INVERTER SYSTEM CONTROLLER POWER OPTIMIZATION

• US 20190023130A1
• Filed: 07/21/2017
• Published: 01/24/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: GARCHA, Jaswant Singh
• Granted Patent: US 10,369,887 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 1/003 to auxiliary motors, e.g. for pumps, compressors
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 1/02 to electric heating circuits
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 15/007 Physical arrangements or structures of drive train converters specially adapted for the propulsion motors of electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2210/40 DC to AC converters
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/34 Cabin temperature
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/529 Current
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/545 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2260/22 Standstill, e.g. zero speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/0046 relating to electric energy storage systems, e.g. batteries or capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/15 with additional electric power supply with capacitors charged by engine-driven generators B60L50/40; with batteries charged by engine-driven generators B60L50/61
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/11 DC charging controlled by the charging station, e.g. mode 4
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/14 Conductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/27 by heating
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 20/00 Control systems specially adapted for hybrid vehicles hybrid vehicle design, B60K6/00; electric vehicles B60L
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/0098 Details of control systems ensuring comfort, safety or stability not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/48 for electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV]
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/537 using semiconductor devices only, e.g. single switched pulse inverters
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/64 Electric machine technologies in electromobility
• 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 90/14 : Plug-in electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 903/904 : Component specially adapted for hev

Abstract

An inverter for a vehicle includes a power controller and gate drive board (GDB) electrically in series, the controller including logic circuitry configured to, responsive to presence of an ignition signal, permit flow of low voltage power through the controller to the GDB to activate the GDB, and responsive to presence of a wake-up signal, but not the ignition signal, prevent flow of low voltage power through the controller to the GDB.

Claims

1. An inverter for a vehicle comprising:

a power controller and gate drive board (GDB) electrically in series, the controller including logic circuitry configured to,

responsive to presence of an ignition signal, permit flow of low voltage power through the controller to the GDB to activate the GDB, and

responsive to presence of a wake-up signal, but not the ignition signal, prevent flow of low voltage power through the controller to the GDB.

2. The inverter of claim 1, wherein the logic circuitry is further configured to, during the preventing, permit flow of low voltage power to energize a coil of a contactor to close the contactor.

3. The inverter of claim 1, wherein the logic circuitry includes a logic AND gate electrically in series with the GDB and configured to prevent the flow of power responsive to a confirmation that the ignition signal is not present.

4. The inverter of claim 3, wherein the logic circuitry includes a logic OR gate electrically connected between input of the controller and input of the logic AND gate, the logic OR gate being configured to permit the flow of power responsive to presence of either the ignition signal or the wake-up signal.

5. The inverter of claim 3, wherein the controller further includes a high-side switch electrically connected between output of the logic AND gate and input of the GDB, the switch being configured to:

permit the flow of power to the GDB responsive to detecting that output of the logic AND gate is HIGH, and prevent the flow of power to the GDB responsive to detecting that output of the logic AND gate is LOW.

6. The inverter of claim 1, wherein the wake-up signal originates from a hybrid control unit of the controller responsive to detecting that temperature of a vehicle battery is greater than a first threshold or less than a second threshold.

7. The inverter of claim 6, wherein the hybrid control unit is configured to, responsive to receiving the power flow, enable an electric A/C when the temperature is greater than the first threshold and enable a heater when the temperature is less than the second threshold.

8. A method comprising:

responsive to presence of an ignition signal, by a power controller of an inverter, permitting flow of low voltage power through the controller to a gate drive board (GDB) and a resolver-to-digital converter to activate the GDB and the converter, each of the GDB and the converter being electrically in series with the controller, and

responsive to presence of a wake-up signal, but not the ignition signal, preventing flow of low voltage power through the controller to the GDB and the converter.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising, during the preventing, permitting flow of low voltage power to energize a coil of a contactor to close the contactor.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the preventing is by a logic AND gate of the controller electrically connected to input of the GDB and the converter.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising permitting, by a logic OR gate of the controller electrically connected to input of the logic AND gate, the flow of low voltage power to the logic AND gate responsive to presence of the wake-up signal, but not the ignition signal.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the preventing is by high-side switches electrically connected between output of the logic AND gate and respective inputs of the GDB and the converter responsive to detecting that output of the logic AND gate is LOW.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the high-side switches include a bipolar junction transistor connected to a gate of a field-effect transistor and configured to turn on the field-effect transistor responsive to output of the logic AND gate being HIGH.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the wake-up signal originates from a hybrid control unit of the controller responsive to detecting that temperature of a vehicle battery is greater than a first threshold or less than a second threshold.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising, responsive to receiving the power flow, enabling, by the hybrid control unit, an electric A/C when the temperature is greater than the first threshold and enabling a heater when the temperature is less than the second threshold.

16. A system for a vehicle comprising:

an inverter including a gate drive board (GDB) and a power controller, the controller including logic circuitry configured to,

responsive to detecting an ignition signal, permit flow of low voltage power to the GDB to activate the GDB, and

responsive to receiving a wake-up signal, but not the ignition signal, prevent flow of power to the GDB and permit flow of low voltage power to energize a coil of a contactor to close the contactor.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the controller further includes a high-side switch connected between output of the logic circuitry and input of the GDB and configured to turn on to permit the flow of power responsive to output of the logic circuitry being a logical HIGH.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the logic circuitry includes a logic AND gate configured to generate output of a logical LOW responsive to receiving the wake-up signal, but not the ignition signal.

19. The system of claim 16 further comprising a traction battery and a temperature sensor configured to measure temperature of the battery, and wherein the wake-up signal originates from a hybrid control unit of the controller responsive to detecting that the measured temperature is one of greater than a first threshold and less than a second threshold.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the hybrid control unit is further configured to, responsive to receiving the power flow, enable an electric A/C when the measured temperature is greater than the first threshold and enable a heater when the measured temperature is less than the second threshold.