JP2014073692A - Fan driving controller of vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent foreign object, such as an exhaust gas exhausted from an internal combustion engine, from intruding into a battery system more efficiently.SOLUTION: A vehicle includes: a muffler which exhausts an exhaust gas of an internal combustion engine; a battery serving as a power source for driving of the vehicle; a case for storing the battery; a communication part which allows the interior of the case to communicate with the exterior of the case; and a fan which is disposed in the case and blows out a gas in the case to the exterior of the case through the communication part. A fan driving controller is a fan controller which controls the fan in the vehicle. An external side opening of the case, which is located in the communication part, is positioned near an exhaust port of the muffler at the vehicle exterior. The fan driving controller has a fan control part 32 which drives the fan on the basis of the driving state of the vehicle.

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for controlling a fan that ventilates a case in which a battery used for running a vehicle is accommodated.

Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for preventing the gas discharged from the fuel cell system from flowing back into the exhaust path without being discharged from the exhaust port.
The technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 controls gas discharge according to the driving state of the fuel cell system and the wind pressure outside the fuel cell system.

2008-103276

By the way, the exhaust gas discharged from the internal combustion engine contains a reactive gas such as carbon monoxide (CO), moisture, and the like. If this exhaust gas enters the fuel cell system, the fuel cell is deteriorated and the fuel It may cause battery system failure.
Therefore, when the fuel cell system disclosed in Patent Document 1 is mounted on a vehicle, the fuel cell system discharges gas from the exhaust port. Foreign substances such as exhaust gas from the internal combustion engine enter the fuel cell system. That will prevent you from doing it.

  However, if the gas is simply discharged according to the driving state of the fuel cell system or the wind pressure outside the fuel cell system, the amount of gas discharged will be unnecessarily large and the power source for gas discharge will be uselessly operated. In some cases, it may not be suitable for the usage situation of the vehicle. In this case, foreign matter such as exhaust gas discharged from the internal combustion engine can be prevented from entering the fuel cell system, but the efficiency for preventing it becomes worse.

  An object of the present invention is to more efficiently prevent foreign matter such as exhaust gas discharged from an internal combustion engine from entering a battery system.

  In order to solve the above problems, (1) one aspect of the present invention provides a muffler that exhausts exhaust gas of an internal combustion engine, a battery that is a power source for traveling of a vehicle, a case that houses the battery, A fan for controlling the fan in a vehicle, comprising: a communicating part between the inside and the outside of the case; and a fan disposed in the case and sending a gas inside the case to the outside of the case through the communicating part In the control device, an opening on the outside of the case in the communication portion is located in the vicinity of an exhaust port of the muffler outside a passenger compartment, and a controller that drives the fan based on a running state of the vehicle is provided. A fan drive control device for a vehicle is provided.

  (2) In one aspect of the present invention, the vehicle further includes a vehicle speed detection unit that detects a vehicle speed of the vehicle, and an internal combustion engine drive state detection unit that detects a drive state of the internal combustion engine, and the control unit includes the internal combustion engine It is preferable that the fan is driven when the engine drive state detection unit detects a state where the internal combustion engine is driven and the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detection unit is equal to or less than a preset value.

  (3) In one mode of the present invention, it further has an internal-combustion-engine drive amount detection part which detects the drive amount of the internal-combustion engine, and the control part drives the internal-combustion engine which the internal-combustion-engine drive amount detection part detected It is preferable to increase the driving amount of the fan as the amount increases.

  (4) In one mode of the present invention, it further includes an exhaust gas concentration detection unit that detects an exhaust gas concentration in the gas, and the control unit is configured to drive the fan as the exhaust gas concentration detected by the exhaust gas concentration detection unit increases. Is preferably increased.

  (5) In one aspect of the present invention, when the fan is driven, the control unit stops driving the internal combustion engine and the temperature of the battery is equal to or lower than a preset temperature. It is preferable to stop driving.

  According to the invention of the aspect of (1), it is possible to prevent foreign matters such as exhaust gas discharged from the internal combustion engine from entering the communication portion due to the traveling state of the vehicle. Thereby, in the invention of the aspect of (1), it is possible to more effectively prevent foreign matters such as exhaust gas discharged from the internal combustion engine from entering the communication portion.

  According to the invention of the aspect of (2), it is possible to prevent foreign matter such as exhaust gas discharged from the internal combustion engine from entering the communication portion due to the vehicle running at a low speed.

  According to the aspect of the invention of (3), it is possible to prevent foreign matter that increases as the driving amount of the internal combustion engine increases from entering the communication portion.

