JP5500089B2 - Vehicle starter - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle starter, and more particularly, to a protection technology for a mechanical switch.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an idling stop function for stopping an idling operation of an internal combustion engine when stopping traveling at an intersection or the like is known as a means for improving fuel consumption in an automobile.
The idle stop function is to stop the idling operation of the internal combustion engine when the vehicle stops at the intersection when the vehicle travels and a predetermined stop condition is satisfied, and then restart the internal combustion engine when the predetermined restart condition is satisfied. The vehicle is started and the vehicle is started.

In a general idle stop mechanism, a cell motor is connected to a battery with a main harness so as to be in parallel with other in-vehicle electrical equipment.
However, if the cell motor and the in-vehicle electrical equipment are connected to the battery in parallel, if the cell motor is activated when the internal combustion engine is started, a large amount of current flows through the cell motor, the battery voltage drops rapidly, and sufficient power is supplied to the in-vehicle electrical equipment. There is a risk that it cannot be supplied.

Therefore, the in-vehicle electrical equipment falls into power shortage, and there is a risk that restart due to reset and control delay may occur.
Therefore, as a configuration in which a capacitor (power auxiliary device) and a battery are connected in parallel via a relay (switch), the switch is turned off when the internal combustion engine is started, and power is supplied from the power auxiliary device to the in-vehicle electrical equipment. A technology for suppressing reset of on-vehicle electrical equipment due to voltage drop has been developed (Patent Document 1).

JP 2009-280096 A

As described above, in the power circuit disclosed in Patent Document 1, power is supplied from the battery to the in-vehicle electrical equipment in a normal state, and when the internal combustion engine is started, the switch is turned off to supply power from the power auxiliary device to the in-vehicle electrical equipment. ing.
However, when the switch contact is switched from ON to OFF or from OFF to ON in the energized state, a potential difference is generated at the internal contact at that moment, and a phenomenon such as arc discharge may occur. Therefore, if arc discharge occurs at the internal contact, the life of the switch is shortened, which is not preferable. In addition, a technology that suppresses arc discharge by incorporating a commutation diode in parallel with the relay has also been developed. However, in a large current circuit, the elements of the commutation diode are large, and the layout in the vehicle is difficult and the cost is low. There is a problem such as increasing.

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle starter capable of extending the life of a switch while suppressing an increase in cost. .

In order to achieve the above object, in the vehicle starter according to claim 1, a power supply means for supplying electric power to the vehicle onboard electrical equipment and the starter of the internal combustion engine of the vehicle, and the onboard electrical equipment at the start of the internal combustion engine Power supplement supply means for supplying power to the power supply, power supply switching means for stopping power supply from the power supply means to the in-vehicle electrical equipment when the internal combustion engine is started, the power supplement supply means, and the power supply Control means for controlling the switching means, wherein the control means makes the supply voltage of the power auxiliary supply means higher than the supply voltage of the power supply means before starting the operation of the start means when starting the internal combustion engine. The power supply switching means is switched at the start of operation of the starting means to stop the supply of power from the power supply means to the in-vehicle electrical equipment, and the power supply is switched off at the end of the operation of the starting means. The supply switching means is switched to start the supply of power from the power supply means to the in-vehicle electrical equipment, and after the supply of power from the power supply means to the in-vehicle electrical equipment is started, the supply voltage of the power auxiliary supply means is It is characterized by being lower than the supply voltage of the power supply means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the vehicle starting device according to the first aspect, further comprising voltage detecting means for detecting a voltage of the power supply means, wherein the control means is detected by the voltage detecting means when starting the internal combustion engine. The supply voltage of the auxiliary power supply means is made higher by a predetermined value than the supplied voltage of the power supply means.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle starter of the first or second aspect, the control means automatically stops the internal combustion engine when the stop condition for the internal combustion engine is satisfied, and the restart condition is satisfied. An idling stop function for restarting the internal combustion engine, and when the restart condition is satisfied, the supply voltage of the power auxiliary supply means is made higher than the supply voltage of the power supply means to activate the starter means It is characterized by.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the supply voltage of the power auxiliary supply means is made higher than the supply voltage of the power supply means before the start of the operation of the start means at the start of the internal combustion engine, and the power supply switching means is set at the start of operation of the start means. The power supply from the power supply means to the vehicle-mounted electrical equipment is stopped, the power supply switching means is switched at the end of the operation of the starting means, and the power supply from the power supply means to the vehicle-mounted electrical equipment is started. The supply voltage of the power auxiliary supply means is made lower than the supply voltage of the power supply means after starting the supply of power from the power supply.

