JP6922682B2 - Vehicle charging device - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to a charging device for a vehicle traveling by using electric power stored in a power storage device configured to be able to receive power from the outside.

According to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-138535 (Patent Document 1), a power monitoring device and a charge control device are provided between a breaker included in a charging facility for charging a power storage device mounted on an electric vehicle and the electric vehicle. A equipped charging system is disclosed. The power monitoring device monitors the current flowing through the breaker, and causes the charge control device to control the charging current of the power storage device mounted on the electric vehicle so that the current flowing through the breaker does not exceed the allowable current of the breaker.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-138535

Using the charging system disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is mounted on an electric vehicle (hereinafter, also simply referred to as "vehicle") such as an electric vehicle or a plug-in hybrid vehicle so as not to exceed the allowable current of the breaker of the charging equipment. In order to control the charging current of the power storage device, it is necessary to install a charging control device and a power monitoring device in the charging equipment. Performing such construction may place a heavy burden on the installer of the charging equipment.

The present disclosure has been made to solve the above problems, and the purpose of the present disclosure is to enable the vehicle to be charged so as not to exceed the allowable current of the breaker without performing construction work on the charging equipment. That is.

The vehicle charging device according to this disclosure is a vehicle charging device that receives electric power supplied from a charging facility outside the vehicle to charge a power storage device mounted on the vehicle. The charging equipment includes a breaker that cuts off the supply of electric power to the vehicle when an electric current exceeding an allowable value is supplied from the outside. The charging device includes a control unit that controls the charging current of the power storage device and a storage unit that stores information. When the charging location for charging the power storage device using the charging equipment is not stored in the storage unit, the control unit cuts off the power supply when the power supply is cut off by the breaker when charging the power storage device. The charging current at that time and the charging location are stored in the storage unit in association with each other, and when the power supply is not cut off by the breaker during charging of the power storage device, the charging location is stored in the storage unit. When the charging location is stored in the storage unit and the charging current associated with the charging location is stored in the storage unit, the control unit charges the power storage device with a charging current smaller than the charging current. Do it.

According to the above configuration, if the charging location for charging the power storage device mounted on the vehicle (hereinafter, also simply referred to as “vehicle charging”) is not stored in the storage unit, the charging for charging the vehicle is performed this time. The location is assumed to be the charging location for charging the vehicle for the first time. In the following, charging the vehicle at the charging location where the vehicle is charged for the first time is also referred to as "first charge".

If the power supply is cut off by the breaker at the time of the first charge, it is presumed that the charging current when the power supply is cut off is the allowable current of the breaker. In this case, the vehicle stores the charging current when the power supply is cut off and the charging location in association with each other in the storage unit. On the other hand, if the power supply is not cut off by the breaker at the time of the first charging, the vehicle stores the charging location in the storage unit.

When the charging location for charging the vehicle is stored in the storage unit, it is assumed that the charging location for charging the vehicle this time is the charging location for charging the vehicle in the past. In the following, charging the vehicle at the charging location where the vehicle was charged in the past is also referred to as "repeat charging".

When the charging current associated with the charging location is stored in the storage unit during repeat charging, it can be seen that the stored charging current is the permissible current of the breaker at this charging location. Therefore, the vehicle charges the vehicle with a charging current smaller than the stored charging current. In this way, during repeat charging, the vehicle controls the charging current so that the allowable current of the breaker is not exceeded. As a result, the vehicle can be charged so as not to exceed the allowable current of the breaker without performing construction work on the charging equipment.

According to the present disclosure, the vehicle can be charged so as not to exceed the allowable current of the breaker without performing construction work on the charging equipment.

It is an overall block diagram which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows typically an example of the change of the charging current at the time of the first charge and the repeat charge of a vehicle at a certain charging place (the 1). It is a figure which shows typically an example of the change of the charging current at the time of the first charge and the repeat charge of a vehicle at a certain charging place (the 2). It is a flowchart which shows the process which is executed in the control part at the time of charging a vehicle.

Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The same or corresponding parts in the drawings are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will not be repeated.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram according to the present embodiment. The vehicle 1 travels by driving a traveling motor (not shown) using the electric power stored in the power storage device 100. In the present embodiment, an example in which the vehicle 1 is an electric vehicle will be described, but the vehicle 1 may be a vehicle that travels using the electric power stored in the power storage device configured to be able to receive power from the outside. For example, it may be a plug-in hybrid vehicle.

The vehicle 1 includes a power storage device 100 that stores DC electric power for driving a traveling motor, and an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 300 that controls the vehicle.