  According to the invention of aspect (4), by changing the driving amount of the fan so as to match the exhaust gas concentration, it is possible to appropriately prevent the exhaust gas from entering the communicating portion by driving the fan without excess or deficiency.

  According to the invention of the aspect of (5), the waste of the power source of the fan can be suppressed while appropriately cooling the battery.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a rear portion of a vehicle according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration example of the battery pack. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an ECU (Electronic Control Unit). FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the fan control process.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the present embodiment, a vehicle capable of controlling the drive of the fan in the battery pack is cited.
(Constitution)
In FIG. 1, the example of a structure of the rear part of the vehicle 1 is shown.

As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 1 has a battery pack 20 mounted on the rear part thereof.
FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of the battery pack 20.
As shown in FIG. 2, the battery pack 20 has a battery 21 and a fan 22 housed in a case 23. The fan 22 is controlled by a fan control unit 32 of an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 30 described later. The ECU 30 will be described in detail later. Further, the case 23 is formed with an exhaust duct (hereinafter referred to as a case-side exhaust duct) 24 in which an exhaust port (or communication port, opening) 24 a exists outside the case 23. An exhaust duct (hereinafter referred to as fan-side exhaust duct) 22 a of the fan 22 is connected to an inlet of the case-side exhaust duct 24. Thus, when the fan 22 is driven, the gas (air or the like) in the case 23 is moved outside the case 23 through the fan-side exhaust duct 22a and the case-side exhaust duct 24 as shown by arrows in FIG. Discharged.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 1 has a fuel tank 4 disposed below the rear seat 2 and below the floor panel 3. Further, the vehicle 1 has a muffler 5 disposed under the floor panel 3 at the rear of the vehicle. In the present embodiment, the battery pack 20 is disposed below the floor panel 3 and between the fuel tank 4 and the back panel 7 to which the rear bumper 6 behind the fuel tank 4 is attached. Here, the battery pack 20 is arranged so that the space 8 is formed between the back panel 7 and the battery pack 20. The case-side exhaust duct 24 of the battery pack 20 is attached to the side surface 23a of the case 23 facing the vehicle rear, and the exhaust port 24a of the case-side exhaust duct 24 faces the vehicle rear. As a result, gas is discharged into the space 8 from the exhaust port 24 a of the case-side exhaust duct 24. In this embodiment, the exhaust port 5 a of the muffler 5 is located in the space 8 and below the exhaust port 24 a of the case-side exhaust duct 24.

  The vehicle 1 has a CO sensor 9 and a wind pressure sensor (pressure sensor) 10 so as to face the space 8. The CO sensor 9 is attached to the lower surface of the floor panel 3 and detects CO (specifically, carbon monoxide concentration). Then, the CO sensor 9 outputs a detection value to the ECU 30. The wind pressure sensor 10 detects wind pressure. In the present embodiment, the wind pressure sensor 10 is a surface facing the front of the vehicle of the back panel 7 and in the vicinity of the exhaust port 5a of the muffler 5 (specifically, so that the wind pressure of the air flowing into the space 8 can be detected. , Attached to a lower portion of the surface where air flowing into the space 8 can be detected appropriately. The wind pressure sensor 10 outputs a detection value to the ECU 30.

FIG. 3 shows a configuration example of the ECU 30.
Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the vehicle 1 further includes a vehicle speed sensor 11, an engine speed sensor 12, and a battery state sensor 13. The vehicle speed sensor 11 detects the vehicle speed. Then, the vehicle speed sensor 11 outputs the detected value to the ECU 30. The engine speed sensor 12 detects the engine speed. Then, engine speed sensor 12 outputs the detected value to ECU 30. The battery state sensor 13 detects the state (temperature, output, etc.) of the battery 21. Then, the battery state sensor 13 outputs the detected value to the ECU 30.

  The ECU 30 includes a microcomputer and its peripheral circuits. For this purpose, for example, the ECU 30 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like. The ROM stores one or more programs. The CPU executes various processes according to one or more programs stored in the ROM.

  In the present embodiment, the ECU 30 includes an engine control unit 31 and a fan control unit 32. The engine control unit 31 controls driving of an unillustrated engine (specifically, an internal combustion engine). The engine control unit 31 outputs an engine start instruction to start the engine, and outputs an engine drive stop instruction to stop the engine drive. The fan control unit 32 controls driving of the fan 22 in the battery pack 20 based on detection values of the engine speed sensor 12, the battery state sensor 13, and the like.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of an example of fan control processing performed by the fan control unit 32.
As shown in FIG. 4, first, in step S1, the fan control unit 32 determines whether there is an engine start instruction (that is, whether the engine control unit 31 has output an engine start instruction). If the fan control unit 32 determines that there is an engine start instruction, that is, if the engine starts, the process proceeds to step S2. If the fan control unit 32 determines that there is no engine start instruction, that is, if the engine is stopped, the process proceeds to step S6.

