Electric Work Vehicle Startup Control Without a Low-Voltage Battery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electric work vehicles require both high-voltage and low-voltage batteries, leading to space constraints and increased labor for battery replacement, as they need to shut off power to all components safely when stopped.
Innovation Solution
A control system that uses a high-voltage battery alone by employing a DC-DC converter to power the control device and traveling motor, with start switches to manage power states, eliminating the need for a low-voltage battery and allowing safe system shutdown without it.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If both high-voltage battery and low-voltage battery are installed to ensure safe shutdown of all electrical components, then system safety is improved, but vehicle space is reduced and battery replacement labor increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the low-voltage battery from the dual-battery system, retaining only the high-voltage battery. The DC-DC converter is used to generate low-voltage power from the high-voltage battery when needed, removing the need for a separate low-voltage battery while maintaining system safety and shutdown functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The DC-DC converter acts as an intermediary device that converts high-voltage power to low-voltage power. This mediator enables the high-voltage battery to perform both high-voltage and low-voltage functions, eliminating the need for a separate low-voltage battery while ensuring safe operation of low-voltage components.
2Reliability
If both high-voltage battery and low-voltage battery are installed to ensure safe shutdown, then system safety is improved, but battery replacement labor increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the low-voltage battery from the system, reducing the number of batteries from two to one. This extraction eliminates the need to replace the low-voltage battery periodically, thereby reducing maintenance labor while maintaining system safety through the high-voltage battery and DC-DC converter configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The high-voltage battery is made multi-functional by using it for both high-voltage power supply and low-voltage power supply (through the DC-DC converter). This universality eliminates the need for a separate low-voltage battery, reducing the number of components that require maintenance and replacement.
3Ease of operation
If low-voltage battery is installed to power control device, then control device operation is ensured, but space for high-voltage battery is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The high-voltage battery is designed to serve dual purposes: providing high-voltage power directly to high-voltage components and providing low-voltage power to the control device through the DC-DC converter. This multi-functionality ensures control device operation while maximizing the space available for the high-voltage battery.
Solution Approach 2:
The DC-DC converter serves as an intermediary that enables the high-voltage battery to power the low-voltage control device. This mediator allows the high-voltage battery to fulfill both high-voltage and low-voltage power supply requirements, eliminating the need for a separate low-voltage battery and maximizing high-voltage battery space.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration reduces the need for a low-voltage battery, increases space for high-voltage batteries, and decreases labor for battery replacement while ensuring safe system shutdown and charging operations.
Implementation Method 1
a DC-DC converter which steps down a voltage of the battery and outputs the voltage to the control device
Data Source
AI summary
[Problem] In a control system for an electric work vehicle, a space for a size increase of other components such as a high-voltage battery is increased, and a labor for battery replacement is reduced by eliminating a need for mounting a low-voltage battery. [Solution] The control system includes a traveling motor to which power is fed from a battery via a main switch, a control device which controls an ON/OFF state of the main switch, and a first start switch connected between an output side of a DC-DC converter and the control device and is configured such that a primary side of the main switch is connected to an input side of the DC-DC converter with a second start switch interposed, and the control device is started by an output voltage of the DC-DC converter by an operation of the second start switch to an energized position. The control device turns on the main switch and maintains the state when the second start switch is operated to an energized position and the first start switch is at an operation position to the energized position.