Junction box controller

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11084381-B2
Application number	US-201916502469-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 3, 2019
Priority date	Sep 28, 2018
Publication date	Aug 10, 2021
Grant date	Aug 10, 2021

Abstract

A junction box controller controls a junction box including a circuit for vehicle travel that supplies power from a battery for vehicle travel to an electrical component for vehicle travel and a charging circuit including a positive electrode charging relay and an negative electrode charging relay that are for use in coupling and decoupling the battery for vehicle travel to and from an external charging power source in a state in which the positive electrode charging relay and the negative electrode charging relay are coupled to the circuit for vehicle travel. The junction box controller includes a temperature sensor that detects a temperature of the circuit for vehicle travel, and a controller that, when the temperature of the circuit for vehicle travel reaches or exceeds a preset threshold, controls and switches on either one of the positive electrode charging relay and the negative electrode charging relay.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A junction box controller being a controller of a junction box, the junction box including: a circuit for vehicle travel configured to supply power from a battery for vehicle travel to an electrical component for vehicle travel; and a charging circuit comprising a positive electrode charging relay and an negative electrode charging relay that are for use in coupling and decoupling the battery for vehicle travel to and from an external charging power source in a state in which the positive electrode charging relay and the negative electrode charging relay are coupled to the circuit for vehicle travel,
the junction box controller comprising:
a temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of the circuit for vehicle travel; and
a controller configured to, when the temperature of the circuit for vehicle travel detected by the temperature sensor reaches or exceeds a preset threshold, control and switch on either of the positive electrode charging relay and the negative electrode charging relay.

2. The junction box controller according to claim 1 , further comprising,
as the temperature sensor, a first temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of a positive electrode circuit for vehicle travel and a second temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of an negative electrode circuit for vehicle travel,
wherein when either one of the temperature of the positive electrode circuit for vehicle travel detected by the first temperature sensor and the temperature of the negative electrode circuit for vehicle travel detected by the second temperature sensor reaches the preset threshold faster than the other one, the controller controls and switches on either one of the positive electrode charging relay and the negative electrode charging relay that is provided in the positive electrode circuit for vehicle travel or the negative electrode circuit for vehicle travel whose temperature has reached the preset threshold first, and when the temperature of the other circuit has reached the preset threshold, the controller controls and switches on the other of the positive electrode charging relay and the negative electrode charging relay that is provided in the other circuit and, at the same time, controls and switches off either one of the positive electrode charging relay and the negative electrode charging relay that has been controlled and switched on, and thereafter the controller performs the on-off control repeatedly.

3. The junction box controller according to claim 2 ,
wherein the preset threshold is separately settable for the temperature of the positive electrode circuit for vehicle travel and for the temperature of the negative electrode circuit for vehicle travel.

4. The junction box controller according to claim 2 , comprising:
as the charging circuit, a fast-charging circuit for fast charging and a normal charging circuit for normal charging;
as the positive electrode charging relay, a positive electrode fast-charging relay provided in the fast-charging circuit and a positive electrode normal charging relay provided in the normal charging circuit; and
as the negative electrode charging relay, an negative electrode fast-charging relay provided in the fast-charging circuit and an negative electrode normal charging relay provided in the normal charging circuit,
wherein when controlling and switching on the positive electrode charging relay, the controller controls and switches on either one or both of the positive electrode fast-charging relay and the positive electrode normal charging relay, and
when controlling and switching on the negative electrode charging relay, the controller controls and switches on either one or both of the negative electrode fast-charging relay and the negative electrode normal charging relay.

5. The junction box controller according to claim 2 , comprising:
as the charging circuit, a fast-charging circuit for fast charging and a normal charging circuit for normal charging;
as the positive electrode charging relay, a positive electrode fast-charging relay provided in the fast-charging circuit and a positive electrode normal charging relay provided in the normal charging circuit; and
as the negative electrode charging relay, an negative electrode fast-charging relay provided in the fast-charging circuit and an negative electrode normal charging relay provided in the normal charging circuit,
wherein when controlling and switching on the positive electrode charging relay, the controller controls and switches on either one or both of the positive electrode fast-charging relay and the positive electrode normal charging relay, and
when controlling and switching on the negative electrode charging relay, the controller controls and switches on either one or both of the negative electrode fast-charging relay and the negative electrode normal charging relay.

Assignees

• Subaru Corp

Inventors

• Murakami Tsukasa
• Fukuda Takashi
• Karasawa Yukio

Classifications

• H02J2105/37

  exchanging power with electric vehicles [EV] or with hybrid electric vehicles [HEV] · CPC title

• H02J7/65

  against overtemperature · CPC title

• B60L3/00 Primary

  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 title

• B60L2240/525

  Temperature of converter or components thereof · CPC title

• H02H5/04

  responsive to abnormal temperature {(specially adapted for electric machines H02H7/0852)} · CPC title