Control device

Abstract

To display, on a display unit, information indicating the charge state of a battery so that the information does not give discomfort to a user.SOLUTION: A control device performs display control to cause a display unit to display SOC information which indicates a charge state of a battery. Regarding a display SOC to be displayed as the SOC information on the display unit, an upper limit value of the display SOC is set such that the upper limit value of the display SOC corresponds to a value lower than an upper limit value of the actual SOC of the battery, and, in a case where the display control is performed after charging the battery is completed, even when the actual SOC of the battery is lower than the value corresponding to the upper limit value of the display SOC, if the actual SOC is around the value, the display unit is caused to display information indicating that the battery is in a state of full charge.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a control device. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses that SOC information indicating the state of charge of a plurality of batteries mounted on a vehicle is displayed on a display unit. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-011523 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] If the upper limit of the battery charge capacity is changed due to control reasons on the vehicle side, and the battery charge status is displayed as is, the user may feel uncomfortable because the battery never reaches full capacity (for example, 100%) or the displayed value never increases from a certain value.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to provide a control device that can display information indicating the charging status of a battery on a display unit without causing discomfort to the user. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The present invention is a control device that performs display control to display SOC information indicating the charging state of a battery on a display unit, and is characterized in that for the display SOC to be displayed on the display unit as the SOC information, an upper limit value of the display SOC is set so that the upper limit value of the display SOC corresponds to a value lower than the upper limit value of the actual SOC of the battery, and when the display control is performed after charging of the battery is completed, if the actual SOC of the battery is close to the value corresponding to the upper limit value of the display SOC even if it is lower than that value, information indicating that the battery is fully charged is displayed on the display unit. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] In the present invention, when the upper limit of the displayed SOC, which is displayed on the display unit as the state of charge of the battery, is set to correspond to a value lower than the upper limit of the actual SOC, information indicating that the battery is fully charged can be displayed on the display unit when the actual SOC reaches a value close to the upper limit of the displayed SOC due to charging, thereby reducing the sense of discomfort felt by the user. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a vehicle equipped with a control device according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the display control process. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the correspondence between the actual SOC and the displayed SOC. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A control device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described below.

[0010] 1 is a diagram showing a vehicle equipped with a control device according to an embodiment. The vehicle 1 includes a motor 2, a battery 3, a control device 4, and a display unit 5.

[0011] Vehicle 1 is an electric vehicle that can run using a motor 2 as a power source, and motor 2 can be driven by power supplied from a battery 3. Vehicle 1 is an electric vehicle that can be externally charged, such as a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) or a battery electric vehicle (BEV).

[0012] The motor 2 is a power source for driving the vehicle 1. The motor 2 is a motor generator that can function as both an electric motor and a generator. The power output from the motor 2 is transmitted to the wheels of the vehicle 1 via a power transmission device.

[0013] The battery 3 is a battery that supplies power to the motor 2. The battery 3 is configured as a secondary battery such as a lithium-ion battery. The battery 3 is capable of storing power supplied from an external power source, and is also capable of storing power generated by the motor 2 through regenerative power generation.

[0014] The control device 4 is an electronic control device that controls the vehicle 1. This electronic control device includes a microcontroller equipped with a CPU, RAM, ROM, and an input / output interface. The control device 4 performs signal processing according to a program pre-stored in the ROM. Signals are input to the control device 4 from various sensors mounted on the vehicle 1. The control device 4 then executes various controls based on the signals input from the various sensors.

[0015] As an example, a signal from a current sensor that detects the current flowing through the battery 3 is input to the control device 4. Based on the signal input from the current sensor, the control device 4 calculates the SOC (State Of Charge) that is the state of charge of the battery 3. Based on this calculated SOC, the control device 4 detects the actual SOC of the battery 3.

[0016] The control device 4 also executes display control to display SOC information indicating the state of charge of the battery 3 on the display unit 5. At this time, the SOC information displayed on the display unit 5 represents an SOC (hereinafter referred to as a displayed SOC) that has been processed to a value different from the actual SOC.

[0017] Specifically, as a method of reducing the cruising distance of the vehicle 1, the control device 4 sets the apparent upper limit of the SOC of the battery 3 to a value lower than the actual upper limit, and when it determines that the apparent upper limit has been reached, causes the display unit 5 to display information indicating that the battery 3 is fully charged. That is, the control device 4 sets the upper limit of the display SOC so that the upper limit corresponds to a value lower than the actual upper limit of the SOC. Then, even if the actual SOC of the battery 3 has not reached the actual upper limit, the control device 4 causes the display unit 5 to display information indicating that the battery 3 is fully charged if the actual SOC has reached the upper limit of the display SOC set as the apparent upper limit. In this way, the control device 4 sets the upper limit of the display SOC to a value lower than the actual upper limit of the battery 3, and when it determines that the actual SOC has reached a value corresponding to the upper limit of the display SOC even if it is below the actual upper limit, causes the display unit 5 to display information indicating that the battery 3 is fully charged. At this time, the control device 4 generates SOC information including a display SOC that has been processed to a value different from the actual SOC of the battery 3.

