2201 results about "Regenerative brake" patented technology

A plug-in hybrid propulsion system includes a fast energy storage device that preserves battery life, where the energy storage elements of the hybrid drive train may be charged with externally supplied electricity as well as energy from the engine or regenerative braking. Electronic switches, passive electronics, an enclosure, controller circuitry, and / or control algorithms are used to manage the flow of power between a fuel powered engine, a battery, a fast energy storage system, traction motors, a charger, ancillary systems, an electrical distribution system, and / or a drive train.

This invention relates to plug-in hybrid propulsion systems where the energy storage element of the hybrid drive train may be charged with externally supplied electricity as well as energy from the engine or regenerative braking. The invention is a plug-in hybrid system with a fast energy storage and delivery system. In a preferred embodiment the invention comprises a fuel powered engine, a battery, a fast energy storage system, power converters, controllers, drive motors, an electrical distribution system, and a drive train. Additionally, the invention relates to plug-in hybrids that provide services to the electrical utility when the vehicle is connected to the utility grid.

A plug-in hybrid propulsion system includes a fast energy storage device that preserves battery life, where the energy storage elements of the hybrid drive train may be charged with externally supplied electricity as well as energy from the engine or regenerative braking. Electronic switches, passive electronics, an enclosure, controller circuitry, and / or control algorithms are used to manage the flow of power between a fuel powered engine, a battery, a fast energy storage system, traction motors; a charger, ancillary systems, an electrical distribution system, and / or a drive train.

A prosthetic leg having an electronically controlled regenerative prosthetic knee. In certain embodiments of the present invention the knee may be passive, whereby it is used only to generate electrical energy. In other embodiments, the knee may be active, whereby it can be used to assist with or completely control gait, as well as to generate electrical energy. The knee makes use of an actuator motor / generator to control gait and / or to generate electrical energy. An electronic control system is provided to control overall operation of the prosthetic leg, to distribute generated electrical energy, and to transfer excess electrical energy to one or more storage devices for later use. A prosthetic leg of the present invention having an active prosthetic knee may be especially helpful in assisting an amputee with activities that impart a high torque load to the knee joint.

A method of converting a conventional internal combustion powered vehicle into a hybrid vehicle and apparatus for achieving that and modifying one of the serial elements of the drive train interconnecting the internal combustion to the driving wheels of the vehicle by providing an auxiliary power connection which allows the motor / generator to provide or remove mechanical power from the drive train during driving operation or regenerative braking. Generators switchingly connected to a vehicle battery and an electronic controller intercede the system relative to the operation of the vehicle and control the motor / generator switching the vehicle engine to apply an electric drive power to the vehicle at appropriate points in the vehicle operation and to drive the generator during braking of the vehicle to recharge the power source. The electric drive power elements are supported on a cross-member added to the vehicle.

A fuel management control method for a hybrid electric vehicle drive having an internal combustion engine and an electric motor arranged in parallel such that both can propel the vehicle; the system including an electric motor driven fuel pump and a programmable microprocessor; and wherein the method further includes monitoring vehicle speed and sensing braking pressure and directing signals of both vehicle speed and braking to the microprocessor and processing such inputs in accordance with an aggressive fuel management program including shut-off of fuel flow to the gas engine in response to vehicle braking at vehicle speeds above a predetermined maximum hysteresis speed and maintaining the fuel shut off during vehicle coasting above a predetermined speed while controlling the electric motor to provide regenerative braking or vehicle start during such fuel shut off modes of operation.

A system for a hybrid vehicle driver by an operator, comprising of an energy storage device, a regenerative braking system coupled to the energy storage device, a dissipative braking system coupled to the vehicle, a brake lever, a haptic operator interface, and a control system for operating one or both of the regenerative and dissipative braking system in response to actuation of the brake lever, and providing feedback to the operator through the haptic interface differentiating a type of braking operation.

A vehicle brake device is provided with a hydraulic brake device for boosting by a booster device a braking manipulation force generated upon a braking manipulation, for applying a base fluid pressure generated in dependence on the boosted brake manipulation force, to wheel cylinders of wheels so that a base hydraulic brake force is generated on the wheels, and for driving a pump to generate and apply a controlled fluid pressure to the wheel cylinders so that a controlled hydraulic brake force is generated on the wheels; braking manipulation state detecting means for detecting the braking manipulation state; a regenerative brake device for causing an electric motor to generate a regenerative brake force corresponding to the braking manipulation state on the wheels driven by the electric motor; variation detecting means for detecting the variation of an actual regenerative brake force actually generated by the regeneration braking device; and brake force compensating means for generating the controlled fluid pressure by driving the pump of the hydraulic brake device so that a controlled hydraulic brake force is generated on the wheels to compensate for the lack of the regenerative brake force due to the variation which is detected by the variation detecting means.

