System and method of controlling charge of vehicle battery

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11214158-B2
Application number	US-202016746082-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 17, 2020
Priority date	Jul 11, 2019
Publication date	Jan 4, 2022
Grant date	Jan 4, 2022

Abstract

A method of controlling charge of a vehicle battery includes: determining, by a control unit, whether a high voltage battery and a low voltage battery are charged in a first charging mode, a second charging mode, or a third charging mode; and charging at least one of the high voltage battery or the low voltage battery by controlling a first full-bridge circuit unit, a second full-bridge circuit unit, and a low voltage direct current (DC) converter unit based on the determined first, second or third charging mode.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system of controlling a high voltage battery and a low voltage battery of a vehicle, the system comprising:
a first full-bridge circuit unit configured to convert direct current (DC) power which is input externally into alternating current (AC) power and configured to output the AC power;
a second full-bridge circuit unit configured to:
convert the AC power output from the first full-bridge circuit unit into the DC power to charge the high voltage battery, or
convert the DC power input from the high voltage battery into AC power to output the AC power;

a low voltage DC converter unit including:
a rectifying unit configured to rectify the AC power output by the first full-bridge circuit unit or the second full-bridge circuit unit,
a smoothing unit configured to smooth power output from the rectifying unit, and
a voltage converting unit configured to convert a voltage output from the smoothing unit to charge the low voltage battery; and

a control unit configured to control the first full-bridge circuit unit, the second full-bridge circuit unit, and the low voltage DC converter unit based on charging modes of the high voltage battery and the low voltage battery.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a transformer configured to:
convert the AC power received from the first full-bridge circuit unit via an input terminal of the transformer,
output the converted AC power via a first output terminal of the transformer so as to charge the high voltage battery, and
output the converted AC power via a second output terminal of the transformer so as to charge the low voltage battery,

wherein the first full-bridge circuit unit includes first to fourth switching elements, and
the second full-bridge circuit unit includes fifth to eighth switching elements and a first capacitor.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein:
the rectifying unit is a full-wave rectifying circuit configured to full-wave rectify the AC power received from the second output terminal and includes a first diode and a second diode which are connected to the second output terminal and connected in parallel to each other,
the smoothing unit is located between the rectifying unit and the voltage converting unit, and includes: a second capacitor and a ninth switching element connected in series with the second capacitor, where the smoothing unit is configured to smooth the voltage which is full-wave rectified through the rectifying unit, and
the voltage converting unit includes: a tenth switching element connected in series with the low voltage battery, an inductor connected in series with the tenth switching element, a third capacitor connected in parallel to the tenth switching element, and a third diode connected in parallel to the third capacitor.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the control unit is configured to control the first to tenth switching elements based on a first charging mode in which the high voltage battery and the low voltage battery are simultaneously charged by external power input, a second charging mode in which only the high voltage battery is charged by the external power input, and a third charging mode in which the low voltage battery is charged by the power input from the high voltage battery.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein in the first charging mode, the control unit is configured to:
control a switching frequency of the first to eighth switching elements,
activate the first to eighth switching elements to charge the high voltage battery, and
charge the low voltage battery by turning on the ninth switching element to smooth the voltage which is full-wave rectified by the rectifying unit through the second capacitor and controlling the switching frequency of the tenth switching element to vary the smoothed voltage.

6. The system of claim 4 , wherein in the second charging mode, the control unit is configured to:
control a switching frequency of the first to eighth switching elements,
activate the first to eighth switching elements to charge the high voltage battery, and
turn off the ninth switching element and the tenth switching element.

7. The system of claim 4 , wherein in the third charging mode, the control unit is configured to:
inactivate the first to fourth switching elements,
control a switching frequency of the fifth to eighth switching elements,
convert the DC power input from the high voltage battery into the AC power,
output the AC power to the second output terminal, and
allow the low voltage battery to be charged by the power input from the high voltage battery by turning off the ninth switching element and turning on the tenth switching element.

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Kia Motors Corp

Inventors

• Lee Dae Woo
• Cha Jae Eun
• Kang Byung Gu
• Ha Tae Jong

Classifications

• H02J7/50 Primary

  acting upon multiple batteries simultaneously or sequentially · CPC title

• H02J2207/20

  Charging or discharging characterised by the power electronics converter · CPC title

• Y02T10/70

  Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries · CPC title

• B60L2210/30

  AC to DC converters · CPC title

• H02M3/33584 Primary

  Bidirectional converters · CPC title