Further, the vehicle 1 uses the electric power supplied from the charging equipment 500 connected to the power source (hereinafter, also referred to as “external power source”) 510 provided outside the vehicle 1 via the charging cable 400 to charge the power storage device 100. It is configured to be rechargeable.

Specifically, the vehicle 1 includes an inlet 220 configured to be connectable to the charging connector 410 of the charging cable 400, and a charger 200 arranged between the inlet 220 and the power storage device 100. In this embodiment, the inlet 220 is arranged on the rear side surface of the vehicle body. The charger 200 converts the external power (AC power) received by the inlet 220 into power (DC power) that can be charged to the power storage device 100 and outputs the power to the power storage device 100.

The inlet 220 is normally covered with the charging lid 2. When the charging lid 2 is opened, the user can connect the charging connector 410 of the charging cable 400 to the inlet 220.

The charging cable 400 includes a charging connector 410, a plug 420, and an AC power line 440. The plug 420 is configured to be connectable to the charging equipment 500. The AC power line 440 connects the charging connector 410 and the plug 420.

The charging equipment 500 includes a breaker 550 for cutting off the power supply from the external power supply 510 to the vehicle 1 when a current exceeding an allowable value is supplied from the external power supply 510.

The breaker 550 may be one that blows when a current exceeding the allowable current flows, such as a current fuse, or disconnects the relay when a current exceeding the allowable current is detected by a current sensor or the like. It may be something like.

The ECU 300 includes a communication unit 310, a storage unit 320, a control unit 330, and a position information acquisition unit 340. Each configuration is communicably connected by a communication bus 360.

The communication unit 310 communicates with an external device (not shown) such as a device (not shown) that monitors the charging state of the power storage device 100 from the outside via a communication network such as the Internet or a telephone line. Further, when the charging equipment 500 includes a communication unit, it may be configured to communicate with the communication unit of the charging equipment 500.

The storage unit 320 includes a large-capacity storage device such as a non-volatile memory, a hard disk, or a solid state drive. The storage unit 320 stores information on the charging location where the vehicle 1 has been charged, information on the charging current, and the like.

The position information acquisition unit 340 is configured to acquire the current position of the vehicle 1. The position information acquisition unit 340 acquires the current position of the vehicle 1 by using, for example, GPS (Global Positioning System). The position information acquisition unit 340 periodically transmits the acquired position information indicating the current position of the vehicle 1 to the control unit 330. Further, the position information acquisition unit 340 transmits the position information to the control unit 330 in response to a request from the control unit 330.

The control unit 330 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 330a, a memory (ROM and RAM) 330b, an input / output port (not shown) for inputting / outputting various signals, and the like. The control unit 330 is configured to execute a predetermined arithmetic process based on the information stored in the storage unit 320 and the information acquired via the communication unit 310.

The control unit 330 acquires the value detected from the current sensor 16 provided in the charger 200. The current sensor 16 detects the charging current for charging the power storage device 100 flowing into the charger 200.

Further, the control unit 330 stores the position information acquired from the position information acquisition unit 340 in the storage unit 320. As will be described later, the control unit 330 determines whether or not the location specified by the location information acquired from the location information acquisition unit 340 is the same location as the location specified by the location information stored in the storage unit 320. To judge. In the following, the above determination is also simply referred to as "determination of whether or not the acquired position information is stored in the storage unit".

Further, as will be described later, the control unit 330 sets the charging current for charging the power storage device 100 based on the above-mentioned determination result of the position information and the like.

In the present embodiment, when the operation of charging the vehicle 1 is performed, the vehicle 1 acquires the position information. The vehicle 1 determines whether or not the acquired position information is included in the position information of the charging location where the vehicle 1 was charged in the past stored in the storage unit 320 (the acquired position information is stored). Judgment of whether or not). Then, when the acquired position information is not stored in the storage unit 320, the vehicle 1 determines that the vehicle 1 is charged for the first time at the charging location where the vehicle 1 is charged.

At the time of the first charge, the vehicle 1 does not recognize the allowable current of the breaker 550. Therefore, at the time of initial charging, the charging current is increased by a predetermined amount from the initial value until the upper limit value of the charging current is reached or the power supply is cut off by the breaker 550.

If the power supply is cut off by the breaker 550 because the charging current exceeds the allowable current of the breaker 550 before the charging current reaches the upper limit, the charging current when the power supply is cut off is the breaker's allowable current. It is presumed to be an electric current. In this case, the vehicle 1 stores the charging current when the power supply is cut off and the position information of the charging location in the storage unit 320 in association with each other. In the following, the fact that the power supply is cut off by the breaker 550 because the charging current exceeds the allowable current of the breaker 550 is also simply referred to as "breaker 550 cutoff".

