Hybrid construction machine

• US 10,668,802 B2
• Filed: 09/29/2016
• Issued: 06/02/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Inventors: Nishikawa, Shinji, Imura, Shinya, Hita, Masafumi, Amano, Hiroaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Sood, Anshul
• Application Number:
  US15/755,983
• Publication Number:
  US 20190111773A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,342 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2006/4825 Electric machine connected or connectable to gearbox input shaft
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 6/48 Parallel type
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 6/485 Motor-assist type
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/06 including control of combustion engines
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/08 including control of electric propulsion units, e.g. motors or generators
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/103 of fluid type
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/30 including control of auxiliary equipment, e.g. air-conditioning compressors or oil pumps
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 20/11 using model predictive control [MPC] strategies, i.e. control methods based on models predicting performance utilising navigation and traffic information in the control strategy B60W20/12
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 20/13 in order to stay within battery power input or output limits; in order to prevent overcharging or battery depletion
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2300/17 Construction vehicles, e.g. graders, excavators
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2200/92 Hybrid vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/2075 of the hybrid type for vehicles in general B60W20/00
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/2091 Control of energy storage means for electrical energy, e.g. battery or capacitors energy recovery arrangements in hydraulic or pneumatic drives E02F9/2217
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/2235 including an electronic controller
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/2246 Control of prime movers, e.g. depending on the hydraulic load of work tools
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/2285 Pilot-operated systems
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 29/00 Controlling engines, such controlling being peculiar to the devices driven thereby, the devices being other than parts or accessories essential to engine operation, e.g. controlling of engines by signals external thereto
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 29/02 peculiar to engines driving vehicles; peculiar to engines driving variable pitch propellers
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 29/06 peculiar to engines driving electric generators
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/62 Hybrid vehicles

Abstract

It becomes possible to prevent deterioration of an electric storage device due to overdischarge of the electric storage device and engine stalling due to insufficient assist or disabled assist when a charge amount of the electric storage device falls, ensure that work is continuously conducted, suppress an operator from feeling discomfort in operation, and ensure favorable operability. A pump target output power computing section (21) computes present pump demanded power on the basis of work related information, limits the present pump demanded power in response to a degree of reduction of a state of charge of an electric storage device (12a) when the state of charge is lower than a preset threshold, and computes the limited present pump demanded power as present pump target output power. A pump flow rate limiting command value computing section (22) computes a pump flow rate limiting command value on the basis of the present pump target output power in such a manner that output power of a hydraulic pump (9) does not exceed the pump target output power.

Claims

1. A hybrid construction machine, comprising:

an engine;

at least one generator motor;

an electric storage device that is charged when the at least one generator motor is caused to perform a power generation operation and that is discharged when the at least one generator motor is caused to perform a powering operation;

an electric storage control system that computes a state of charge of the electric storage device and monitors the electric storage device;

a variable displacement hydraulic pump driven by torques of the engine and the at least one generator motor;

a plurality of hydraulic actuators driven by a hydraulic fluid delivered from the hydraulic pump;

a plurality of operation devices that output operation signals in response to operation amounts for the plurality of hydraulic actuators and instruct the hydraulic actuators to operate;

a controller that controls charge of electric power and discharge of electric power of the at least one generator motor and a delivery flow rate and output power of the hydraulic pump; and

a regulator that controls a displacement of the hydraulic pump to control the delivery flow rate of the hydraulic pump,

wherein the controller is configured to;

compute present pump demanded power of the hydraulic pump on the basis of work related information,

limit the present pump demanded power in response to a degree of reduction of a state of charge of the electric storage device acquired from the electric storage control system when the state of charge of the electric storage device is lower than a preset first threshold, and compute the limited present pump demanded power as the present pump target output power, and

compute the pump flow rate limiting command value on the basis of the present pump target output power in such a manner that the output power of the hydraulic pump does not exceed the pump target output power,

wherein the regulator controls the displacement of the hydraulic pump and controls the delivery flow rate of the hydraulic pump on the basis of the pump flow rate limiting command value, and