  In step S2, the fan control unit 32 determines whether or not the vehicle speed is equal to or less than a vehicle speed determination threshold value. Here, the vehicle speed determination threshold value is a value with which it can be determined that the vehicle 1 is traveling at low speed or stopped. The vehicle speed determination threshold value is a value set in advance experimentally, empirically, or theoretically. If the fan control unit 32 determines that the vehicle speed is equal to or less than the vehicle speed determination threshold value, the fan control unit 32 proceeds to step S3. If the fan control unit 32 determines that the vehicle speed is greater than the vehicle speed determination threshold value, the process proceeds to step S6.

  In step S3, the fan control unit 32 performs the first fan control. Specifically, the fan control unit 32 controls the driving of the fan 22 based on the engine speed as the first fan control. Specifically, the fan control unit 32 increases the rotation speed of the fan 22 (that is, the driving amount of the fan 22) as the engine rotation speed increases. For example, the fan control unit 32 controls the rotational speed of the fan 22 by controlling the duty of the control signal of the fan 22.

  Next, in step S4, the fan control unit 32 determines whether or not the engine has stopped. If the fan control unit 32 determines that the engine is stopped, that is, if the engine control unit 31 outputs an engine drive stop instruction, the process proceeds to step S5. If the fan control unit 32 determines that the engine is not stopped, the fan control unit 32 starts the process again from step S3.

In step S <b> 5, the fan control unit 32 stops the fan 22. Then, the fan control unit 32 ends the process shown in FIG.
In step S6, the fan control unit 32 performs the second fan control. Specifically, the fan control unit 32 controls the driving of the fan 22 based on the battery temperature and the battery output as the second fan control. Specifically, the fan control unit 32 increases the rotational speed of the fan 22 as the battery temperature increases. Moreover, the fan control part 32 makes the rotation speed of the fan 22 large, so that a battery output is large. For example, the fan control unit 32 controls the rotational speed of the fan 22 by controlling the duty of the control signal of the fan 22. Then, the fan control unit 32 ends the process shown in FIG.
The fan control process shown in FIG. 4 is as described above.

(Operation, action, etc.)
Next, an example of the operation of the ECU 30 and its operation will be described.
The ECU 30 controls the driving of the fan 22 by the first fan control when there is an engine start instruction and the vehicle 1 is traveling at low speed or stopped. At this time, the ECU 30 controls the drive of the fan 22 based on the engine speed. Then, the ECU 30 stops the fan 22 when the engine stops.

  On the other hand, the ECU 30 controls the drive of the fan 22 by the second fan control when there is no engine start instruction or when the vehicle 1 is traveling at a higher vehicle speed than when the vehicle 1 is traveling at a low speed even when there is an engine start instruction. To do. At this time, the ECU 30 controls the driving of the fan 22 based on the battery temperature and the battery output.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment, the case-side exhaust duct 24 of the battery pack 20 is formed in the space 8 formed by the floor panel 3 and the rear bumper 6 (specifically, the back panel 7). An exhaust port 24a is located. And in this embodiment, the exhaust port 5a of the muffler 5 is located in this place similarly to the general vehicle 1. Therefore, the exhaust gas from the muffler 5 tends to stay in the space 8. The exhaust gas contains gas and moisture that adversely affect the battery 21.

  Here, when the vehicle travels (especially during mid-high speed travel), air flows under the vehicle body, so that the exhaust gas from the muffler 5 does not easily stay in the space 8 (the gas flows as indicated by the solid line arrows shown in FIG. 1). ). On the other hand, when the vehicle is running at a low speed or when the vehicle is stopped, the flow of air under the vehicle body is reduced, so that the exhaust gas from the muffler 5 tends to stay in the space 8 (gas flows as indicated by the dotted arrows in FIG. 1) . In this case, there is a high possibility that foreign substances such as exhaust gas will enter the case 23 through the case-side exhaust duct 24. In this case, a reactive gas, moisture, or the like contained in a foreign substance such as exhaust gas may cause deterioration of internal parts of the battery pack 20 or a failure such as insulation.

