Vehicle with power source system mounted thereon, power source system controller, method of controlling power source system, and method of controlling start of such vehicle
First Claim
1. A vehicle that utilizes electrical energy of a high voltage power source system including a high voltage battery, said vehicle comprising:
- a control unit that carries out controls related to driving of said vehicle;
a low voltage power source circuit that supplies electrical energy of a low voltage power source system including a low voltage battery to said control unit;
a battery voltage measurement unit that measures a voltage level of the low voltage battery;
a converter unit that converts the electrical energy of the high voltage power source system into a low voltage and charges the low voltage battery with the converted low voltage electrical energy; and
a recovery unit that, when the observed voltage of the low voltage battery is lower than a preset minimum reference voltage at the time of a requirement to start said vehicle, activates said converter unit to recover the voltage of the low voltage battery to the preset minimum reference voltage, prior to a permission to operate said control unit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The technique of the present invention sets two reference voltages, that is, a minimum reference voltage and an operation inhibiting reference voltage, as the criteria for detecting the conditions of power supply of a low voltage power source system including a low voltage battery. The operation inhibiting reference voltage is lower than the minimum reference voltage and represents a threshold value ensuring the normal operation of an apparatus that establishes the power source of a high voltage power source system. In a first range where the power source voltage of the low voltage battery is lower than the minimum reference voltage but is not lower than the operation inhibiting reference voltage, a converter is activated to charge the low voltage battery, so as to recover the power source voltage of the low voltage battery to the minimum reference voltage. The whole system of, for example, a vehicle or an apparatus then functions normally. In a second range where the power source voltage of the low voltage battery is lower than the operation inhibiting reference voltage, on the other hand, operation of the whole system is inhibited. This arrangement brings outs the best performance of the low voltage battery while assuring safety of the whole system.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A vehicle that utilizes electrical energy of a high voltage power source system including a high voltage battery, said vehicle comprising:
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a control unit that carries out controls related to driving of said vehicle;
a low voltage power source circuit that supplies electrical energy of a low voltage power source system including a low voltage battery to said control unit;
a battery voltage measurement unit that measures a voltage level of the low voltage battery;
a converter unit that converts the electrical energy of the high voltage power source system into a low voltage and charges the low voltage battery with the converted low voltage electrical energy; and
a recovery unit that, when the observed voltage of the low voltage battery is lower than a preset minimum reference voltage at the time of a requirement to start said vehicle, activates said converter unit to recover the voltage of the low voltage battery to the preset minimum reference voltage, prior to a permission to operate said control unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A power source system controller mounted on an apparatus that utilizes electrical energy of a high voltage power source system including a high voltage battery, said power source system controller comprising:
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a low voltage power source circuit that supplies electrical energy of a low voltage power source system including a low voltage battery to a control unit that takes charge of controlling said apparatus;
a battery voltage measurement unit that measures a voltage level of the low voltage battery;
a converter unit that converts the electrical energy of the high voltage power source system into a low voltage and charges the low voltage battery with the converted low voltage electrical energy; and
a recovery unit that, when the observed voltage of the low voltage battery is lower than a preset minimum reference voltage at the time of a requirement to start said apparatus, activates said converter unit to recover the voltage of the low voltage battery to the preset minimum reference voltage, prior to a permission to operate said control unit. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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11. In an apparatus that utilizes electrical energy of a high voltage power source system including a high voltage battery, a method of controlling a power source system, said method comprising the steps of:
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supplying electrical energy of a low voltage power source system including a low voltage battery to a control unit that takes charge of controlling said apparatus;
in response to a decrease in observed voltage of the low voltage battery, converting the electrical energy of the high voltage power source system into a low voltage and charging the low voltage battery with the converted low voltage electrical energy; and
when the observed voltage of the low voltage battery is lower than a preset minimum reference voltage at the time of a requirement to start said apparatus, recovering the voltage of the low voltage battery to the preset minimum reference voltage, prior to a permission to operate said control unit.
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12. A method of controlling a start of a vehicle, said vehicle comprising a converter that converts electrical energy of a high voltage battery into a low voltage and supplies the converted low voltage and utilizing electrical energy of a high voltage power source system including the high voltage battery, said method comprising the steps of:
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in response to a requirement to start said vehicle, comparing an observed voltage of a low voltage battery with a preset minimum reference voltage required to establish a low voltage power source system including the low voltage battery; and
when the observed voltage of the low voltage battery is lower than the preset minimum reference voltage, activating said converter to recover the voltage of the low voltage battery to the preset minimum reference voltage, prior to starting said vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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Specification