JP7486356B2 - Battery panel - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a battery panel that uses the stored power of an onboard battery to charge a vehicle, etc.

Battery panels equipped with storage batteries are becoming more and more popular these days, as they are used in conjunction with vehicle chargers to charge electric vehicles. When connecting to a vehicle charger, battery panels equipped with storage batteries of various capacities are provided depending on the output size, the number of vehicles to be charged, and the capacity of the grid side (cubicle side).
In order to ensure safe operation of the entire battery panel and efficient output of power from the batteries, such battery panels are equipped with temperature sensors and control devices to monitor temperature, etc., and control the control devices as necessary to control the temperature (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2019-61843 A

The number of batteries and power converters installed in a battery panel can be increased or decreased depending on the capacity of the panel and the user's requirements. Therefore, there are many combinations of temperature sensors and control devices that monitor the inside of the panel.
However, if the software on the device that monitors and controls them is designed with a fixed control content, then when you want to change the temperature points or the number of controls to suit the on-site environment, you will have to customize the software each time, and it will not be possible to quickly provide the user with an optimal panel.The same applies when adding equipment that was not originally intended to be controlled after the product is released.
Therefore, by installing and managing a monitoring unit that manages temperature, etc. and a control unit that controls the control equipment, it is possible to easily respond even if the internal configuration of the battery panel is changed. However, even so, since there is not necessarily only one monitoring unit and one control unit, if there are multiple, changing the settings continues to be a hassle.

In view of these problems, the present invention aims to provide a battery panel that allows the control content to be easily changed even if there are changes in the number of temperature sensors or the devices to be controlled.

In order to solve the above problems, the invention of claim 1 is a battery panel that charges and discharges the battery, comprising a storage battery, an AC/DC conversion unit for charging the storage battery using commercial power, a DC/AC conversion unit for outputting the stored power of the storage battery in AC, air conditioning means for adjusting the temperature inside the panel, a monitoring unit that obtains temperature information from a temperature sensor installed in the panel and monitors whether it indicates an abnormal value, and a control unit that controls the controlled equipment inside the panel including the storage battery and the air conditioning means based on the judgment result of the monitoring unit, and is characterized in that it is provided with a master unit that manages the monitoring unit and the control unit, and the master unit has an operation unit that communicates with the monitoring unit and the control unit to change settings, and when a change occurs in the temperature sensor that notifies the monitoring unit of temperature information or a change occurs in the controlled equipment, it is possible to operate the operation unit to change the settings of the control unit and the monitoring unit in response to the change.
With this configuration, the monitoring unit and the control unit can be managed from the master unit, and even if the number of temperature sensors or the controlled devices are changed, the settings can be changed by operating the master unit. Therefore, it is convenient because there is no need to operate the monitoring unit and the control unit individually.

The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that, in the configuration described in claim 1, the monitoring unit and the control unit each have a communication unit for communicating with the outside, while the master unit has a master communication unit for communicating with the monitoring unit and the control unit, and they communicate with each other via Internet Protocol.
According to this configuration, communication between the units is possible simply by setting the IP addresses, so that even if there are multiple devices to be managed, the master unit can be connected to the monitoring unit and the control unit with a simple operation.

The invention of claim 3 is characterized in that, in the configuration described in claim 1 or 2, when the monitoring unit detects an abnormal temperature value, it transmits abnormality information to the control unit, while the control unit receiving the abnormality information issues a control command to the corresponding controlled device to carry out temperature control, and further, the master unit has an abnormality monitoring section that manages the abnormality information output by the monitoring unit, and when the same abnormality information is output multiple times within a specified period of time, the abnormality monitoring section controls the control unit to respond only to the first abnormality information and to invalidate subsequent abnormality information.
With this configuration, if multiple temperatures simultaneously indicate abnormal values and the same abnormality information is output continuously from the monitoring units, the control unit will send similar control commands to the common controlled devices in succession, which is expected to temporarily place a strain on the device, but it is possible to execute only the first control command and invalidate subsequent identical control commands. This prevents unnecessary strain on the control unit's control processing, and enables stable control.

According to the present invention, the monitoring unit and the control unit can be managed from the master unit, and even if the number of temperature sensors or the controlled devices are changed, the settings can be changed by operating the master unit. This makes it convenient as there is no need to operate the monitoring unit and the control unit separately.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a battery panel according to the present invention, illustrating a configuration for charging a vehicle with stored power. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a monitoring unit. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a control unit. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the master unit. 10 is a flowchart showing a flow of setting both the monitoring unit and the control unit. 10 is a flowchart showing a control flow when an alarm is generated in the battery panel. FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram showing another example of a battery panel.

[0023] Hereinafter, a detailed description will be given of an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a battery panel according to the present invention, in which a vehicle charger for charging a vehicle is connected as a power supply destination.
In addition to the storage battery 11, the battery panel 1 is equipped with an AC/DC conversion unit 12 that converts commercial power into direct current, a DC/AC conversion unit 13 for outputting the stored power to the charger 6, a fan 14 for cooling, a heater 15 for heating, a temperature sensor 16, an alarm lamp 17 for reporting the occurrence of an abnormality, a monitoring unit 3 for monitoring the temperature, a control unit 4 that controls the storage battery panel 1, and a master unit 5 that manages the monitoring unit 3 and the control unit 4.
In addition, this storage battery panel 1 is shown to have three vehicle chargers (EV chargers) 6 connected thereto.

The temperature sensors 16 include a first temperature sensor 16a that measures the temperature of the storage battery 11, a second temperature sensor 16b that measures the temperature of the AC/DC conversion unit 16, and a third temperature sensor 16c that measures the temperature of the DC/AC conversion unit 13. Two fans 14 and two heaters 15 are also installed.

Figure 2 shows a functional block diagram of the monitoring unit 3. The monitoring unit 3 includes a plurality of analog signal input sections 31 to which temperature information from the temperature sensor 16 is input, a contact signal input section 32 to which various contact signals, such as the contact signal from the stop switch 18 that stops operation and a contact signal that detects the opening and closing of a door (not shown), a monitoring unit communication IF 33 that communicates with the outside, a monitoring unit setting storage section 34 that stores setting information, a monitoring unit control section 35 that controls the monitoring unit 3, etc.

The monitoring unit control unit 35 monitors whether the temperature at the measurement point is within a set range based on the temperature information obtained from the temperature sensor 16, and if it detects a temperature outside the set range, it determines that an abnormality has occurred and notifies the control unit 4 of the abnormality.
The monitoring unit 3 performs IP communication with the control unit 4 and the master unit 5 .

Figure 3 shows a functional block diagram of the control unit 4. The control unit 4 includes a control target connection unit 41 that connects the controlled device, a control unit communication IF 42 that communicates with the outside, a control unit setting storage unit 43 that stores setting information, and a control unit control unit 44 that controls the control unit 4. The control unit 4 controls the storage battery 11, AC/DC conversion unit 12, DC/AC conversion unit 13, fan 14, heater 15, etc., and communicates with the vehicle charger 6 to which power is supplied to control the output power.

Furthermore, when the control unit control section 44 receives abnormality information from the monitoring unit 3, it turns on the alarm lamp 17 and sounds the alarm buzzer 17a (shown in FIG. 7). Then, upon receiving the abnormality information, it generates a control command and outputs it to the controlled device. For example, if the measured temperature is below the lower limit of the set range, it turns on the heater 15.
The control unit 4 communicates with the monitoring unit 3 and the master unit 5 via IP.

Figure 4 shows a functional block diagram of the master unit 5. The master unit 5 includes an operation unit 51 for performing various setting operations, a display unit 52 for displaying the setting contents, a master unit communication IF 53 for communicating with the monitoring units 3 and control unit 4 to be managed, a management unit memory unit 54 for storing the devices (units) to be managed, and a master unit control unit 55 for controlling the master unit 5. This master unit 5 can be, for example, a personal computer.