[0018] For example, if the upper limit of the actual SOC is 100%, the upper limit of the display SOC is set to correspond to a lower value, 76%. That is, the threshold used by the control device 4 to determine full charge is set when the actual SOC is 76%. Therefore, when it is determined that the actual SOC is 76% or higher, the upper limit of the display SOC has been reached, and the display unit 5 displays information of "100%" indicating that the battery 3 is fully charged. In this way, the upper limit of the display SOC is an apparent upper limit and is set to correspond to a value lower than the actual upper limit. Therefore, even if the SOC information displayed on the display unit 5 is "100%", it means that the actual SOC is less than 100%.

[0019] The display unit 5 displays SOC information that indicates the state of charge (SOC) of the battery 3. The display unit 5 is disposed in the cabin of the vehicle 1 and is a display that displays images at a position visible to the driver of the vehicle 1. For example, the display unit 5 is configured as a multi-information display or a head-up display. The display unit 5 is controlled by the control device 4 and displays images in response to signals input from the control device 4.

[0020] In vehicle 1 configured as described above, if the displayed SOC drops from 100% immediately after full charge, the user may feel uncomfortable. To prevent this discomfort, the displayed SOC is set to 100% until it is 1% below the SOC that corresponds to full charge. In a comparative example in which the display control of this embodiment is not performed, it may not be possible to determine whether battery 3 is discharged, and the displayed SOC may not be 100% when the user enters vehicle 1 after charging. For example, the displayed SOC may drop by 1% due to a recovery of the ion gradient of battery 3. Therefore, when the control device 4 performs display control after charging of battery 3 is completed, if the actual SOC is close to the upper limit of the displayed SOC, even if it is lower than that value, the control device 4 causes the display unit 5 to display information indicating that battery 3 is fully charged.

[0021] FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the display control process.

[0022] When the battery 3 is being charged, the SOC of the battery 3 is determined (step S1).

[0023] The control device 4 sets an upper limit for the displayed SOC that corresponds to a value lower than the upper limit for the actual SOC of the battery 3, and processes the actual SOC into the displayed SOC in accordance with this upper limit cut (step S2). After charging, in step S2, the displayed SOC is processed to 100[%] up to "-1[%]", the threshold value used to determine full charge.

[0024] Then, when the user gets into the vehicle 1, the control device 4 causes the display unit 5 to display information indicating that the display SOC is 100% (step S3). After the process of step S3 is performed, this control routine ends.

[0025] As shown in Figure 3, if the upper limit of the display SOC is set to 76% of the actual SOC, 76% of the actual SOC becomes the threshold for determining full charge. The display SOC is adjusted to 100% from this threshold to -1%. In other words, the display SOC is adjusted to 100% not only when it is determined that the threshold of 76% has been reached, but also when it is determined that the actual SOC is 75%.

[0026] As described above, when the upper limit value of the display SOC is set to correspond to a value lower than the upper limit value of the actual SOC, the display unit 5 can display a display SOC that does not cause discomfort to users who get in after charging.

[0027] The upper limit of the display SOC is not limited to the case where the actual SOC is 76%. The control device 4 can set the upper limit of the display SOC to a value that is lower than the upper limit of the actual SOC but is somewhat larger than the upper limit of the actual SOC.

[0028] Also, although the case where the display SOC is 1% lower than the upper limit has been described, it is not limited to being set to -1%, and it can be set to -2% or -0.5%, etc. In short, even if the upper limit of the display SOC has not been reached, if the display SOC is close to the upper limit of the display SOC, it is sufficient if the display SOC can be displayed as 100%. [Explanation of symbols]

[0029] 1 vehicle 2 motors 3 batteries 4. Control device 5 Display section

Claims

[Claim 1] A control device that performs display control to display SOC information indicating a state of charge of a battery on a display unit, Regarding a display SOC to be displayed on the display unit as the SOC information, a second value that is lower than a first value that is an upper limit value of the actual SOC of the battery is set as the upper limit value of the display SOC; When it is determined that the actual SOC is less than the first value and equal to or greater than the second value, displaying information indicating that the battery is in a fully charged state on the display unit; When the display control is executed after charging of the battery is completed, information indicating that the battery is in a fully charged state is displayed on the display unit when the actual SOC is close to the second value even if the actual SOC is lower than the second value. A control device characterized by:

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