Strategies other than immediate elimination of regenerative braking (FIG. 2) are invoked when an incipient wheel lock-up is detected, the ABS becomes active, and / or incipient wheel slip is detected. The strategies include: reducing the regenerative braking torque as a function of the coefficient of friction of a surface on which the vehicle is traveling (FIG. 3); and adjusting regenerative braking in relation to the rate at which wheel slip is changing (FIG. 4). Some of the strategies may be applied on an individual wheel basis (FIG. 5), and some of the strategies may be applied in conjunction with operating friction brakes of the vehicle to apply at least some of the reduction in regenerative braking torque as friction brake torque (FIG. 1).

A method is provided for controlling the braking of a vehicle that has a first set of friction brakes for applying a first apply brake force to a first set of wheels and a second set of friction brakes for applying a second brake apply force to a second set of wheels. A powertrain assembly is coupled to the second set of wheels. The powertrain assembly includes a regenerative braking unit capable of recapturing kinetic energy from the second set of wheels. The vehicle is braked in a first phase of control using regenerative braking to brake the second set of wheels to achieve up to a first value of braking. The vehicle is braked in a second phase of control using the regenerative braking to maintain braking of the second set of wheels at the first value of braking force while selectively applying the first friction brakes to the first set of wheels up to a second value of braking.

Methods, apparatuses, media and signals for supplying energy to an energy bus in communication with an energy generating device and with a regenerative braking system in a hybrid electric vehicle are disclosed. One such method includes controlling power supplied by the energy generating device to the energy bus, in response to a braking signal indicative of user brake actuation. Another such method involves controlling energy contributions onto the energy bus from the energy generating device and from the regenerative braking system respectively, to prevent the contributions from exceeding a desired total energy contribution. The energy generating device may include an auxiliary power unit, such as fuel cell, or a generator coupled to a prime mover such as an internal combustion engine, for example.

A power system for an electric vehicle, the power system comprising at least one power generating device selected from a group consisting of a solar panel, a wind turbine capable of producing electrical power, an auxiliary generator driven by an internal combustion engine, and a generator for producing electrical power mechanically connected to, and driven by the rotational force of an axle of a vehicle. The power system being further comprised of a charging device, a battery control device, at least one battery, a motor control device, an electric drive motor electrically connected to the motor control device, and a driver interface connected to the motor control device. The electric drive motor may be used to generate power through regenerative braking. The wind turbine may be raised outside the body of a vehicle while the vehicle is not in motion. The solar panel may be disposed outside the vehicle while remaining electrically connected to the charging device.

A hydrogen gas generation system is provided for use in a mobile vehicle. The mobile vehicle may be for example, a car or truck or other vehicle such as a balloon, dirigible, airship, ship, or boat. The vehicle has an on-board hydrogen generator for generating hydrogen gas, preferably using an electrolysis process. The hydrogen produced by the electrolysis process is stored in an on-board hydrogen storage tank. Hydrogen from the storage tank is flowed into a vehicle propulsion system where the hydrogen gas is consumed to provide power to propel the vehicle. An on-board electrical generation system provides at least some of the electricity for the electrolysis process. In one example, the vehicle has an on-board electrical generator for providing electricity for the electrolysis process. The on-board electric generation system may be, for example, a solar photovoltaic cell system, a wind turbine generator system, or a regenerative braking generator, for example. Depending on the particular electrical generation process or processes used, the vehicle may generate hydrogen gas when moving, when coasting or braking, or when long-term parked.

Aircraft landing gear comprised of a wheel hub motor / generator disks stack, includes alternating rotor and stator disks mounted with respect to the wheel support and wheel. The wheel hub motor / generator can provide motive force to the wheel when electrical power is applied, which may be applied prior to touch-down thus decreasing the difference in relative velocities of the tire radial velocity with that of the relative velocity of the runway thus greatly reducing the sliding friction wear of said tire. After touchdown the wheel hub motor / generator may be used as a generator thus applying a regenerative braking force and / or a motorized braking action to the wheel. The energy generated upon landing maybe dissipated through a resistor and / or stored for later use in providing a source for motive power to the aircraft wheels for the purpose of taxiing and ground maneuvers of said aircraft.

