POWER SUPPLY SYSTEM

• US 20100025133A1
• Filed: 02/13/2008
• Published: 02/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/14/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Kitamura, Nobuyuki, Hamada, Kenichi
• Application Number:
  US12/449,548
• Publication Number:
  US 20100025133A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 180/65.310
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2200/26 Rail vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/30 for monitoring or controlling fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2250/20 Fuel cells in motive systems, e.g. vehicle, ship, plane
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2250/402 Combination of fuel cell with other electric generators combination of fuel cells with other electrochemical generator H01M16/003
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 90/10 Applications of fuel cells in buildings
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/50 Fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/40 Application of hydrogen technology to transportation, e.g. using fuel cells

Abstract

A power supply system is provided for supplying power to a first drive device and a second drive device functioning as a drive source of a moving body. A fuel cell and a storage battery device are connected via a power conversion device. The fuel cell can supply power to the first drive device and the storage battery device can supply power to the second drive device, respectively, without using the power conversion device. When an output request from the moving body is a normal output request, power is supplied to each of the drive devices by the fuel cell and the storage battery device, respectively. Only when power to be supplied to the first drive device as in the output request from the moving body is greater than an amount of power that can be generated by the fuel cell, that power supply from the storage battery device to the first drive device via the power conversion device is permitted. Thus, in a power supply device that is formed of a plurality of power supply devices connected via a power conversion device, it is possible to avoid, to the extent possible, decrease of efficiency of power supply to a drive device of a moving body.

Claims

1. A power supply system mounted on a moving body, for supplying power to a first drive device and a second drive device functioning as a drive source of the moving body, the power supply system comprising:

a power conversion device which converts an output characteristic of supply power from a power supply device;

a fuel cell as a power supply device, the fuel cell being capable of supplying power generated through electrochemical reaction between oxygen-containing oxidation gas and hydrogen-containing fuel gas to the first drive device without using the power conversion device;

a storage battery device as a power supply device, connected to the fuel cell via the power conversion device, the storage battery device being capable of storing electric power and of supplying the stored power to the second drive device without using the power conversion device; and

a power controller which controls power to be supplied from the fuel cell and the storage battery device to the first drive device and the second drive device in response to an output request from the moving body, wherein

when the output request from the moving body is a normal output request, the power controller controls power supply such that power is supplied to the first drive device and the second drive device by the fuel cell and the storage battery device respectively, and

when power to be supplied to the first drive device as in the output request from the moving body is greater than an amount of power that can be generated by the fuel cell, the power controller permits power supply from the storage battery device to the first drive device via the power conversion device.

2. A power supply system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the normal output request is an output request within a range where the power to be supplied to the first drive device as in the output request from the moving body is less than or equal to an amount of power that can be generated by the fuel cell, and

the power controller controls power supply such that:

when the power to be supplied to the first drive device is less than or equal to an amount of power that can be generated by the fuel cell, power supply to the first drive device is performed by the fuel cell only and power supply to the second drive device is performed by the storage battery device only, and

when the power to be supplied to the first drive device is greater than an amount of power that can be generated by the fuel cell, power supply to the first drive device is performed by the fuel cell as well as by the storage battery device via the power conversion device.

3. A power supply system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the power controller makes a control such that when the power to be supplied to the first drive device is greater than an amount of power that can be generated by the fuel cell, the deficiency of power, that is, the remaining of the power to be supplied to the first drive device after deduction of the maximum available power of the fuel cell, is supplied from the storage battery device to the first drive device.

4. A power supply system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the storage battery device stores at least either one of power generated by the fuel cell and regenerative electric power generated by regeneration in at least one of the first drive device and the second drive device, and use the stored power for power supply, and

the power controller determines power to be supplied to or supplied from the storage battery device according to a state of charge of the storage battery device, and add the determined power to the power to be supplied to the first drive device, so as to control supply of power to be generated by the fuel cell.

5. A power supply system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the moving body is a vehicle,

the first drive device drives main drive wheels in the vehicle, and

the second drive device drives drive wheels other than the main drive wheels in the vehicle.