On the other hand, if the power supply is not cut off by the breaker even when the charging current reaches the upper limit value, the vehicle stores the position information of the charging location in the storage unit 320.

The "upper limit value of the charging current" is the upper limit value of the charging current capable of charging the power storage device 100 of the vehicle 1. In the present embodiment, the upper limit value of the charging current is set to the current limit value of the power storage device 100. Further, the upper limit value of the charging current may be set to the limiting current value of the charger 200 when the limiting current value of the charger 200 is smaller than the limiting current value of the power storage device 100.

When the acquired position information is stored in the storage unit 320, the vehicle 1 determines that the vehicle 1 has been charged in the past at the charging location where the vehicle 1 is charged (repeat charging). do.

When the charging current associated with the position information of the charging location is stored in the storage unit 320 during repeat charging, the breaker 550 is used when the vehicle 1 is charged with the charging current stored at the time of initial charging. Can be seen to have been blocked. Therefore, the vehicle 1 charges the vehicle 1 with a charging current smaller than the charging current stored in the storage unit 320. On the other hand, when only the position information of the charging place is stored at the time of repeat charging, it can be seen that the breaker 550 was not shut off at the time of the first charging. Therefore, the vehicle 1 charges the vehicle 1 at the upper limit of the charging current.

In this way, by controlling the charging current in the vehicle 1 according to the charging location, the vehicle 1 can be charged so as not to exceed the allowable current of the breaker 550 without performing construction work on the charging equipment. ..

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing an example of changes in the charging current during initial charging and repeat charging of the vehicle 1 at a certain charging location. The horizontal axis of FIG. 2 shows the time, and the vertical axis shows the charging current. The "upper limit value" in FIG. 2 is the upper limit value of the charging current.

FIG. 2 shows a change in the charging current when charging can be performed without interrupting the power supply by the breaker 550 at the time of initial charging.

At the time of initial charging, as described above, the charging current is increased by a predetermined amount from the initial value until the upper limit of the charging current is reached or the power supply is cut off by the breaker 550. When the maximum value of the charging current is increased without exceeding the allowable current of the breaker 550, the vehicle 1 is continuously charged at the upper limit of the charging current.

At the time of repeat charging, the vehicle 1 is charged at the upper limit of the charging current from the beginning. The graph at the time of repeat charging is shown by "next time" in FIG.

As described above, at the time of initial charging, the process of increasing the charging current by a predetermined amount from the initial value is performed until the upper limit of the charging current is reached or the power supply is cut off by the breaker 550. This is because the vehicle 1 does not recognize the allowable current of the breaker 550 at the time of initial charging. It can be inferred that the permissible current of the breaker 550 is larger than the upper limit of the charging current at the charging place where the vehicle 1 can be charged at the upper limit of the charging current at the time of the first charging. Therefore, at the time of repeat charging, the charging current is not increased by a predetermined amount from the initial value, but the vehicle 1 is charged from the beginning with the upper limit value of the charging current.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing an example of changes in the charging current during the initial charging and the repeat charging of the vehicle 1 at a certain charging location. The horizontal axis of FIG. 3 shows the time, and the vertical axis shows the charging current. The "upper limit value" in FIG. 3 is the same as that in FIG. 2, and is the upper limit value of the charging current.

FIG. 3 shows a change in the charging current when the power supply is cut off by the breaker 550 at the time of the first charging.

At the time of initial charging, as described above, the charging current is increased by a predetermined amount from the initial value until the upper limit of the charging current is reached or the power supply is cut off by the breaker 550. The graph at the time of the first charge shows that, at time T1, the power supply was cut off before the upper limit of the charging current was reached, that is, the charging current exceeding the upper limit of the charging current exceeded the allowable current of the breaker 550. Shown.

The vehicle 1 stores the position information of the charging location and the charging current when the power supply is cut off by the breaker 550 in association with each other. Then, at the time of repeat charging, the vehicle 1 is charged with a charging current less than the charging current stored in the vehicle 1 in association with the position information of the charging location. In the present embodiment, charging is performed with a charging current smaller than the charging current stored in the vehicle 1 by a predetermined amount. The graph at the time of repeat charging is shown by "next time" in FIG.