Thus, since the supply voltage of the power auxiliary supply means is higher than the supply voltage of the power supply means when the power supply switching means is switched, the potential difference in the power supply switching means can be reduced.
Therefore, the potential difference in the power supply switching means can be reduced without significantly changing the apparatus, and the occurrence of arc discharge or the like can be suppressed when the power supply switching means is switched. However, the life of the power supply switching means can be extended.

According to the invention of claim 2, the supply voltage of the power auxiliary supply means is made higher by a predetermined value than the supply voltage of the power supply means detected by the voltage detection means when the internal combustion engine is started.
Therefore, the supply voltage of the power auxiliary supply means is made higher than the supply voltage of the power supply means by a predetermined value, so that it can reliably cope with changes in the supply voltage of the power supply means due to changes over time, temperature changes, load changes, etc. can do.

  According to the invention of claim 3, since the supply voltage of the power auxiliary supply means can be controlled to be high before the start means is operated when the restart condition of the internal combustion engine is satisfied, the arc discharge is surely performed when the power supply switching means is switched. Etc. can be suppressed.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vehicle starter according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the control routine of the vehicle starter which concerns on 1st Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the switch control signal at the time of the engine restart of the vehicle starter concerning 1st Example of this invention, and the change of an output voltage in time series. It is a schematic block diagram of the starting device for vehicles which concerns on 2nd Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the control routine of the vehicle starter which concerns on 2nd Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the switch control signal at the time of the engine restart of the vehicle starter concerning 2nd Example of this invention, and the change of an output voltage in time series.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
A vehicle starter according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a travel motor and an engine (internal combustion engine) (not shown), and is used in a hybrid vehicle that travels using one or both of them. In addition, the vehicle starter stops the engine idling when a vehicle satisfies a predetermined engine stop condition such as stopping for a predetermined time at an intersection or the like, and further stops engine idling when a predetermined engine restart condition such as release of brake pedal operation is satisfied. Is to restart.
[First embodiment]
FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration diagram of a vehicle starter according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The configuration of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a vehicle starter 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes a cell motor (starting means) 11 for starting an engine, and an in-vehicle electrical device such as a navigation system for displaying vehicle position information. 12, a battery (power supply means) 13 that supplies power to the cell motor 11 and the in-vehicle electrical equipment 12, a power auxiliary device (power auxiliary supply means) 14 that supplies power to the in-vehicle electrical equipment 12, and power to the cell motor 11 A relay 15 that mechanically supplies or cuts off power, a relay (power supply switching means) 16 that mechanically supplies or cuts off electric power from the battery 13 to the in-vehicle electrical equipment 12, and for overall control of the vehicle An electronic controller comprising an input / output device, a storage device (ROM, RAM, nonvolatile RAM, etc.), a central processing unit (CPU), etc. Over Ruyunitto (hereinafter, referred to as ECU) and (control means) 17 is formed by electrically connecting.

The power auxiliary device 14 includes a travel motor battery 14a that supplies power to the travel motor, and a DC-DC converter 14b that converts a high voltage of the travel motor battery 14a into a low voltage for the in-vehicle electrical equipment 12, and Electric power is supplied to the in-vehicle electrical equipment 12 at the time of starting, that is, when the so-called cell motor is operated.
The ECU 17 has an idling stop function of stopping engine idling based on information from various sensors, or controlling the operation of the relay 15 to activate the cell motor 11 to restart the engine. When the engine is restarted, the DC-DC converter 14b is controlled so that the output voltage (supply voltage) from the DC-DC converter 14b is a predetermined voltage higher than the voltage of the battery 13, and the operation of the relay 16 is further controlled. It also has a function of cutting off power supply from the battery 13 to the in-vehicle electrical equipment 12.

Next, an operation procedure of the vehicle starter according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a control routine of the vehicle starter according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows changes in the switch control signal and the output voltage (supply voltage) during engine restart in time series.
As shown in FIG. 2, in step S10, it is determined whether or not an engine restart condition such as release of brake pedal operation has been established. If the determination result is true (Yes) and the engine restart condition is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S12. If the determination result is false (No) and the engine restart condition is not satisfied, the process returns to step S10 and the process of step S10 is performed again.