wherein the controller is further configured to;

set pump minimum power that is lower limit pump output power for limiting pump demanded power in response to the state of charge of the electric storage device, as a pump output power limiting effective threshold that is a second threshold,

compute a pump output power limiting maximum value that is pump maximum power corresponding to a normal state in which the state of charge of the electric storage device is equal to or higher than the first threshold, and a pump output power limiting value that is pump output power corresponding to a present state of charge of the electric storage device,

compute the present pump demanded power as a value independent of the state of charge of the electric storage device,

compute a ratio of a difference between the pump output power limiting value and the second threshold, a difference between the pump output power limiting maximum value, and the second threshold as a limiting ratio that represents the degree of reduction of the state of charge of the electric storage device, and

compute the pump target output power by multiplying a difference between the present pump demanded power and the second threshold by the limiting ratio when the present pump demanded power is equal to or higher than the second threshold, thereby to limit the pump target output power by performing computation in such a manner that an output power part equal to or higher than the second threshold out of the pump target output power is limited in response to the degree of reduction of the state of charge of the electric storage device when the state of charge of the electric storage device is lower than the first threshold.

2. The hybrid construction machine according to claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to:

compute stationary output power of the hydraulic pump that can be driven solely by the engine without need of assist from the at least one generator motor, as the second threshold,

compute pump maximum output power as a vehicle body obtained by a sum of maximum output power of the engine and assist maximum output power of the at least one generator motor, as the pump output power limiting maximum value, and

compute pump maximum output power in the present state of charge of the electric storage device, as the pump output power limiting value.

3. The hybrid construction machine according to claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to:

compute a vehicle body output power limiting value allowable by a vehicle body on the basis of maximum output power of the engine at a present engine speed and maximum output power of the at least one generator motor in the present state of charge of the electric storage device, and

compute the pump output power limiting value on the basis of the vehicle body output power limiting value.

4. The hybrid construction machine according to claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of operation signal sensors that detect the operation signals of the plurality of operation devices,

wherein the work related information comprises the plurality of operation signals detected by the plurality of operation signal sensors, the controller includes a plurality of control tables in which characteristics of a plurality of pump demanded power in response to the respective plurality of operation signals are set, the characteristics having optimum maximum demanded power in response to types of driving and work of hydraulic actuators corresponding to the plurality of operation signals, and the controller is configured to compute the present pump demanded power on the basis of the plurality of operation signals using the plurality of control tables.

5. The hybrid construction machine according to claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of operation signal sensors that detect the operation signals of the plurality of operation devices, wherein the regulator includes;

a pump horsepower control valve to which a delivery pressure of the hydraulic pump is introduced, and that limits the delivery flow rate of the hydraulic pump in such a manner that absorption horsepower of the hydraulic pump does not exceed reference maximum horsepower; and

a pump flow control valve that controls the delivery flow rate of the hydraulic pump on the basis of the pump flow rate limiting command value computed by the controller,

wherein the controller is further configured to;

compute a pump flow rate target value on the basis of the plurality of operation signals and the pump target output power,

compute the pump flow rate limiting command value by converting the pump flow rate target value into a target displacement of the hydraulic pump, and

compute a pump horsepower limiting command value for controlling the pump horsepower control valve in such a manner that the delivery flow rate of the hydraulic pump limited by the pump horsepower control valve matches the pump flow rate target value.

6. The hybrid construction machine according to claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to:

compute a vehicle body output power limiting value computing section that computes a vehicle body output power limiting value allowable by a vehicle body on the basis of maximum output power of the engine at a present engine speed and maximum output power of the at least one generator motor in a present state of charge of the electric storage device, and

compute a pump output power limiting value that is pump output power corresponding to the present state of charge of the electric storage device on the basis of the vehicle body output power limiting value, perform computation in such a manner that the present pump demanded power is limited in response to the degree of reduction of the state of charge of the electric storage device on the basis of the pump output power limiting value, and compute the present pump target output power.