  On the other hand, in this embodiment, the vehicle 1 is driving the fan 22 when the engine is driving and the vehicle 1 is traveling at low speed or stopped. That is, in the present embodiment, the vehicle 1 drives the fan 22 in a situation where the exhaust gas from the muffler 5 tends to stay in the space 8. Thus, the vehicle 1 cools the battery 21 by the fan 22 and prevents the exhaust gas from the muffler 5 staying in the space 8 from flowing back into the case 23 via the case-side exhaust duct 24.

  In the description of the above-described embodiment, the ECU 30 constitutes, for example, a fan drive control device. Moreover, the fan control part 32 comprises a control part and an internal combustion engine drive state detection part, for example. Moreover, the vehicle speed sensor 11 comprises a vehicle speed detection part, for example. The engine speed sensor 12 constitutes, for example, an internal combustion engine drive amount detection unit. The CO sensor 9 constitutes an exhaust gas concentration detector, for example.

(Modifications of this embodiment, etc.)
In the present embodiment, the fan control unit 32 may control the driving amount of the fan 22 based on the detection value of the CO sensor 9. In this case, specifically, the fan control unit 32 increases the rotational speed of the fan 22 as the CO concentration detected by the CO sensor 9 is higher.

In the present embodiment, the fan control unit 32 may control the driving amount of the fan 22 based on the detection value of the wind pressure sensor 10. In this case, specifically, the fan control unit 32 increases the rotational speed of the fan 22 as the wind pressure detected by the wind pressure sensor 10 increases.
In the present embodiment, the fan control unit 32 may control the driving amount of the fan 22 based on the intake air amount detected by the intake air amount sensor disposed in the intake pipe or the like. In this case, specifically, the fan control unit 32 increases the rotational speed of the fan 22 as the intake air amount increases. Here, the intake air amount sensor constitutes, for example, an engine drive amount detection unit.

In the present embodiment, the fan control unit 32 may control the driving of the fan 22 by a combination of a plurality of values such as the engine speed, the CO concentration, the wind pressure value, and the intake air amount.
In the present embodiment, the CO sensor 9 may be disposed in the case 23 or the case-side exhaust duct 24.

  In the present embodiment, the vehicle 1 has a CO sensor 9 for detecting exhaust gas discharged from the engine. However, this embodiment is not limited to this, and may include other sensors that can detect exhaust gas discharged from the engine.

In the present embodiment, the fan control unit 32 may drive the fan 22 at a preset rotation speed (that is, a constant rotation speed) regardless of the engine rotation speed in the first fan control.
Further, although the embodiments of the present invention have been specifically described, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the illustrated and described exemplary embodiments, and effects equivalent to those intended by the present invention. All embodiments that provide are also included. Further, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the combination of features of the invention defined by claim 1 but can be defined by any desired combination of specific features among all the disclosed features. .

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle, 9 CO sensor, 10 Wind pressure sensor, 11 Vehicle speed sensor, 12 Engine speed sensor, 13 Battery state sensor, 30 ECU, 31 Engine control part, 32 Fan control part

Claims (5)

A muffler that discharges exhaust gas from the internal combustion engine, a battery that is a power source for running the vehicle, a case that houses the battery, a communication portion between the inside and the outside of the case, and the case A fan control device for controlling the fan in a vehicle having a fan for sending the gas inside the case to the outside of the case via the communication part,
The opening on the outside of the case in the communication portion is located near the exhaust port of the muffler outside the vehicle compartment,
A fan drive control device for a vehicle, comprising: a controller that drives the fan based on a running state of the vehicle. A vehicle speed detector for detecting the vehicle speed;
An internal combustion engine drive state detector that detects the drive state of the internal combustion engine,
The control unit detects the state in which the internal combustion engine drive state detection unit is operating and the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detection unit is less than or equal to a preset value. 2. The fan drive control device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the fan drive control device is driven. An internal combustion engine drive amount detection unit for detecting the drive amount of the internal combustion engine;
3. The fan drive control for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the control unit increases the drive amount of the fan as the drive amount of the internal combustion engine detected by the internal combustion engine drive amount detection unit increases. apparatus. It further has an exhaust gas concentration detector that detects the exhaust gas concentration in the gas,
4. The fan drive control device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the control unit increases the drive amount of the fan as the exhaust gas concentration detected by the exhaust gas concentration detection unit is higher. 5. .   The controller is configured to stop driving the fan when the driving of the internal combustion engine is stopped and the temperature of the battery is equal to or lower than a preset temperature when the fan is driven. The fan drive control device for a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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