As described with reference to FIG. 2, at the time of initial charging, the charging current is increased by a predetermined amount from the initial value until the upper limit of the charging current is reached or the power supply is cut off by the breaker 550. This is because the vehicle 1 does not recognize the allowable current of the breaker 550 at the time of initial charging. When the power supply is cut off by the breaker 550 with a charging current less than the upper limit of the charging current, the charging current at that time is presumed to be the allowable current of the breaker at this charging location. Therefore, during repeat charging, instead of increasing the charging current by a predetermined amount from the initial value, charging is performed with a charging current less than the charging current stored in the vehicle 1 in association with the position information of the charging location from the beginning. Will be done.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process executed by the control unit 330 when charging the vehicle 1. The flowchart shown in FIG. 4 is executed every time the vehicle 1 is charged. Each step shown in the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 is realized by software processing by the control unit 330, but a part thereof may be realized by hardware (electric circuit) manufactured in the control unit 330. ..

When the operation for charging the vehicle 1 is performed, the control unit 330 of the vehicle 1 acquires the position information from the position information acquisition unit 340 (step 100, hereinafter the step is abbreviated as "S"). The operation of charging the vehicle 1 is, for example, an operation of opening the charging lid 2 or an operation of connecting the charging connector 410 of the charging cable 400 to the inlet 220.

The control unit 330 determines whether the position information acquired in S100 is stored in the storage unit 320 (S105). Specifically, in the control unit 330, the place specified by the position information acquired from the position information acquisition unit 340 (the charging place of the vehicle 1) is the place specified by the position information stored in the storage unit 320. Determine if they are in the same location. The determination of whether or not the locations are the same is determined by, for example, whether or not the position information acquired by the control unit 330 is included in a predetermined area of the location specified by the position information stored in the storage unit 320. NS. The predetermined area is, for example, an area in a predetermined circle centered on a place specified by position information. The size of the predetermined region is arbitrarily set to such an extent that the positions of the charging equipment 500 for charging the vehicle 1 and other charging equipment can be distinguished.

If the position information acquired in S100 is not stored in the storage unit 320 (NO in S105), the control unit 330 determines that this charging location is the charging location for charging the vehicle 1 for the first time (first charge). .. In this case, the control unit 330 starts charging the vehicle 1 with a preset initial value of the charging current (S110). The initial value is generally set to a small value that is not expected to exceed the allowable current of the breaker 550.

The control unit 330 determines whether or not the power supply is cut off by the breaker 550 because the allowable current of the breaker 550 is exceeded when the vehicle 1 is charged (S115). The determination that the power supply has been cut off by the breaker 550 is determined, for example, when the detection value periodically acquired by the control unit 330 from the current sensor 16 decreases beyond a predetermined reference value. Is determined to have been blocked. When the charging equipment 500 includes a communication unit, the control unit 330 may acquire information that the power supply has been cut off from the communication unit of the charging equipment 500 via the communication unit 310.

When the control unit 330 determines that the breaker 550 has been interrupted (YES in S115), the control unit 330 stores the charging current when the breaker 550 is interrupted and the position information of the charging location in the storage unit 320 in association with each other (S140). ).

In this way, by storing the position information of the charging location and the charging current when the breaker 550 is interrupted in association with each other, the vehicle 1 is charged with a charging current smaller than the charging current stored during repeat charging. Can be done. Therefore, proper charging is possible without exceeding the allowable current of the breaker 550.

When the control unit 330 determines that the breaker 550 has not been interrupted (NO in S115), the control unit 330 determines whether or not the current charging current is the upper limit value (S120). When the control unit 330 determines that the current charging current is not the upper limit value (NO in S120), the control unit 330 increases the charging current by a predetermined amount (S125) and continues charging the vehicle 1. Then, the control unit 330 returns the process to S115. The predetermined amount is set to increase the charging current in steps in order to detect the charging current that is the threshold value of the allowable current of the breaker 550, and is set to an arbitrary value.

As described above, the reason why the charging current is increased by a predetermined amount is to detect the charging current which is the threshold value of the allowable current of the breaker 550 at the time of the first charging. At the time of the first charge, the permissible current of the breaker 550 at this charging place is not recognized. Therefore, the charging current, which is the threshold value of the allowable current of the breaker 550, is detected while increasing the charging current by a predetermined amount from the initial value.

When the control unit 330 determines in S120 that the current charging current is the upper limit value (YES in S120), the control unit 330 stores the position information of the charging location (S130). Then, the control unit 330 continues charging the vehicle 1 at the upper limit value of the charging current (S135).