A system and related method for a regenerative braking system on a towed vehicle, such as a trailer or semi-trailer. The system provides power and braking to the respective trailer wheels, as needed, to help stabilize the trailer. Power is regenerated during braking. While batteries may be used to store the energy, the system also may use capacitive storage units, which charge and discharge large amounts of energy at a fast rate. A multiple-axis sensor system in conjunction with wheel sensors, load sensors, and proportional control of the brakes and motor power to the axles and wheels, is used to achieve superior load stabilization. The invention can be easily retrofit into new or used trailers, and is self-contained with low maintenance.

To provide additional charge storage for an electric vehicle, an additional battery (100) is connected in parallel with a regenerative braking direct charged battery (22) through a current limiting circuit (104 or 120). The additional battery (100) is charged by an external charger such as a plug-in charger or a solar panel that supply minimal current to prevent generation of battery heat. Current flows from the additional battery (100) to the regenerative braking charged batteries (22) so that both batteries can be charged. However, when excessive charge is drawn to drive the vehicle electric motor (20), the current limiter circuit (104 or 120) serves to prevent the discharge of additional battery (100) from creating excessive heat in the additional battery (100). Further, when regenerative braking is applied the current limiter circuit (120), or a diode buffer (102) in combination with current limiter (104), serves to prevent charging from creating excessive heat in the additional battery (100) and eliminates the need for a cooling structure in the additional battery (100).

An assembly is described for converting an Internal Combustion (IC) vehicle to an IC-electric hybrid vehicle comprising a battery, a battery charger, a controller, an electric motor and a power transmission means involving a flexible rotational speed reduction to connect the motor to a drive shaft of the vehicle. The system can be made available in the form of a kit allowing those skilled in automobile mechanics to perform the conversion. Regenerative braking and provision of AC power from the vehicle can be made available as options.

The invention is a method and system to provide negative torque to an electric vehicle (EV, FCEV, hybrid electric powertrain (HEV)) powertrain when only the electric motor is engaged and the accelerator pedal is released with the ultimate objective to provide consistent vehicle performance under varying operating conditions. This deceleration is at a calibratable amount for a calibratable time period using a hierarchical strategy employing a variety of means including dissipating the vehicle's kinetic energy as heat in the motor; regenerative braking; and activating a mechanical braking system. This negative torque on the powertrain is provided only briefly thereby reducing the total kinetic energy dissipation. The invention provides the driver a vehicle deceleration response similar in "feel" to releasing the accelerator of a conventional ICE vehicle under all operating modes, while maintaining optimal energy recovery.

A stabilized electric distribution system for use in a vehicle having electric assist. The system electrically couples an electric assist bus to an accessory load bus while protecting the first electrical bus from electric assist and regenerative braking induced voltage variations. An energy management controller selectively controls each of a electric motor / generator, a DC / DC converter, and an alternator to affect electric energy distribution within the system. Preferably, the electric energy distribution is controlled to maintain the first electrical bus voltage within a predefined voltage range.

A brake apparatus for a vehicle generally sets an upper limit value of regenerative braking force to the maximum value of the regenerative braking force which can be generated at the present. In the case of a front-wheel-drive vehicle, the total braking force, the sum of front-wheel braking force (front-wheel hydraulic braking force+regenerative braking force) and rear-wheel braking force (rear-wheel hydraulic braking force), is rendered coincident with a target braking force corresponding to a brake pedal depressing force, and the regenerative braking force is set to a largest possible value equal to or less than the upper limit value. As a result, the regenerative braking force can be larger than front-wheel-side target distribution braking force. The upper limit value is decreased from the maximum value by an amount corresponding to the degree of easiness of occurrence of a locking tendency at the driven wheels (front wheels).

The invention provides a parallel series type hybrid power driving system and a driving method, the engine of the driving system is connected coaxially with an ISG motor, the output shaft of the ISG motor is connected with a manual dry type clutch, the rear end of the clutch is connected with a manual gear box, the motor performs moment coupling by the coupling mechanism and the output shaft of the gear box. The driving method comprises a pure electric driving mode, a series connection driving mode, an engine driving mode, a parallel driving model, a walking vehicle charging mode, a parking charging mode and a regeneration brake energy feedback mode. The technical proposal keeps traditional vehicular structure at the max extent, and utilizes double-motor to perform optimization of working points of engine, so that the engine can run stably in high-efficiency low-emission area. The invention is particularly suitable for urban low-speed bus operation in working condition.

A prosthetic leg having an electronically controlled regenerative prosthetic knee. In certain embodiments of the present invention the knee may be passive, whereby it is used only to generate electrical energy. In other embodiments, the knee may be active, whereby it can be used to assist with or completely control gait, as well as to generate electrical energy. The knee makes use of an actuator motor / generator to control gait and / or to generate electrical energy. An electronic control system is provided to control overall operation of the prosthetic leg, to distribute generated electrical energy, and to transfer excess electrical energy to one or more storage devices for later use. A prosthetic leg of the present invention having an active prosthetic knee may be especially helpful in assisting an amputee with activities that impart a high torque load to the knee joint.