In addition to setting the monitoring unit 3 and the control unit 4, the master unit 5 has the function of optimizing the control commands output by the control unit 4 so that the same command is not issued repeatedly within a short period of time.
Specifically, when the master unit control section 55 reads the abnormality occurrence information output by the monitoring unit 3 and the same abnormality occurrence information occurs multiple times simultaneously (for example, within 10 seconds), the control unit 4 may receive each abnormality occurrence signal and output duplicate control commands. In order to prevent such a situation, an optimization process is performed.

For example, if an abnormality occurs in which the temperatures measured at three locations simultaneously fall below the lower limit, the same control command may be output three times from the control unit 4 to the same controlled device (e.g., heater 15). Since the second and subsequent control commands are not necessary, the control unit 4 is controlled to permit only the first abnormality information to be transmitted as a control command, and to ignore any subsequent identical abnormality information received.
This makes it possible to prevent unnecessary load from being placed on the control process, and to implement stable control.

The setting of the storage battery panel 1 configured in this manner is performed as follows. Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing the setting flow, and the description will be given with reference to this flow. In each setting operation, a setting screen is displayed on the display section 52 of the master unit 5, and input is performed from the operation section 51 according to the displayed instructions.
First, an initial setting is performed, and settings for implementing communication with the units to be controlled are made (S1). Here, the IP addresses of the monitoring unit 3 and the control unit 4 are set, and the set information is registered and stored in the management unit storage unit 54.
Once communication is possible, the control unit 4 is then configured. Specifically, the device name and the like are input for each port, the controlled device is associated with the port, and the controlled device connected to the controlled object connection unit 41 is configured (S2). With this configuration, for example, the fan 14 and the heater 15 are configured as controlled objects. The configured information is stored in the control unit configuration storage unit 43.

Next, the monitoring unit 3 is set. Specifically, a contact input port setting (S3) is made to enable reception of a contact signal such as information on opening/closing of the door of the storage battery panel 1 (not shown) connected to the contact signal input unit 32. Also, an analog input port setting (S4) is made to set the temperature sensor connected to the analog signal input unit 31 to enable input of temperature information.
In addition, in the analog input port setting, upper and lower limit values that are conditions for determining an abnormality are set. The information set in this manner is stored in the monitoring unit setting storage section 34.

Once the input settings are complete, the control order, execution intervals, etc. are set in order to reduce the control load (S5). Here, the order of contact outputs to be output to the controlled devices, the intervals for outputting signals (delay time), etc. are set.
Finally, the control of other devices is set (S6). Specifically, the control settings for the AC/DC converter 12, the DC/AC converter 13, the storage battery 11, etc. when a temperature abnormality occurs, the control order, the delay time between control items, etc. are set.
These show the initial setting flow for starting up the battery panel 1, but in addition to this, when there is a change in the number of temperature sensors 16 or in the controlled equipment, the settings can be changed by operating the master unit 5.

In this way, the monitoring unit 3 and the control unit 4 can be managed from the master unit 5, and even if the number of temperature sensors 16 or the controlled devices are changed, the settings can be changed by operating the master unit 5. Therefore, there is no need to operate the monitoring unit 3 and the control unit 4 individually, which is convenient.
Furthermore, since communication between the units can be achieved by simply setting an IP address, the master unit 5 can be connected to the monitoring unit 3 and the control unit 4 with a simple operation even if there are multiple devices to be managed.

The battery panel 1 thus configured operates as follows: Fig. 6 is a flow chart showing the flow of control when an alarm occurs, that is, when the monitoring unit 3 detects an abnormal value, and will be described with reference to Fig. 6.
Monitoring and control is performed by obtaining temperature information from the temperature sensor 16, other contact input information, and information from the storage battery 11, AC/DC conversion unit 12, DC/AC conversion unit 13, etc., but here we will focus on what happens when a temperature abnormality occurs.