In step S12, the output voltage (supply voltage) from the power auxiliary device 14 is increased to a predetermined voltage set higher than the output voltage (supply voltage) of the battery 13 (corresponding to (1) in FIG. 3). Then, the process proceeds to step S14.
In step S14, a restart control signal is output to the relay 15 and the relay 16. Specifically, the relay 16 is turned off (non-conducting state), and the supply of power from the battery 13 to the in-vehicle electrical equipment 12 is stopped. Further, the relay 15 is turned on (conducting state), power is supplied from the battery 13 to the cell motor 11, and the cell motor 11 is operated (corresponding to FIG. 3 (2)). Then, the engine is started. Then, the process proceeds to step S16.

In step S16, it is determined whether or not the engine has been started. If the determination result is true (Yes) and the engine has been started, the process proceeds to step S18. If the determination result is false (No) and the engine has not been started, the process returns to step S14 and the process of step S14 is performed again.
In step S18, the relay 15 is turned off (non-conducting state), the supply of power from the battery 13 to the cell motor 11 is stopped, and the cell motor 11 is stopped. Then, the relay 16 is turned on (conductive state), and the supply of power from the battery 13 to the in-vehicle electrical equipment 12 is started (corresponding to FIG. 3 (3)).

  In step S <b> 20, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has passed since the supply of power from the battery 13 to the in-vehicle electrical device 12 where the power from the battery 13 to the in-vehicle electrical device 12 is stabilized is started. If the determination result is true (Yes) and the supply of power from the battery 13 to the in-vehicle electrical equipment 12 is started and the predetermined time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S22. If the determination result is false (No) and the supply of power from the battery 13 to the in-vehicle electrical equipment 12 is started and the predetermined time has not elapsed, the process returns to step S20 and the process of step S20 is performed again.

In step S22, the output voltage from the power auxiliary device 14 increased to a predetermined voltage is decreased to a normal voltage set lower than the output voltage of the battery 13 (corresponding to FIG. 3 (4)). Then, this routine is returned.
Thus, in the vehicle starter according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the output voltage from the power supply auxiliary device 14 is increased to a predetermined voltage set higher than the output voltage of the battery 13 when the engine is restarted. Then, the relay 16 is turned off to stop the supply of power from the battery 13 to the in-vehicle electrical equipment 12, the relay 15 is turned on to supply the power from the battery 13 to the cell motor 11, and the cell motor 11 is operated. Then, when the start of the engine is completed, the relay 15 is turned off, the supply of power from the battery 13 to the cell motor 11 is stopped, and the cell motor 11 is stopped. Then, the relay 16 is turned on to start the supply of power from the battery 13 to the in-vehicle electrical equipment 12, and the supply of power from the battery 13 to the in-vehicle electrical equipment 12 that stabilizes the power from the battery 13 to the in-vehicle electrical equipment 12 is started. When a predetermined time elapses, the output voltage from the power auxiliary device 14 increased to the predetermined voltage is decreased to a normal voltage set lower than the output voltage of the battery 13.

  Accordingly, when the relay 16 is switched ON / OFF, the output voltage of the power auxiliary device 14 is set to a predetermined voltage and is higher than the output voltage of the battery 13, so that the battery 13 passes through the relay 16 and is supplied to the in-vehicle electrical equipment 12. Current can be suppressed. Therefore, the potential difference in the relay 16 can be reduced, and the occurrence of arc discharge or the like can be suppressed when the power switching means is switched.

As described above, in the first embodiment, since the occurrence of arc discharge or the like can be suppressed when the relay 16 is switched ON / OFF, the life of the relay 16 can be extended while suppressing an increase in cost. .
[Second Embodiment]
Next, a vehicle starter according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration diagram of a vehicle starter according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
In the second embodiment, the voltage value of the output voltage of the battery 13 is detected with respect to the first embodiment, and the output voltage control of the power auxiliary device 14 is added based on the voltage value. Different points from the first embodiment will be described below.
As shown in FIG. 4, the ECU (control means, voltage detection means) 17 ′ is electrically connected to a side of the battery 13 that is connected to the cell motor 11 and the in-vehicle electrical equipment 12. The ECU 17 ′ has a function of detecting the voltage value of the output voltage of the battery 13.

Next, an operation procedure of the vehicle starter 10 'according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control routine of the vehicle starter according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The voltage value of the output voltage of the battery 13 is detected with respect to the first embodiment, and the voltage value is detected. Based on the above, the output voltage control of the power auxiliary device 14 is added. Further, FIG. 6 shows changes in the switch control signal and the output voltage when the engine is restarted in time series.

