Vehicle trailer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9566854-B2
Application number	US-201414336103-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 21, 2014
Priority date	Aug 29, 2013
Publication date	Feb 14, 2017
Grant date	Feb 14, 2017

Abstract

A vehicle trailer for a tractive unit, in particular in the form of a semitrailer or a drawbar trailer, has at least one electric drive system component which is integrated into the vehicle trailer and can be coupled to an electric drive system of the tractive unit. The at least one electric drive system component has an electric energy store that can be coupled to the electric drive system through an interface.

First claim

What we claim is:

1. A vehicle trailer connectable to a tractive unit, which has an electric drive system for driving the tractive unit so that the vehicle trailer can be hauled by the tractive unit, the vehicle trailer comprising:
at least one electric drive system component integrated into the vehicle trailer, the at least one electric drive system component comprising at least one of:
an electric energy store which can be coupled to the electric drive system of the tractive unit in order to supply power to the electric drive system of the tractive unit,
a rechargeable accumulator,
a fuel cell;

a control unit controlling operation of the at least one electric drive system component; and
an interface connected to the at least one electric drive system component and the control unit, the interface being connectable to the electric drive system of the tractive unit so that the at least one electric drive system component and the control unit can be coupled to the electric drive system of the tractive unit through the interface,
wherein the at least one electric drive system component includes at least one of an electric assembly and an energy store including at least one of a high-voltage store and a low voltage store, the at least one electric drive system component further comprising a distributor that distributes energy between the electric drive system in the tractive unit and the at least one of the electric assembly and the energy store,
the interface includes a first interface for electrically connecting the at least one electric drive system component in the vehicle trailer to the electric drive system of the tractive unit and a second interface for electrically connecting the at least one electric drive system component in the vehicle trailer to a further drive system component in a further vehicle trailer, and
the distributor further distributes energy between the further drive system component in the further vehicle trailer via the second interface and the at least one of the electric assembly and the energy store of at least one electric drive system component.

2. The vehicle trailer according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one electric drive system component integrated into the vehicle trailer comprises at least one of:
a high-voltage electric energy store with a rated voltage of more than 60V; and
a low-voltage electric energy store with a rated voltage of less than 60V.

3. The vehicle trailer according to claim 1 , wherein the interface comprises a power interface and a communication interface, the power interface serving to transmit electrical energy, and the communication interface serving to transmit data.

4. The vehicle trailer according to claim 1 , wherein the distributor is further configured to provide at least one of insulation monitoring and interlock monitoring.

5. The vehicle trailer according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one electric drive system component includes the energy store and a first direct voltage transformer connected between the energy store and the distributor.

6. The vehicle trailer according to claim 5 , wherein the energy store includes a high-voltage store and a low-voltage store,
the first direct voltage transformer is arranged between the distributor and the high-voltage store, and
a second direct voltage transformer is arranged between the distributor and the low-voltage store.

7. The vehicle trailer according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one electric drive system component includes the electric assembly, which is an electric motor for driving a cooling compressor, a sliding floor or a hydraulic platform.

8. The vehicle trailer according to claim 7 , further comprising an inverter for supplying the electric motor with an alternating current.

9. The vehicle trailer according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit controls at least one of:
charging of the energy store integrated into the vehicle trailer,
discharging of the energy store,
energy flow via the interface,
the electric assembly, and
the distributor.

10. The vehicle trailer according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one electric drive system component includes a high-voltage energy store, a low-voltage energy store, and an electric motor, a first direct voltage transformer arranged between the distributor and the high-voltage energy store, a second direct voltage transformer arranged between the distributor and the low-voltage store, and an inverter for supplying the electric motor with an alternating current, and the control unit controls at least of one
charging of the high-voltage energy store and the low-voltage energy store,
discharging of the high-voltage energy store and the low-voltage energy store,
energy flow via the interface,
the electric motor,
the distributor,
the first direct voltage transformer,
the second direct voltage transformer, and
the inverter.

11. A vehicle combination, comprising:
a tractive unit with an electric drive system for driving the tractive unit, and
a vehicle trailer according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicle trailer is mechanically coupled to the tractive unit, and the electric drive system of the tractive unit is electrically connected to the at least one electric drive system component in the vehicle trailer.

12. The vehicle combination according to claim 11 , wherein:
the control unit of the vehicle trailer controls energy management of the at least one electric drive system component in the vehicle trailer, and
the tractive unit comprises a separate control unit connected via the interface to the control unit in the vehicle trailer, and
the control unit in the tractive unit controls energy management of the electric drive system of the tractive unit, and
the control unit in the tractive unit controls, as a master control unit, the control unit in the vehicle trailer, which operates as a slave control unit when the vehicle trailer is coupled to the tractive unit.

13. The vehicle combination as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the tractive unit has a control unit connected via the interface to the at least one electric drive system component in the vehicle trailer and controls energy management of the at least one electric drive system component in the vehicle trailer.

14. The vehicle combination according to claim 11 , wherein the electric drive system of the tractive unit is one of:
a hybrid drive with an internal combustion engine and an electric motor, or
a fully electric drive with an electric motor without an internal combustion engine.

15. The vehicle combination according to claims 11 , wherein the at least one electric drive system component includes an energy store and the electric drive system includes a separate energy store, the energy store in the vehicle trailer has a capacity of at least 10% of the capacity of the separate energy store of the electric drive system in the tractive unit.

16. A vehicle trailer connectable to a tractive unit, which has an electric drive system for driving the tractive unit so that the vehicle trailer can be hauled by the tractive unit, the vehicle trailer comprising:
at least one electric drive system component integrated into the vehicle trailer, the at least one electric drive system component comprising at least one of:
an electric energy store which can be coupled to the electric drive system of the tractive unit in order to supply power to the electric drive system of the tractive unit,
a rechargeable accumulator,
a fuel cell;

a control unit controlling operation of the at least one electric drive system component; and
an interface conn

Assignees

• Man Truck & Bus Ag

Inventors

• Kerschl Stefan
• Von Esebeck Goetz

Classifications

• B60L15/38

  with automatic control · CPC title

• B60L58/20

  having different nominal voltages · CPC title

• B60Y2200/148

  Semi-trailers, articulated vehicles · CPC title

• B60K2001/0444

  Arrangement on a trailer · CPC title

• Y02T90/14

  Plug-in electric vehicles · CPC title