The temperature is monitored by the temperature sensor 16 (S11), and if any location exhibits an abnormal temperature value, abnormality information is output from the monitoring unit 3 (Yes in S12). If all temperatures are within a predetermined range, monitoring continues (No in S12).
When the abnormality occurrence information is output, the control unit 4 performs control according to the content of the information (S13). For example, if the temperature drops and goes out of the set range, the heater 15 is turned on to heat the device.

The master unit 5 then monitors the abnormality information output by the monitoring unit 3, and monitors whether the same abnormality information is output consecutively thereafter (S14). If the abnormality information is output consecutively, optimization processing of the control command is performed (S15).
For example, if three temperature sensors 16 successively indicate similar abnormal values within a 10-second period, the same abnormality information will be output, but an optimization process will be implemented to prevent the master unit 5 from continuously outputting the same control command to the control unit 4.

According to this configuration, if the temperatures at multiple locations simultaneously indicate abnormal values and the same abnormality information is output continuously from the monitoring unit 3, the control unit 4 will send similar control commands continuously to the common controlled devices, which is expected to temporarily place a strain on the device. However, it is possible to execute only the first control command and disable subsequent identical control commands. This makes it possible to prevent unnecessary strain on the control processing of the control unit 4 and to implement stable control.

Figure 7 shows another example of the battery panel 1. Figure 7 shows a configuration with two housings (first battery panel 1a and second battery panel 1b) equipped with a large number of batteries 11. When supplying power to a large number of vehicle chargers 6, for example 12, a large number of batteries 11 are required, and two housings may be used in this way. In such a case, there are multiple monitoring units 3 and control units 4, but by connecting the master unit 5 to each unit, settings can be operated from a single master unit 5.

In the above embodiment, the master unit 5 is installed inside the battery panel 1, but it may also be installed outside the battery panel 1 separately, allowing the monitoring unit 3 and control unit 4 to be configured from outside.

1: Battery panel, 3: Monitoring unit, 4: Control unit, 5: Master unit, 6: Vehicle charger, 11: Storage battery, 12: AC/DC conversion unit, 13: DC/AC conversion unit, 14: Fan (air conditioning means), 15: Heater (air conditioning means), 16: Temperature sensor, 32: Monitoring unit communication IF (communication unit), 35: Monitoring unit control unit, 42: Control unit communication IF (communication unit), 44: Control unit control unit, 51: Operation unit, 52: Display unit, 53: Master unit communication IF (master communication unit), 55: Master unit control unit (abnormality occurrence monitoring unit).

Claims (3)

A battery panel comprising: a storage battery; an AC/DC converter for charging the storage battery using commercial power; a DC/AC converter for outputting the stored power of the storage battery as AC; an air conditioning means for adjusting the temperature inside the panel; a monitoring unit for obtaining temperature information from a temperature sensor installed inside the panel and monitoring whether the temperature information indicates an abnormal value; and a control unit for controlling controlled devices inside the panel including the storage battery and the air conditioning means in response to a determination result from the monitoring unit, the battery panel charging and discharging the storage battery,
a master unit that manages the monitoring unit and the control unit;
The master unit has an operation unit that communicates with the monitoring unit and the control unit to change settings,
A battery panel characterized in that when a change occurs in the temperature sensor that notifies the monitoring unit of temperature information or a change occurs in the controlled equipment, the settings of the control unit and the monitoring unit can be changed in response to the change by operating the operating unit. The monitoring unit and the control unit each have a communication unit for communicating with the outside,
2. The battery panel according to claim 1, wherein the master unit has a master communication section that communicates with the monitoring unit and the control unit, and communicates with each other according to an Internet protocol. When the monitoring unit detects an abnormal temperature value, the monitoring unit transmits abnormality information to the control unit, and the control unit receives the abnormality information and issues a control command to a corresponding controlled device to perform temperature control.
The master unit further includes an abnormality occurrence monitoring unit that manages the abnormality occurrence information output by the monitoring unit,
The abnormality occurrence monitoring unit, when the same abnormality occurrence information is output multiple times within a predetermined time,
3. The battery panel according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is controlled so that the control unit responds only to the first abnormality information and is invalid for subsequent abnormality information.

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