Fuel Cell Hybrid-Electric Heavy-Duty Vehicle Drive System and Method
First Claim
1. A heavy-duty vehicle hybrid-electric drive system for a heavy-duty vehicle over 10,000 pounds GVWR, comprising:
- a fuel storage including a fuel cell fuel;
a fuel cell system coupled to the fuel storage to receive fuel;
a fuel cell DC/DC converter coupled to the fuel cell system for providing electric power;
an energy storage system separate from the fuel cell system;
an energy storage DC/DC converter coupled to the energy storage system for supplementing electric power provided by the fuel cell, and separate from the fuel cell DC/DC converter;
one or more electric motors/generators that consume supplied electric power from at least one of the fuel cell system and the energy storage system to accelerate the heavy duty vehicle and generate electric power upon deceleration of the vehicle;
one or more control computers for combining power from the fuel cell system and the energy storage system to be supplied to the one or more electric motors/generators, and controlling the one or more electric motors/generators.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and a method that provides fuel cell and energy storage hybrid-electric propulsion and control for a heavy-duty vehicle over 10,000 pounds GVWR. Power output is supplied from a fuel cell system to a high-power intermediate DC bus through a fuel cell DC/DC converter. Power output is supplied from an energy storage system to the high-power intermediate DC bus through a separate energy storage fuel cell DC/DC converter. The received power is combined on the high-power intermediate DC bus to create a stable voltage. The stable voltage from the high-power intermediate DC bus is supplied to one or more electric motors/generators to accelerate the heavy duty vehicle.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. A heavy-duty vehicle hybrid-electric drive system for a heavy-duty vehicle over 10,000 pounds GVWR, comprising:
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a fuel storage including a fuel cell fuel; a fuel cell system coupled to the fuel storage to receive fuel; a fuel cell DC/DC converter coupled to the fuel cell system for providing electric power; an energy storage system separate from the fuel cell system; an energy storage DC/DC converter coupled to the energy storage system for supplementing electric power provided by the fuel cell, and separate from the fuel cell DC/DC converter; one or more electric motors/generators that consume supplied electric power from at least one of the fuel cell system and the energy storage system to accelerate the heavy duty vehicle and generate electric power upon deceleration of the vehicle; one or more control computers for combining power from the fuel cell system and the energy storage system to be supplied to the one or more electric motors/generators, and controlling the one or more electric motors/generators. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of using a heavy-duty vehicle hybrid-electric drive system for a heavy-duty vehicle over 10,000 pounds GVWR, comprising:
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supplying power output from a fuel cell system to a high-power intermediate DC bus through a fuel cell DC/DC converter; supplying power output from an energy storage system to the high-power intermediate DC bus through a separate energy storage DC/DC converter; receiving and combining the power output from the fuel cell system and the energy storage system on the high-power intermediate DC bus to create a stable voltage; supplying the stable voltage from the high-power intermediate DC bus to one or more electric motors/generators to accelerate the heavy duty vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification