Wake-by-control pilot circuit for onboard battery charger

• US 9,333,864 B2
• Filed: 03/12/2013
• Issued: 05/10/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lear Corporation
• Original Assignee: Lear Corporation
• Inventors: Acena, Miguel Angel, Ghabbour, Youssef
• Primary Examiner(s): Rodas, Richard Isla
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bui, Dung V
• Application Number:
  US13/795,781
• Publication Number:
  US 20130320922A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,155 Days
• Field of Search: 320/109
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 1/00 Supplying electric power to auxiliary equipment of vehicles circuit arrangements for charging batteries H02J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/14 Conductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/20 characterised by converters located in the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/66 Data transfer between charging stations and vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3209 Monitoring remote activity, e.g. over telephone lines or network connections
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0036 using connection detecting circuits H02J7/0034 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 7/08 Duration or width modulation ; Duty cycle modulation
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• 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 10/92 Energy efficient charging or discharging systems for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors specially adapted for vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/12 Electric charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 Plug-in electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles

Abstract

An on-board battery charging system for a plug-in electric vehicle has a charging unit for charging a high-voltage battery and a controller for controlling and managing current flow used to support charging related operations for the high-voltage battery. The controller may detect a connection between the on-board battery charging system and electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) and is configured to enter a sleep mode when a control pilot signal from the EVSE is either absent or indicative of a delayed charge mode. The charging system may include a wake-by-control pilot circuit operable to wake the controller from the sleep mode when the control pilot signal is detected and when the control pilot signal transitions from a non-zero static DC voltage to an active PWM signal.

Claims

1. An on-board battery charging system for a vehicle comprising:

a charging unit including a power converter operable to convert energy supplied by an external power supply into a usable form for charging a high-voltage battery during a battery charging operation;

a controller in communication with the charging unit for monitoring and controlling the battery charging operation, the controller being further operable to detect a connection to the external power supply; and

a wake-by-control pilot circuit powered by a low-voltage power source and connected to an input side of the controller, the wake-by-control pilot circuit having an input for receiving a control pilot signal and outputting a wake-up signal pulse to wake the controller from a sleep mode at least when the external power supply exits a delayed charge mode;

wherein the wake-by-control pilot circuit includes a pulse width modulation (PWM) detector that outputs signal pulses when the control pilot signal is pulse width modulated.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the control pilot signal indicates a valid connection to the external power supply and a maximum current that can be drawn from an electrical power utility grid.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the wake-by-control pilot circuit generates the wake-up signal pulse when the control pilot signal transitions from a non-zero static DC voltage to an active PWM signal.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the wake-by-control pilot circuit further generates the wake-up signal pulse upon an initial detection of the control pilot signal.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the PWM detector includes a logic circuit having a first input for receiving the control pilot signal and a second input for receiving a delayed control pilot signal.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the logic circuit is an exclusive-OR gate.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein an output from the PWM detector is zero when the control pilot signal is a static DC voltage.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the wake-by-control pilot circuit includes a peak detector operable to output a lower-voltage DC signal when the PWM detector outputs signal pulses.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the peak detector output is zero when the PWM detector output is zero.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the wake-by-control pilot circuit includes a rising edge detector operable to output the wake-up signal pulse upon a transition from zero to the lower-voltage DC signal at the peak detector output.

11. A wake-by-control pilot circuit for generating a wake-up signal pulse to a controller for an on-board battery charging system provided in a vehicle, the wake-by-control pilot circuit comprising:

an input for receiving a control pilot signal;

a pulse width modulation (PWM) detector that outputs signal pulses when the control pilot signal is pulse width modulated;

a peak detector connected to an output side of the PWM detector, the peak detector operable to output a lower-voltage DC signal when the PWM detector outputs signal pulses; and

an edge detector connected to an output side of the peak detector, the edge detector operable to output the wake-up signal pulse upon a transition from zero to the lower-voltage DC signal at the peak detector output.

12. The wake-by-control pilot circuit of claim 11, wherein the control pilot signal indicates a valid connection to an external power supply and a maximum current that can be drawn from an electrical power utility grid.

13. The wake-by-control pilot circuit of claim 11, wherein the wake-by-control pilot circuit generates the wake-up signal pulse when the control pilot signal transitions from zero to any active signal and when the control pilot signal transitions from a non-zero static DC voltage to an active PWM signal.

14. The wake-by-control pilot circuit of claim 11, wherein the PWM detector includes a logic gate having a first input for receiving the control pilot signal and a second input for receiving a delayed control pilot signal.

15. The wake-by-control pilot circuit of claim 14, wherein the logic gate is an exclusive-OR gate.

16. The wake-by-control pilot circuit of claim 14, further comprising a lower-voltage power source operable to power the PWM detector.

17. An apparatus comprising:

an on-board battery charger connected to a high-voltage battery in a vehicle and operable to charge the high-voltage battery when connected to electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), the on-board battery charger including;

a controller operable to detect a connection to the EVSE; and

a wake-by-control pilot circuit connected to an input side of the controller, the wake-by-control pilot circuit having an input for receiving a control pilot signal from the EVSE and outputting a wake-up signal pulse to wake the controller from a sleep mode when the EVSE exits a delayed charge mode, the wake-by-control pilot circuit including a pulse width modulation (PWM) detector that outputs signal pulses when the control pilot signal is pulse width modulated.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the wake-by-control pilot circuit further comprises:

a lower-voltage power source operable to power the PWM detector;

a peak detector connected to an output side of the PWM detector, the peak detector operable to output a lower-voltage DC signal when the PWM detector outputs signal pulses; and

an edge detector connected to an output side of the peak detector, the edge detector operable to output the wake-up signal pulse upon a transition from zero to the lower-voltage DC signal at the peak detector output.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the wake-by-control pilot circuit generates the wake-up signal pulse when the control pilot signal transitions from zero to any active signal and when the control pilot signal transitions from a non-zero static DC voltage to an active PWM signal.