Operation management system

• US 9,452,679 B2
• Filed: 04/24/2013
• Issued: 09/27/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/26/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Inventors: Kikuchi, Akira, Yasuda, Tomohiko, Sato, Takayuki, Kobayashi, Hiroyuki, Saito, Shinjiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G
• Assistant Examiner(s): LOUIE, WAE LENNY
• Application Number:
  US14/396,513
• Publication Number:
  US 20150321565A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,252 Days
• Field of Search: 701/22, 180/65.21, 320/167, 105/26.05
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 6/34 characterised by the absence of energy storing means
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 6/46 Series type
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 13/00 Electric propulsion for monorail vehicles, suspension vehicles or rack railways; Magnetic suspension or levitation for vehicles tracks for Maglev-type trains E01B25/30; electromagnets per se H01F7/06; linear motors per se H02K41/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2200/36 Vehicles designed to transport cargo, e.g. trucks
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2260/26 Transition between different drive modes
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/00 Electric devices on electrically-propelled vehicles for safety purposes; Monitoring operating variables, e.g. speed, deceleration or energy consumption methods or circuit arrangements for monitoring or controlling batteries or fuel cells B60L58/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 5/04 using rollers or sliding shoes in contact with trolley wire B60L5/40 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/61 by batteries charged by engine-driven generators, e.g. series hybrid electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 55/00 Arrangements for supplying energy stored within a vehicle to a power network, i.e. vehicle-to-grid [V2G] arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 9/00 Electric propulsion with power supply external to the vehicle electric propulsion for monorail vehicles, suspension vehicles or rack railways B60L13/00; in combination with batteries or fuel cells within the vehicle B60L50/53
• CPC Class Codes: B60M 3/00 Feeding power to supply lines in contact with collector on vehicles; Arrangements for consuming regenerative power controlling rail vehicles by varying voltage of power fed to vehicle B60L; power distribution in general H02J
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/06 including control of combustion engines
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/08 including control of electric propulsion units, e.g. motors or generators
• 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 20/12 using control strategies taking into account route information estimation or calculation of non-directly measurable driving parameters B60W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2300/17 Construction vehicles, e.g. graders, excavators
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/45 External transmission of data to or from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2400/212 by power from overhead cables using trolleys
• CPC Class Codes: E21F 17/06 Distributing electric power; Cable networks; Conduits for cables circuit arrangements for supplying or distributing electric power in general H02J
• CPC Class Codes: H01B 1/22 the conductive material comprising metals or alloys
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00 : Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/00 : Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
• 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 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
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 10/126 : the energy generation units being or involving electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV], i.e. power aggregation of EV or HEV, vehicle to grid arrangements [V2G]

Abstract

An operation management system obviates such a situation that a power substation would trip and a supply of power to overhead wires would stop. The operation management system controls operation of electric drive vehicles, each of which is provided with a trolley mode, in which the electric drive vehicle runs by power supplied to the overhead wires, and a diesel mode, in which the electric drive vehicle runs by an output from an engine. A supply margin detection unit detects a current supply margin of power and a running position detecting unit detects a current running position of the electric drive vehicle. A running mode detection unit detects a current running mode of the electric drive vehicle and a running mode determination unit determines a next running mode based on the detection results of the supply margin detection unit, running position detecting unit, and running mode detection unit.

Claims

1. An operation management system for managing operation of a plurality of electric drive vehicles, each of which is provided with two running modes including a trolley mode in which the respective one of the electric drive vehicles runs by power supplied by overhead wires from a power plant or a substation and a diesel mode in which the respective one of the electric drive vehicles runs by power obtained from a generator driven by a diesel engine, the operation management system being installed in a management station and connected to communicate with the electric drive vehicles via a communication network, the operation management system comprising:

a data reception unit for receiving first data on a supply margin of power as transmitted from at least one of the power plant and the substation, second data on respective running positions as transmitted from each of the electric drive vehicles over the network, and third data of the respective running modes as transmitted from each of the electric drive vehicles over the network;

a supply margin detection unit for detecting a current supply margin based on the first data;

a running position detecting unit for detecting current running positions of the respective electric drive vehicles based on the second data;

a running mode detection unit for detecting current running modes of the respective electric drive vehicles based on the third data;

a running mode determination unit for determining next running modes of the respective electric drive vehicles based on detection results by the supply margin detection unit, running position detecting unit, and running mode detection unit; and

a running mode instruction unit for instructing the next running modes, which have been determined by the running mode determination unit, to the respective electric drive vehicles over the network,

wherein when the respective running positions of said electric drive vehicles are in an area of the overhead wires and the respective running modes of said plural electric drive vehicles are the same, the running mode instruction unit instructs, based on the respective running positions as detected by the running position detection unit, to switch the respective running modes in turn from one of the electric drive vehicles running at a head or a tail of the electric drive vehicles.

2. The operation management system according to claim 1,

wherein, when the supply margin as detected by the supply margin detection unit is not smaller than a predetermined value, the respective running positions of the electric drive vehicles as detected by the running position detection unit are in the area of the overhead wires and the respective running modes as detected by the running mode detection unit of each of said plural electric drive vehicles are the diesel mode, the running mode determination unit determines the trolley mode as the next running mode of the one of the electric drive vehicles running at the head of the electric drive vehicles, and the running mode instruction unit instructs the electric drive vehicles to switch to the trolley mode in turn from the one of the electric drive vehicles running at the head of the electric drive vehicles.

3. The operation management system according to claim 1,

wherein, when the supply margin as detected by the supply margin detection unit is smaller than a predetermined value, the respective running positions of the electric drive vehicles as detected by the running position detection unit are in the area of the overhead wires and the respective running modes as detected by the running mode detection unit of each of said plural electric drive vehicles are the trolley mode, the running mode determination unit determines the diesel mode as the next running mode of the one of the electric drive vehicles running at the tail of the electric drive vehicles, and the running mode instruction unit instructs the electric drive vehicles to switch to the diesel mode in turn from the one of the electric drive vehicles running at the tail of the electric drive vehicles.

4. The operation management system according to claim 1,

wherein, when the supply margin as detected by the supply margin detection unit is smaller than a predetermined value and the respective running positions of the electric drive vehicles as detected by the running position detection unit includes that another one of the electric drive vehicles enters the area of the overhead wires, the running mode determination unit determines the diesel mode as the next running mode of the other one of the electric drive vehicles, and the running mode instruction unit instructs the other one of the electric drive vehicles to switch to the diesel mode.