As shown in FIG. 5, in step S10, it is determined whether or not the engine restart condition is satisfied as in the first embodiment.
In step S11, the voltage value of the output voltage of the battery 13 is detected. Then, the process proceeds to step S12 ′.
In step S12 ′, the output voltage from the power supply auxiliary device 14 is increased to an output voltage that is higher by a predetermined value than the voltage value of the output voltage of the battery 13 detected in step S11 (corresponding to (1) in FIG. 6). Then, the process proceeds to step S14.

  In steps S14 to S22, as in the first embodiment, the relay 16 is turned OFF and the supply of power from the battery 13 to the in-vehicle electrical equipment 12 is stopped. Further, the relay 15 is turned on to supply electric power from the battery 13 to the cell motor 11 to operate the cell motor 11. Then, when the start of the engine is completed, the relay 15 is turned off, the supply of power from the battery 13 to the cell motor 11 is stopped, and the cell motor 11 is stopped. Further, the relay 16 is turned on to start the supply of power from the battery 13 to the in-vehicle electrical equipment 12. Then, when the power supply from the battery 13 to the in-vehicle electrical equipment 12 that stabilizes the power from the battery 13 to the in-vehicle electrical equipment 12 is started and a predetermined time has elapsed, the output voltage from the power auxiliary device 14 increased to a predetermined voltage. Is reduced to a normal voltage set lower than the output voltage of the battery 13, and this routine is returned.

Thus, in the vehicle starter according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the voltage value of the output voltage of the battery 13 at the time of engine restart is detected, and the output voltage of the power auxiliary device 14 is determined from the output voltage of the battery 13. Is increased by a predetermined value.
Therefore, since the voltage value of the output voltage of the battery 13 is detected and the voltage value of the output voltage of the power auxiliary device 14 is determined, the voltage of the output voltage of the battery 13 due to aging, temperature change, load change, etc. Even if a value changes, it can respond reliably.

Although the description of the embodiment of the invention is finished as above, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.
In the above embodiment, the traveling battery 14a and the DC-DC converter 14b are used as the power auxiliary device 14. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a capacitor or the like may be used.

  In the above embodiment, the vehicle is a hybrid vehicle equipped with a motor. However, the present invention is not limited to this. If the operation of the cell motor 11 for starting the engine can be grasped in advance, the cell motor 11 is manually operated. A vehicle using only an internal combustion engine having an idling stop mechanism may be used. In this case, it goes without saying that a battery or the like corresponding to the power auxiliary device 14 needs to be separately mounted.

  In the above embodiment, the vehicle starter 10 is controlled when the engine is restarted from the idling stop. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the same control is performed when starting the normal engine. Similarly, the life of the relay 16 can be extended.

10, 10 'starter 11 cell motor (starting means)
12 On-vehicle electrical equipment 13 Battery (power supply means)
14 Power auxiliary device (power auxiliary supply means)
16 Relay (Power supply switching means)
17, 17 'ECU (control means, voltage detection means)

Claims (3)

Power supply means for supplying power to the on-vehicle electrical equipment of the vehicle and the starting means of the internal combustion engine;
Power auxiliary supply means for supplying electric power to the in-vehicle electrical equipment when starting the internal combustion engine;
Power supply switching means for stopping the supply of power from the power supply means to the in-vehicle electrical equipment when the internal combustion engine is started;
Control means for controlling the power auxiliary supply means and the power supply switching means,
The control means makes the supply voltage of the power auxiliary supply means higher than the supply voltage of the power supply means before the start of the operation of the start means at the start of the internal combustion engine, and the power when the start means is started. Switch the supply switching means to stop the supply of power from the power supply means to the in-vehicle electrical equipment, and switch the power supply switching means at the end of the operation of the starting means, the power supply from the power supply means to the in-vehicle electrical equipment A vehicle starter characterized by starting supply and further lowering the supply voltage of the auxiliary power supply means from the supply voltage of the power supply means after the supply of power from the power supply means to the in-vehicle electrical equipment is started . Voltage detection means for detecting the voltage of the power supply means;
The control means makes the supply voltage of the power auxiliary supply means higher by a predetermined value than the supply voltage of the power supply means detected by the voltage detection means when starting the internal combustion engine. The starter for a vehicle according to 1.   The control means includes an idling stop function that automatically stops the internal combustion engine when the stop condition of the internal combustion engine is satisfied, and restarts the internal combustion engine when the restart condition is satisfied, and the restart condition is satisfied 3. The vehicle starter according to claim 1, wherein the starter is operated by sometimes making the supply voltage of the power auxiliary supply unit higher than the supply voltage of the power supply unit.

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