MICRO-HYBRID SYSTEM FOR MOTOR VEHICLE INCORPORATING A PILOTING STRATEGIES MODULE

• US 20100298088A1
• Filed: 05/04/2007
• Published: 11/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Valeo Equipements Electriques Moteur (Valeo SE)
• Original Assignee: Valeo Equipements Electriques Moteur (Valeo SE)
• Inventors: Lecole, Brice, Taspinar, Ertugrul, Rouis, Oussama, Leboeuf, Cedric, Gerard, Alain, Dubus, Jean-Marc, Blanc, Eric, Armiroli, Paul, Boudjemai, Farouk, Masfaraud, Julien, Doffin, Hugues, Laurence, Magali, De Vries, Arnaud, Treguer, Matthieu
• Granted Patent: US 8,475,328 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 477/3
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2006/268 Electric drive motor starts the engine, i.e. used as starter motor
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 6/485 Motor-assist type
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/64 Road conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/003 relating to inverters
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/0092 with use of redundant elements for safety purposes
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/04 Cutting off the power supply under fault conditions protective devices and circuit arrangements in general H01H; H02H
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/16 with provision for separate direct mechanical propulsion
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/40 using propulsion power supplied by capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/08 including control of electric propulsion units, e.g. motors or generators
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/26 for electrical energy, e.g. batteries or capacitors
• 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 20/19 for achieving enhanced acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/05 Type of road, e.g. motorways, local streets, paved or unpaved roads
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/62 Hybrid vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/72 Electric energy management in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles

Abstract

The micro-hybrid system for a transport vehicle comprises a rotary electric machine (10) suitable for being coupled mechanically to an engine (5) of the vehicle, an AC-to-DC converter (11), a DC-to-DC converter (13), first (12) and second (2) electrical energy reservoirs suitable for storing an electrical energy produced by the rotary machine and for restoring the latter for consumer devices equipping the vehicle, and control means (14) for controlling the operation of the micro-hybrid system. In accordance with the invention, the control means (14) comprise piloting means (140) suitable for autonomously piloting the operating modes of the micro-hybrid system according to a plurality of strategies according to at least their own knowledge of an internal state of the micro-hybrid system and of a state of the vehicle.

Claims

1. Micro-hybrid system for a transport vehicle comprising a rotary electrical machine (10) suitable for being coupled mechanically to an engine (5) of said vehicle, an AC-to-DC converter (11), a DC-to-DC converter (12), first (12) and second (2) electrical energy reservoirs suitable for storing electrical energy produced by said rotary electrical machine (10) and for restoring the latter for use by consumer devices equipping the vehicle, and control means (14) for controlling the operation of said micro-hybrid system, wherein said control means (14) comprise piloting means (140) suitable both for autonomously piloting the operating modes (ALTERNATOR, REGEN, BOOST) of the micro-hybrid system according to a plurality of piloting strategies according to at least their own knowledge of an internal state of the micro-hybrid system and of a state of the vehicle and suitable for piloting, in slave mode, said operating modes (ALTERNATOR, REGEN, BOOST) in accordance with the instructions contained in external demands originating from a system of the vehicle.

2. Micro-hybrid system according to claim 1, wherein said piloting means (140) comprise monitoring means (141) which determine a situation of the vehicle and authorise and define at least partially at least one of said operating modes (ALTERNATOR, REGEN, BOOST) of the micro-hybrid system, taking account of said determination of at least one of a situation of the vehicle and of external demands originating from a system of the vehicle.

3. Micro-hybrid system according to claim 2, wherein said monitoring means (141) comprise means (1410) for estimating a said situation of the vehicle from at least one of the following situations:

the vehicle is in an urban environment,

the vehicle is on a highway,

the vehicle is on a motorway.

4. Micro-hybrid system according to claim 3, wherein said monitoring means (141) comprise means (1413) for authorising and selecting an alternator operating mode of said rotary electrical machine (10) among several available alternator operating modes (modes 1, 1a, 2, 2a, mixed) while taking into account at least said situation of the vehicle.

