 94 of the charging equipment 90. The charging device 94 that has received the overall required current It* supplies the overall required current It* from the charging equipment 90 to the electric vehicle 20. Then, the ECU 60 controls the booster 40 so that the voltage VH of the connection line 46 becomes higher than the battery voltage Vb, and performs external charging, which is charging of the battery 30 using the DC power from the charging device 94 of the charging equipment 90.

[0021] Next, the operation of the electric vehicle 20 equipped with the charging device configured in this way, particularly the operation when setting the overall required current It*, will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of a setting routine executed by the ECU. This routine is executed when the connection detection sensor 52a detects that the vehicle-side connection part 52 and the equipment-side connection part 92 of the charging equipment 90 are connected during parking with the radio off.

[0022] When this routine is executed, the CPU of the ECU 60 inputs the battery voltage Vb from the voltage sensor 30a, the battery current Ib from the current sensor 30b, the charging voltage Vc from the voltage sensor 44a, the charging current Ic from the current sensor 44b, the input limit Win of the battery 30, and the state of charge SOC of the battery 30 (S100). Then, the ECU 60 sets a basic target power Pbase* based on the state of charge SOC (S110). The ECU 60 stores in advance, as a map in the ECU 60, the relationship between the state of charge SOC and the charging power Pc of the battery 30 when the battery 30 is fully charged, and when the state of charge SOC is given, sets the corresponding charging power Pc as the basic target power Pbase*. Further, the ECU 60 calculates, as the drive current Iaux of the auxiliary machine 31, the result of subtracting the battery current Ib from the charging current Ic (S120). Thus, by calculating the drive current Iaux of the auxiliary machine 31 based on the charging current Ic and the battery current Ib, the drive current Iaux of the auxiliary machine 31 can be calculated more accurately than when estimating the drive current Iaux of the auxiliary machine 31 from some parameters without using the charging current Ic.

[0023] Next, the ECU 60 sets the control input limit Winc by adding the power consumption Waux of the auxiliary equipment 31, i.e., the drive current Iaux multiplied by the battery voltage Vb, to the input limit Win (S130). Then, the ECU 60 sets the target charging power Pc* to the smaller of the basic target power Pbase* and the control input limit Winc (S140). Furthermore, the ECU 60 sets a correction power Dpc to bring the battery current Ib closer to the current based on the target charging power Pc* (S150). The correction power Dpc is set by subtracting the result of dividing the target charging power Pc by the battery voltage Vb from the battery current Ib and multiplying by the conversion coefficient k. Then, the ECU 60 sets the total required current It* by adding the correction power Dpc to the target charging power Pc* and dividing the result by the charging voltage Vc, and transmits it to the charging device 94 of the charging equipment 90. Upon receiving the total required current It*, the charging device 94 supplies the total required current It* from the charging equipment 90 to the electric vehicle 20. The total required current It* is set using the target charging power Pc*, which is obtained by limiting the basic target power Pbase* with the control input limit Winc set in S140 using the drive current Iaux calculated accurately in S120. This prevents the battery 30 from being charged with power exceeding the input limit Win.

[0024] According to the charging device of this embodiment described above, the drive current Iaux of the auxiliary device 31 can be calculated with greater accuracy by calculating the drive current Iaux of the auxiliary device 31 based on the charging current Ic of the charging line 44 detected by the current sensor 44b and the battery current Ib of the battery 30.

[0025] In the embodiment described above, the booster 40 boosts the power supplied to the charging line 44 from the vehicle-side connection part 52 and supplies it to the connection line 46. However, instead of the booster 40, there may be a step-down converter that lowers the power supplied to the charging line 44 and supplies it to the connection line 46, or there may be a step-up / step-down converter that can boost and step down the power between the charging line 44 and the connection line 46.

[0026] In the embodiment described above, a battery 30 is used as the energy storage device, but a capacitor may be used instead of the battery 30.

[0027] The correspondence between the main elements of the embodiment and the main elements of the invention described in the section on means for solving the problem will be explained. In the embodiment, the battery 30 corresponds to an "energy storage device", the booster 40 corresponds to a "voltage converter", the auxiliary equipment 31 corresponds to an "electrical device", the ECU 60 corresponds to a control device, and the current sensor 44b corresponds to a "current sensor".

[0028] Furthermore, the correspondence between the main elements of the embodiment and the main elements of the invention described in the section on means for solving the problem is merely an example to specifically explain the form in which the embodiment implements the invention described in the section on means for solving the problem, and does not limit the elements of the invention described in the section on means for solving the problem. In other words, the interpretation of the invention described in the section on means for solving the problem should be based on the description in that section, and the embodiment is merely one specific example of the invention described in the section on means for solving the problem.

[0029] While embodiments for implementing this disclosure have been described above, this disclosure is not limited in any way to these embodiments, and can of course be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist of this disclosure. [Industrial applicability]

[0030] This disclosure can be used in industries such as the manufacturing of charging devices. [Explanation of symbols]

[0031] 20 Electric vehicle, 22 Motor, 24 Inverter, 26 Drive shaft, 27 Differential gear, 28a, 28b Drive wheels, 30 Battery, 30a Voltage sensor, 30b Current sensor, 31 Auxiliary equipment, 32 Power line, 40 Booster, 44 Charging line, 44a Voltage sensor, 44b Current sensor, 46 Connection line, 46a Voltage sensor, 50 Cut-off relay, 51 Charging relay, 52 Vehicle-side connection, 52a Connection detection sensor, 60 ECU, 62 Start switch, 90 Charging equipment, 92 Equipment-side connection, 94 Charging device, SMR system main relay.

Claims

[Claim 1] A charging device comprising: an energy storage device; a voltage converter that supplies power from a charging line supplied with power from a charging facility to a power line from the energy storage device, with voltage conversion; an electrical device attached to the power line that operates with power consumption; and a control device that performs external charging to charge the energy storage device with power from the charging facility, Current sensor for detecting the current in the charging line Equipped with, The control device calculates the drive current of the electrical equipment based on the current of the charging line detected by the current sensor and the current of the energy storage device. Charging device.

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