Drive system and vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10099573-B2
Application number	US-201715819558-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 21, 2017
Priority date	Dec 12, 2016
Publication date	Oct 16, 2018
Grant date	Oct 16, 2018

Abstract

A drive system includes a drive device including an electric power generator; a fuel cell; a secondary battery; a fuel cell step-up converter including a diode; a relay connected to wiring between the fuel cell step-up converter and the drive device; a secondary battery step-up converter connected; a fuel cell voltage sensor; a secondary battery voltage sensor; and a controller. The controller stops the secondary battery step-up converter when a short-circuit fault of the diode is detected, disconnects the relay when a voltage of the fuel cell is higher than a voltage of the secondary battery after stopping the secondary battery step-up converter, and when the voltage of the secondary battery is higher than or equal to the voltage of the fuel cell, executes a voltage control process which increases the voltage of the fuel cell relative to the voltage of the secondary battery, and disconnects the relay.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A drive system comprising:
a drive device including an electric power generator;
a fuel cell;
a secondary battery;
a fuel cell step-up converter connected between the fuel cell and the drive device, the fuel cell step-up converter including a diode configured to prevent a flow of a current to the fuel cell;
a relay connected to a wiring between the fuel cell step-up converter and the drive device;
a secondary battery step-up converter connected between the secondary battery and a part of the wiring between the drive device and the relay;
a fuel cell voltage sensor configured to measure a voltage of the fuel cell;
a secondary battery voltage sensor configured to measure a voltage of the secondary battery; and
a controller configured to, when a short-circuit fault of the diode is detected, stop the secondary battery step-up converter, disconnect the relay when the voltage of the fuel cell measured by the fuel cell voltage sensor is higher than the voltage of the secondary battery measured by the secondary battery voltage sensor after stopping the secondary battery step-up converter, and when the voltage of the secondary battery measured by the secondary battery voltage sensor is higher than or equal to the voltage of the fuel cell measured by the fuel cell voltage sensor after stopping the secondary battery step-up converter, execute a voltage control process which increases the voltage of the fuel cell relative to the voltage of the secondary battery and disconnect the relay.

2. The drive system according to claim I, wherein the voltage control process is a control process that increases the voltage of the fuel cell relative to the voltage of the secondary battery by increasing an amount of reactant gas supplied to the fuel cell.

3. The drive system according to claim 2 , wherein the controller stops the electric power generator before disconnecting the relay when the voltage of the fuel cell measured by the fuel cell voltage sensor is higher than the voltage of the secondary battery measured by the secondary battery voltage sensor.

4. The drive system according to claim 2 , wherein the controller stops the electric power generator and disconnects the relay when the voltage of the fuel cell measured by the fuel cell voltage sensor is higher than the voltage of the secondary battery measured by the secondary battery voltage sensor after executing the voltage control process, and when a state in which the voltage of the secondary battery measured by the secondary battery voltage sensor is higher than or equal to the voltage of the fuel cell measured by the fuel cell voltage sensor continues for a period of time determined in advance after executing the voltage control process, disconnects the relay without stopping the electric power generator.

5. The drive system according to claim 1 , further comprising an electric device configured to receive power supplied from the secondary battery,
wherein the voltage control process is a control process that increases power consumption by the electric device.

6. The drive system according to claim 5 , wherein the controller stops the electric power generator before disconnecting the relay when the voltage of the fuel cell measured by the fuel cell voltage sensor is higher than the voltage of the secondary battery measured by the secondary battery voltage sensor.

7. The drive system according to claim 5 , wherein when the voltage of the fuel cell measured by the fuel cell voltage sensor is higher than the voltage of the secondary battery measured by the secondary battery voltage sensor after executing the voltage control process, the controller stops the electric power generator and disconnects the relay while the electric device remains in operation.

8. The drive system according to claim 5 , wherein when a state in which the voltage of the secondary battery measured by the secondary battery voltage sensor is higher than or equal to the voltage of the fuel cell measured by the fuel cell voltage sensor continues for a period of time determined in advance after executing the voltage control process, the controller disconnects the relay without stopping the electric power generator while the electric device remains in operation.

9. A vehicle comprising the drive system according to claim 1 .

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Oya Ryosuke

Classifications

• H01M10/48

  Accumulators combined with arrangements for measuring, testing or indicating the condition of cells, e.g. the level or density of the electrolyte (constructional details of current conducting connections for detecting conditions inside cells or batteries, e.g. details of voltage sensing terminals, H01M50/569) · CPC title

• H01M50/574

  Devices or arrangements for the interruption of current · CPC title

• B60L11/1887 Primary

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• H01M2250/20

  Fuel cells in motive systems, e.g. vehicle, ship, plane · CPC title

• H01M8/04873

  of the individual fuel cell · CPC title