ELECTRIC-VEHICLE DRIVING APPARATUS

• US 20100332065A1
• Filed: 09/07/2010
• Published: 12/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Lin, Min, Matsuoka, Manabu, Miyazaki, Akira, Yuuki, Kazuaki
• Granted Patent: US 7,949,443 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/22
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2200/26 Rail vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2270/147 electro magnetic [EMI]
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/13 using AC generators and AC motors
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 7/06 for vehicles propelled by ac motors
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 7/16 for vehicles comprising converters between the power source and the motor
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 7/22 Dynamic electric resistor braking, combined with dynamic electric regenerative braking
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 9/16 using ac induction motors
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/797 using semiconductor devices only
• 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

Abstract

According to one embodiment, there is provided an electric-vehicle driving apparatus which consumes regenerative energy by a brake resistor and can decrease harmonic components generated by a brake-chopper switching circuit. Plural brake-chopper switching circuits are provided in parallel for each inverter. Harmonic components generated by the brake-chopper switching circuits are decreased by changing phases or frequencies of triangular carrier waves of the switching circuits, relatively to each other.

Claims

1. An electric-vehicle driving apparatus comprising:

an electric power converter which is connected to a DC power supply and converts a DC power into a three-phase current power at a variable frequency/voltage, to drive an AC motor;

a plurality of power-generation brake circuits each of which is connected in parallel to terminals of the electric power converter in a DC side thereof and is constituted by a serial circuit comprising a switching circuit and a resistor, to control consumption of regenerative electric power; and

a switching control section which controls switching of the switching circuits by gate signals generated on the basis of comparison between carrier frequency waves generated for the respective switching circuits and a conduction ratio, wherein

the switching control section generates the gate signals by shifting triangular carrier waves of the respective switching circuits.

2. The electric-vehicle driving apparatus of claim 1, wherein the switching control section generates triangular carrier waves at frequencies different from each other respectively for the switching circuits.

3. The electric-vehicle driving apparatus of claim 1, wherein the switching control section separates problematic one of the plurality of switching circuits, and controls the switching circuits by using triangle waves having a phase difference between each other in accordance with a number of remaining properly working ones of the plurality of switching circuits.

4. The electric-vehicle driving apparatus of claim 2, wherein the switching control section separates problematic one of the plurality of switching circuits, and controls the switching circuits by using triangle waves having a phase difference between each other in accordance with a number of remaining properly working ones of the plurality of switching circuits.

5. An electric-vehicle driving apparatus comprising the electric-vehicle driving apparatus of claim 1, which is provided in a plurality, the plurality of the electric-vehicle driving apparatuses being connected in parallel to a DC power supply, wherein triangular carrier waves having phases which are different from each other are generated respectively for the plurality of switching circuits include in the plurality of the electric-vehicle driving apparatuses.

6. An electric-vehicle driving apparatus comprising:

an electric power converter which is connected to a DC power supply and converts a DC power into a three-phase current power at a variable frequency/voltage, to drive an AC motor;

a power-generation brake circuit which is connected in parallel to terminals of the electric power converter in a DC side thereof and is constituted by a serial circuit comprising a switching circuit and a resistor, to control consumption of regenerative electric power; and

a switching control section which controls switching of the switching circuit by a gate signal generated on the basis of comparison between a carrier frequency wave generated for the switching circuit and a conduction ratio, wherein

the switching control section changes a frequency of the triangular carrier wave as time passes.