Thermal management of various components such as electrical energy storage devices (e.g., batteries, super- or ultracapacitors), power converters and / or control circuits, in electrically powered vehicles may employ active temperature adjustment devices (e.g., Peltier devices), which may advantageously be powered using electrical energy generated by the traction electric motor during regenerative braking operation. Temperature adjustment may include cooling or heating one or more components. The adjustment may be based on a variety of factors or conditions, for instance sensed temperature, sensed current draw, sensed voltage, sensed rotational speed.

A power system for an electric vehicle, the power system comprising at least one power generating device selected from a group consisting of a solar panel, a wind turbine capable of producing electrical power, an auxiliary generator driven by an internal combustion engine, and a generator for producing electrical power mechanically connected to, and driven by the rotational force of an axle of a vehicle. The power system being further comprised of a charging device, a battery control device, at least one battery, a motor control device, an electric drive motor electrically connected to the motor control device, and a driver interface connected to the motor control device. The electric drive motor may be used to generate power through regenerative braking. The wind turbine may be raised outside the body of a vehicle while the vehicle is not in motion. The solar panel may be disposed outside the vehicle while remaining electrically connected to the charging device.

A brake apparatus for a vehicle controls braking force acting on front wheels by hydraulic braking force (front-wheel-side vacuum-booster hydraulic pressure fraction+linear-valve differential pressure fraction), which is frictional braking force, and regenerative braking force, and controls braking force acting on rear wheels by hydraulic braking force (rear-wheel-side vacuum-booster hydraulic pressure fraction) only, to thereby perform regeneration-coordinative brake control. During performance of ABS control, the apparatus sets the limit regenerative braking force to a force under which locking of the front wheels does not occur in a case in which the force acts on the front wheels, which are wheels undergoing regenerative braking, and adjusts the regenerative braking force such that the regenerative braking force does not exceed the limit regenerative braking force.

The invention relates to a regenerative braking control method of an electric car and a device thereof, which are characterized in that a throttle signal, a braking signal, the current speed of the car and the SOC (state of charge) value of a battery are acquired during the running process of the car, when the current speed of the car is larger than the preset minimum feedback speed of the car, and the throttle opening is smaller than the preset feedback threshold value or the braking signal, the feedback moment is calculated according to the current speed and the braking depth; when the SOC value of the battery is smaller than the preset upper limit, the feedback moment is output to charge the battery pack; and when the SOC value of the battery reaches the preset upper limit, an electricmachine controller controls an electric machine not to generate braking feedback charge current, and braking is carried out according to the traditional braking method. The method and the device can increase the utilization rate of battery energy, the car can be kept smooth during the travelling, the regenerative braking can be also realized, and in addition, the SOC value of the battery can be real-timely monitored, too, so the battery is prevented from being damaged when the battery is over charged downhill.

The invention discloses an energy feeding type dragging power supply device and a control method thereof. The energy feeding type dragging power supply device comprises a multiple transformer and at least two four-quadrant converter modules. The energy feeding type dragging power supply device and a diode rectification dragging unit are arranged in parallel form. A primary side of the multiple transformer of the energy feeding type dragging power supply device is connected to an alternated current medium-voltage power grid through a high-voltage switch cabinet; each set of windings at a low-voltage side of the multiple transformer is connected to an alternated current side of one four-quadrant converter module; and the direct current sides of the four-quadrant converter modules are in parallel connection after being connected to a direct current side isolation switch and are connected to a direct current bus through a direct current switch cabinet and a cathode cabinet. The energy feeding type dragging power supply device can work at three different modes of dragging, feedback or SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) according to the requirements. The energy feeding type dragging power supply device is compatible with an existing dragging power supply system under the condition of meeting a power grid compatibility demand. The energy feeding type dragging power supply device has the advantages of moderate cost, capability of solving the technical problems of feeding back a regenerated braking energy and stabilizing a dragging network voltage, and real-time static reactive power compensation capacity.

A stabilized electric distribution system for use in a vehicle having electric assist. The system electrically couples an electric assist bus to an accessory load bus while protecting the first electrical bus from electric assist and regenerative braking induced voltage variations. An energy management controller selectively controls each of a electric motor / generator, a DC / DC converter, and an alternator to affect electric energy distribution within the system. Preferably, the electric energy distribution is controlled to maintain the first electrical bus voltage within a predefined voltage range.