5. Micro-hybrid system according to claim 2, wherein said monitoring means (141) comprise means (FORE_OK, 1414, 1411) for authorizing and defining an operating mode of regenerative braking of said rotary electrical machine (10).

6. Micro-hybrid system according to claim 2, wherein said monitoring means (141) comprise means (FOBO_OK, 1415, 1412) for authorizing and defining a torque assist operating mode of said rotary electrical machine (10).

7. Micro-hybrid system according to claim 1, wherein said piloting means (140) comprise safety means (142) which define at least one operating limit of the micro-hybrid system on the basis of an internal representation of at least some of the operational elements of the micro-hybrid system and/or of an external demand originating from a system of the vehicle.

8. Micro-hybrid system according to claim 7, wherein said at least one operating limit is comprised in the following operating limits of the micro-hybrid system:

the minimum and maximum values of the operating range of a fluctuating voltage component (X) of the micro-hybrid system (Xmin, Xmax), the calibration/diagnostic (Xcalibration), protection (Xprotection) and safety (Xsafety) values of said fluctuating voltage component (X), a maximum value (lex_max) of an exciting current of a rotor of said rotary electrical machine (10) and a maximum value (Cregen_max) of a mechanical torque to be drawn in a regenerative braking mode (REGEN) of said rotary electrical machine (10).

9. Micro-hybrid system according to claim 7, wherein said internal representation covers at least the following functional elements:

said rotary electrical machine (10), said AC-to-DC converter (11), said DC-to-DC converter (13) and said first (12) and second (2) electrical energy reservoirs.

10. Micro-hybrid system according to claim 1, wherein said piloting means (140) comprise state machine means (ALTERNATOR, REGEN, BOOST, BOOST_CONS) authorizing the transitions (T) between said operating modes of the micro-hybrid system depending on at least monitoring information and safety information produced by said piloting means (140).

11. Micro-hybrid system according to claim 7, wherein said monitoring information and safety information are supplied respectively by said monitoring means (141) and safety means (142).

12. Micro-hybrid system according to claim 1, wherein said operating modes comprise the following modes:

at least one alternator mode (ALTERNATOR;

modes 1, 1a, 2, 2a, mixed);

at least one regenerative braking mode (REGEN;

REGEN1, REGEN2); and

at least one torque assist mode (BOOST;

BOOST1, BOOST2, BOOST_CONS).

13. Micro-hybrid system according to claim 1, wherein said operating modes comprise at least one of the following five alternator modes:

an alternator mode (mode 1) in which a fluctuating voltage component is fixed at a determined value indicated by a set value;

an alternator mode (mode 1a) in which said fluctuating voltage component (X) is fixed at an optimal value;

an alternator mode (mode 2) in which said set value passes to a minimum value (Xmin) when said measured fluctuating voltage component attains a maximum value (Xmax);

an alternator mode (mode 2a) in which no set value is fixed between the minimum (Xmin) and maximum (Xmax) values of said fluctuating voltage component; and

a mixed alternator mode (mixed mode) comprising at least two of the above modes over different operating speed ranges of said rotary electrical machine (10).

14. Micro-hybrid system according to claim 1, wherein said operating modes comprise at least one of the following three torque assist modes:

a torque assist mode (BOOST1) intervening following the pressing of the accelerator pedal of the vehicle;

a torque assist mode (BOOST2) intervening when the engine is at idle speed;

a torque assist mode intervening when there is a change in the ratio of a gearbox of the vehicle; and

a torque assist mode (BOOST_CONS) intended to consume available electrical energy stored in at least one of said electrical energy reservoirs.

15. Micro-hybrid system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said first and second electrical energy reservoirs comprises at least one supercapacitor (12).

16. Micro-hybrid system according to claim 15, wherein said electrical energy reservoir comprising a supercapacitor (12) supplies an on-board network under a DC voltage (Vb+X) comprising a fluctuating voltage component (X), and the other electrical energy reservoir (2) supplies another on-board network under a substantially stable DC voltage (Vb).

17. Micro-hybrid system according to claim 1, wherein said piloting strategies module comprises means for supplying to a system of the vehicle information about external equipment to be piloted according to its knowledge of the situation/state of the vehicle.