In this way, for the charging location where the vehicle 1 can be charged at the upper limit of the charging current without interrupting the breaker 550, by storing only the position information of the charging location, this charging location is used during repeat charging. Then, it can be seen that the vehicle 1 can be charged with the upper limit value of the charging current. Therefore, the vehicle 1 can be charged with the upper limit of the charging current from the beginning, and the charging efficiency can be improved.

In S105, when the position information acquired in S100 is stored in the storage unit 320 (YES in S105), the control unit 330 determines that the vehicle 1 at this charging location has been charged in the past. The process proceeds to S150 (repeat charging).

The control unit 330 determines whether the charging current associated with the position information of the charging location is stored in the storage unit 320 (S150). When the control unit 330 determines that the charging current associated with the position information is not stored in the storage unit 320 (only the position information is stored) (NO in S150), the upper limit value of the charging current Is set (S155), and the vehicle 1 is charged (S170).

When the control unit 330 determines that the charging current associated with the position information is stored in the storage unit 320 (YES in S150), the control unit 330 reads out the charging current stored in the storage unit 320 (S160). .. The control unit 330 sets a current value equal to or less than the charging current read in S160 as the charging current (S165), and charges the vehicle 1 (S170).

As described above, in the present embodiment, when charging the vehicle 1, it is first determined whether or not the charging location is the charging location where the vehicle 1 is charged for the first time.

If it is the charging location where the vehicle 1 is charged for the first time, the charging current is increased by a predetermined amount until charging is started from the initial value of the charging current and the breaker 550 is interrupted or the upper limit of the charging current is reached. Let me. As a result, it is possible to detect the charging current that is the threshold value of the allowable current of the breaker 550 at this charging location.

When the breaker 550 is cut off, it is estimated that the charging current when the breaker 550 is cut off is the allowable current of the breaker 550. In this case, the position information of the charging location and the charging current when the breaker 550 is interrupted are stored in association with each other. When the breaker 550 is not shut off, only the position information of this charging location is stored.

When the vehicle 1 is charged next time at the same charging location, it is determined whether or not the position information and the charging current associated with the position information are stored. When only the position information is stored, charging of the vehicle 1 is started at the upper limit of the charging current. When the position information and the charging current associated with the position information are stored, charging is started with a charging current smaller than the stored charging current.

As a result, when the vehicle 1 is charged from the second time onward at the same charging location, the charging of the vehicle 1 is controlled based on the information obtained by charging the vehicle 1 for the first time. In this way, since charging can be controlled at the charging location in the vehicle 1, appropriate charging can be performed without performing work such as separately providing a device for controlling charging on the charging equipment side.

The embodiments disclosed this time should be considered to be exemplary in all respects and not restrictive. The scope of the present disclosure is indicated by the scope of claims rather than the description of the embodiment described above, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of claims.

1 vehicle, 2 charging lid, 16 current sensor, 100 power storage device, 120 storage unit, 130 control unit, 200 charger, 220 inlet, 300 ECU, 310 communication unit, 320 storage unit, 330 control unit, 340 position information acquisition unit 360 communication bus, 400 charging cable, 410 charging connector, 420 plug, 440 AC power line, 500 charging equipment, 510 external power supply, 550 breaker.

Claims (2)

A charging device for a vehicle that receives electric power supplied from a charging facility outside the vehicle to charge a power storage device mounted on the vehicle.
The charging equipment includes a breaker that cuts off the supply of electric power to the vehicle when a current exceeding an allowable value is supplied from the outside.
The charging device is
A control unit that controls the charging current of the power storage device,
Equipped with a storage unit that stores information
Wherein the control unit, the charging facility to the power storage device is charging place to charge stored in the storage unit of the used Orazu, and if the supply of power is interrupted by the breaker during charging of said power storage device Is stored in the storage unit in association with the charging current when the power supply is cut off and the charging location.
Wherein the control unit, the charging place is not stored in the storage unit, and, when the power supply by the breaker during charging of said power storage device is not blocked, the charging place in the storage unit Remember,
Wherein the control unit, the charging place is stored in the storage unit, and when the charging current associated with the charging place is stored in the storage unit, correspondence to the charging location A vehicle charging device that charges the power storage device with a charging current smaller than the charged charging current. When the charging location is stored in the storage unit and the charging current associated with the charging location is not stored in the storage unit, the control unit sets an upper limit value of the charging current. After setting, the power storage device is charged.
The vehicle charging device according to claim 1, wherein the upper limit value of the charging current is an upper limit value of the charging current capable of charging the power storage device.

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