Power conversion device for controlling discharge of a capacitor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10693390-B2
Application number	US-201816196049-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 20, 2018
Priority date	Dec 5, 2017
Publication date	Jun 23, 2020
Grant date	Jun 23, 2020

Abstract

In inverter control for supplying power to a motor, a power conversion device includes a temperature sensor for detecting a temperature of the inverter, a voltage sensor for detecting a voltage between terminals of a capacitor that smooths the voltage between terminals between the power source and the inverter, an inverter controller for controlling the inverter, a rotation speed sensor for detecting a rotation speed of the motor, an electric current sensor for detecting electric current supplied to the motor and a discharge determination instruction controller for giving an instruction for discharging electric charges accumulated in the capacitor, in which, control of reducing the rotation speed of the motor and discharge control of the capacitor are performed in accordance with the temperature of the inverter, the rotation speed of the motor and the electric current supplied to the motor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A power conversion device connected between a power source and a motor, the power conversion device comprising:
an inverter to convert a voltage outputted from the power source into an alternating current (AC) voltage;
a temperature sensor to detect a temperature of the inverter;
a capacitor to smooth a voltage between the power source and the inverter;
a voltage sensor to detect a voltage of the capacitor;
a rotation speed sensor to detect a rotation speed of the motor;
an electric current sensor to detect electric current supplied to the motor; and
a discharge control device to
in response to the rotation speed of the motor being greater than a predetermined rotation speed threshold, start control of reducing the rotation speed of the motor in accordance with the temperature of the inverter, the rotation speed of the motor and the electric current supplied to the motor, and continue to perform the control of reducing the rotation speed of the motor until the rotation speed of the motor being less than or equal to the predetermined rotation speed threshold,
during the control of reducing the rotation speed of the motor, acquire the temperature of the inverter when the rotation speed of the motor is greater than a predetermined rotation speed threshold, and determine whether the temperature of the inverter is greater than a predetermined temperature threshold;
before ending the control of reducing the rotation speed of the motor, temporarily stop the control of reducing the rotation speed of the motor for a stop time period in response to the temperature of the inverter being greater than a predetermined temperature threshold, even when the rotation speed of the motor is greater than the predetermined rotation speed threshold; and
after performing the control of reducing the rotation speed of the motor, perform discharge control of the capacitor to discharge electric charges accumulated in the capacitor.

2. The power conversion device according to claim 1 , wherein the discharge control device is configured to set the stop time period to be proportional to the temperature of the inverter.

3. The power conversion device according to claim 2 ,
wherein the discharge control device comprises an inverter controller to control the inverter, and
wherein, in a case where a value of the electric current detected by the electric current sensor exceeds a predetermined threshold value when the rotation speed sensor is not normal, the control of reducing the rotation speed is performed by the inverter controller.

4. The power conversion device according to claim 1 ,
wherein, when the temperature of the inverter exceeds the predetermined temperature threshold during the discharge control, the discharge control device stops the discharge control, and
when the temperature of the inverter is less than the predetermined temperature threshold, the discharge control device resumes the discharge control.

5. The power conversion device according to claim 4 ,
wherein the discharge control device resumes the discharge control when an elapsed time since the stop of the discharge control is equal to a given period of time.

6. The power conversion device according to claim 4 ,
wherein the discharge control device comprises an inverter controller to control the inverter, and
wherein, in a case where a value of the electric current detected by the electric current sensor is less than a predetermined threshold value when the rotation speed sensor is not normal, the discharge control is performed by the inverter controller.

7. The power conversion device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the discharge control device resumes the control of reducing the rotation speed when the stop time period elapsed since the control of reducing the rotation speed is temporarily stopped, and
perform the discharge control when the rotation speed is decreased to be less than predetermined rotation speed threshold.

8. The power conversion device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the discharge control device set a transition between the control of reducing the rotation speed and the discharge control based on a value of the electric current detected by the electric current sensor.

9. The power conversion device according to claim 1 ,
wherein, in a case where the rotation speed sensor and the electric current sensor are not normal at a time of performing control of reducing the rotation speed, the discharge control is performed after the control of reducing the rotation speed is performed during a predetermined period of time.

Assignees

• Mitsubishi Electric Corp
• Honda Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Takegawa Kazuki
• Ishibashi Satoshi
• Otsuka Kazuhiko
• Takahashi Masaya

Classifications

• H02M7/4837 Primary

  Flying capacitor converters · CPC title

• H02M1/322

  Means for rapidly discharging a capacitor of the converter for protecting electrical components or for preventing electrical shock · CPC title

• H02M1/327

  against abnormal temperatures · CPC title

• H02M3/158

  including plural semiconductor devices as final control devices for a single load · CPC title

• H02M7/53871

  with automatic control of output voltage or current · CPC title