POWER TRAIN USING MULTIPLE POWER SOURCES
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A POWER TRAIN IS DESCRIBED WHICH IS COMPRISED OF A PRIME MOVER, TWO POWER CONVERTERS, AN EPICYCLIC GEAR TRAIN, AN ENERGY STORAGE DEVICE AND ASSOCIATED CONTROL SYSTEMS. IN THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT, THE PRIME MOVER, AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE, TYPICALLY SUPPLIES POWER TO THE GEAR TRAIN WHICH APPORTIONS MECHANICAL POWER TO ONE OF THE POWER CONVERTERS-AN ELECTRICAL GENERATOR-OR TO THE OUTPUT SHAFT OF THE POWER TRAIN. POWER FROM THE GENERATOR IS DELIVERED TO EITHER OR BOTH THE ENERGY STORAGE DEVICE, A BATTERY, AND THE SECOND POWER CONVERTER, AN ELECTRICAL MOTOR-GENERATOR WHICH IS DYNAMICALLY COUPLED TO THE OUTPUT SHAFT. THE POWER TRAIN MAY BE OPERATED IN ONE OF TWO MODES, IN THE FIRST THE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE RUNS AT CONSTANT SPEED AND RELATIVELY CONSTANT LOW POWER. ENGINE OPERATION OF THIS NATURE ALLOWS THE USE OF SMALL DISPLACEMENT ENGINES BURNING LEAN FUEL-AIR MIXTURES, THEREBY REDUCING ENGINE EXHAUST EMISSIONS. ENGINE POWER OUTPUT CONTROL IN THE FIRST MODE IS ACCOMPLISHED BY CHANGING THE LOADING OF THE GENERATOR ON THE ENGINE IN A FEEDBACK CONTROL MANNER. THE MOTOR-GENERATOR IS CONTROLLED BY THE OPERATOR WHO USES A SYSTEM WHICH CONTROLS THE FLOW OF POWER FROM THE GENERATOR AND OR BATTERY COMBINATION TO THE MOTOR OR THE FLOW OF POWER FROM THE MOTOR-GENERATOR TO THE BATTERY. IN THE SECOND MODE OF OPERATION, ALL ENGINE POWER IS MECHANICALLY DIRECTED TO THE OUTPUT SHAFT AND THE ENGINE OPERATES IN A VARIABLE THROTTLE MANNER. AS IN THE FIRST MODE, OUTPUT SHAFT PEAK POWER DEMANDS ARE SATISFIED BY DRAWING POWER FROM THE BATTERY AND THEREFORE THE ENGINE THROTTLE EXCURSIONS ARE MINIMIZED. EXCESS ENGINE POWER AND REGENERATIVE POWER DUE TO EXTERNAL FORCES ACTING ON THE OUTPUT SHAFT CAN BE TRANSFORMED IN THE SECOND POWER CONVERTER FOR STORAGE IN THE ENERGY STORAGE DEVICE. IN EITHER MODE, IT IS POSSIBLE TO VARY THE POWER SETTINGS OF THE ENGINE SLOWLY TO REFLECT THE MEAN POWER DEMAND ON THE POWER TRAIN. TYPICALLY THE STATE OF BATTERY CHARGE WOULD BE USED AS THE CONTROL VARIABLE.
110 Citations
0 Claims
Specification