Charging-control apparatus and charging-control method

• US 9,425,647 B2
• Filed: 08/02/2013
• Issued: 08/23/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Furukawa Automotive Systems Incorporated (Furukawa Electric Company Limited), Furukawa Electric Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Furukawa Automotive Systems Incorporated (Furukawa Electric Company Limited), Furukawa Electric Company Limited
• Inventors: Nomoto, Shinichi
• Primary Examiner(s): PELTON, NATHANIEL R
• Application Number:
  US13/957,666
• Publication Number:
  US 20130314052A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,117 Days
• Field of Search: 320/132, 320/137, 320/155
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/1446 in response to parameters of a vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/1492 by means of controlling devices between the generator output and the battery
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/92 Energy efficient charging or discharging systems for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors specially adapted for vehicles

Abstract

A charging control apparatus controls a state of charge of a secondary battery installed in a vehicle by a regulator possessed by an alternator. The charging control apparatus includes a calculating unit that calculates an SOC indicating a state of charge of the secondary battery, a determining unit that performs determination of whether the SOC calculated in the calculating unit is greater than a predetermined threshold, and a controlling unit that controls the regulator in such a manner that, in a case where it is determined by the determining unit that the SOC is greater than the predetermined threshold, a power generation voltage of the alternator comes to a low state, and in a case where it is determined that the SOC is less than the predetermined threshold, a power generation voltage of the alternator comes to a high state.

Claims

1. A charging control apparatus that controls a state of charge of a secondary battery installed in a vehicle by a regulator possessed by an alternator, the charging control apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to;

calculate an SOC indicating a state of charge of the secondary battery;

perform a determination of whether the calculated SOC is greater than a predetermined threshold; and

control the regulator in such a manner that, in a case where it is determined that the calculated SOC is greater than the predetermined threshold, a power generation voltage of the alternator comes to a low state, and in a case where it is determined that the calculated SOC is less than the predetermined threshold, a power generation voltage of the alternator comes to a high state, wherein

the threshold has hysteresis, and the determination is based on a first threshold in a case where the SOC is decreasing and the determination is based on a second threshold which has a value greater than that of the first threshold in a case where the SOC is increasing; and

the processor being configured to control the regulator in such a manner that, in a case where it is determined that the SOC increases and is greater than the second threshold, a power generation voltage of the alternator comes to a low state, in a case where it is determined that the SOC decreases and is less than the first threshold, a power generation voltage of the alternator comes to a high state, and in a case where it is determined that the SOC is between the first predetermined threshold and the second predetermined threshold, the power generation voltage of the alternator is maintained.

2. The charging control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, until a certain time has elapsed since a start-up of the engine, the processor performs the determination based on a comparison using the second threshold only, and after a certain time has elapsed, performs the determination based on a comparison using the first threshold and the second threshold.

3. The charging control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle has a control device that is provided in advance and controls the regulator in response to a power generation voltage of the alternator,

wherein the charging control apparatus is later installed in the vehicle, and

wherein the processor is configured to control the regulator in such a manner that, even in a case where the controlling device is controlling a power generation voltage of the alternator to become a high state, a power generation voltage of the alternator to come to a low state when the calculated SOC is greater than a predetermined threshold.

4. The charging control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the controlling device is adapted to set a control signal that controls the regulator to a high state in a case where the power generation voltage is controlled to come to a high state, and is adapted to set a control signal that controls the regulator to a low state in a case where the power generation voltage is controlled to come to a low state, and

wherein the processor is adapted to set a control signal that controls the regulator to a low state in such a manner that a power generation voltage of the alternator comes to a low state in a case where the SOC is greater than a predetermined threshold, and is adapted to set a control signal that controls the regulator to a high state in such a manner that a power generation voltage of the alternator comes to a high state in a case where the SOC is less than a predetermined threshold.

5. The charging control apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the processor comprises a plurality of processors.

6. A charging control method that controls a state of charge of a secondary battery installed in a vehicle by a regulator possessed by an alternator, the charging control method comprising:

calculating an SOC indicating a state of charge of the secondary battery;

performing a determination of whether the calculated SOC is greater than a predetermined threshold; and

controlling the regulator in such a manner that, in a case where it is determined that the SOC is greater than the predetermined threshold, a power generation voltage of the alternator comes to a low state and, in a case where it is determined that the SOC is less than the predetermined threshold, a power generation voltage of the alternator comes to a high state, wherein

the threshold has hysteresis, and the determination is performed based on a first threshold in a case where the SOC is decreasing and the determination is performed based on a second threshold which has a value greater than that of the first threshold in a case where the SOC is increasing; and

the regulator is controlled in such a manner that, in a case where it is determined that the SOC is increasing and is greater than the second threshold, a power generation voltage of the alternator comes to a low state, in a case where it is determined that the SOC is decreasing and is less than the first threshold, a power generation voltage of the alternator comes to a high state, and in a case where it is determined that the SOC is between the first predetermined threshold and the second predetermined threshold, the power generation voltage of the alternator is maintained.