Vehicle power supply device and malfunction diagnosis method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9886802-B2
Application number	US-201615260022-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 8, 2016
Priority date	Sep 29, 2015
Publication date	Feb 6, 2018
Grant date	Feb 6, 2018

Abstract

A vehicle power supply device including a power storage device includes: an inlet that is coupled to an external power supply via a charging cable when the power storage device is charged using the external power supply; an outlet that is coupled to an external device when power is supplied from the power storage device to the external device; a first power converter that is formed between the inlet and the power storage device and converts alternating current (AC) power into direct current (DC) power; a second power converter that is formed between the outlet and the power storage device and converts DC power into AC power; and a malfunction diagnosis unit that diagnoses malfunction of a power supply path in a state in which the inlet and the outlet are coupled to each other using the charging cable.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A vehicle power supply device including a power storage device, the vehicle power supply device comprising:
an inlet that is coupled to an external power supply via a charging cable when the power storage device is charged using the external power supply;
an outlet that is coupled to an external device when power is supplied from the power storage device to the external device;
a first power converter that is disposed between the inlet and the power storage device and converts alternating current (AC) power into direct current (DC) power;
a second power converter that is disposed between the outlet and the power storage device and converts DC power into AC power; and
a controller that determines malfunction of a power supply path of the vehicle power supply device using an input to the first power converter in a state in which the inlet and the outlet are coupled to each other using the charging cable.

2. The vehicle power supply device according to claim 1 , wherein the controller instructs an operator to perform an operation of coupling the inlet and the outlet using the charging cable.

3. The vehicle power supply device according to claim 2 , wherein:
the controller determines charging abnormality using an input state of AC power to the first power converter, and
the controller instructs the operator to perform the operation of coupling the inlet and the outlet using the charging cable after the charging abnormality is determined.

4. The vehicle power supply device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the controller causes the second power converter to operate to determine malfunction of the power supply path.

5. The vehicle power supply device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the controller causes the first power converter and the second power converter to operate to determine malfunction of the power supply path.

6. The vehicle power supply device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a first power supply path that couples the inlet to the first power converter; and
a second power supply path that couples the outlet to the second power converter,
wherein the controller determines malfunction of the power supply path the power supply path comprising the first power supply path, the charging cable, and the second power supply path.

7. The vehicle power supply devices according to claim 1 ,
wherein the power storage device includes storage capacitors that are coupled to each other in parallel and a switch that is switchable to a disconnected state in which the storage capacitors are electrically disconnected from each other, and
when the switch is switched to the disconnected state, at least one of the storage capacitors that is coupled to the first power converter and at least one of the storage capacitors that is coupled to the second power converter are separated.

8. The vehicle power supply device according to claim 7 ,
wherein the controller switches the switch to the disconnected state at the time of determining the malfunction of the power supply path.

9. A malfunction diagnosis method of a vehicle power supply device including a power storage device in a vehicle, the malfunction diagnosis method comprising:
coupling an inlet that is coupled to an external power supply via a charging cable when the power storage device is charged using the external power supply, to an outlet that is coupled to an external device when power is supplied from the power storage device to the external device, a first power converter that is disposed between the inlet and the power storage device converting alternating current (AC) power into direct current (DC) power, and a second power converter that is disposed between the outlet and the power storage device converting DC power into AC power, and
determining, by a controller on-board the vehicle, malfunction of a power supply path of the vehicle power supply device using an input to the first power converter in a state in which the inlet and the outlet are coupled to each other using the charging cable.

10. The malfunction diagnosis method of the vehicle power supply device according to claim 9 , further comprising:
instructing an operator to perform an operation of coupling the inlet and the outlet using the charging cable.

11. The malfunction diagnosis method of the vehicle power supply device according to claim 10 , further comprising detecting charging abnormality on the basis of an input state of AC power to the first power converter,
wherein the operator is instructed to perform the operation of coupling the inlet and the outlet using the charging cable in the operation instructing step after the charging abnormality is detected in the detecting of charging abnormality.

12. The malfunction diagnosis method of the vehicle power supply device according to claim 9 , wherein the second power converter is caused to operate in the determining of malfunction.

13. The malfunction diagnosis method of the vehicle power supply device according to claim 9 , wherein the first power converter and the second power converter are caused to operate in the determining of malfunction.

14. The malfunction diagnosis method of the vehicle power supply device according to claim 9 ,
wherein the vehicle power supply device further includes:
a first power supply path that couples the inlet to the first power converter; and
a second power supply path that couples the outlet to the second power converter,

wherein malfunction of the power supply path including the first power supply path, the charging cable, and the second power supply path is determined in the determining of malfunction.

15. The malfunction diagnosis method of the vehicle power supply device according to claim 9 , wherein the vehicle power supply device comprises an external charging system including the inlet and the first power converter, and the controller controls operating states of the external charging system.

16. The malfunction diagnosis method of the vehicle power supply device according to claim 15 , wherein the external charging system comprises a plurality of sensors which are formed on the power supply path between the inlet and the first power converter, and which are coupled to the controller.

17. The malfunction diagnosis method of the vehicle power supply device according to claim 9 , wherein the controller comprises a microcomputer.

18. A vehicle power supply device including a power storage device, the vehicle power supply device comprising:
an inlet that is coupled to an external power supply via a charging cable when the power storage device is charged using the external power supply;
an outlet that is coupled to an external device when power is supplied from the power storage device to the external device;
a first power converter that is formed between the inlet and the power storage device and converts alternating current (AC) power into direct current (DC) power;
a second power converter that is formed between the outlet and the power storage device and converts DC power into AC power; and
a controller that determines malfunction of a power supply path of the vehicle power supply device using an input to the first power converter in a state in which the inlet and the outlet are coupled to each other using the charging cable.

Assignees

• Fuji Heavy Ind Ltd
• Subaru Corp

Inventors

• Ishii Kentaro
• Masuda Yo

Classifications

• B60L3/0023 Primary

  Detecting, eliminating, remedying or compensating for drive train abnormalities, e.g. failures within the drive train · CPC title

• B60L58/10

  for monitoring or controlling batteries · CPC title

• Y02T10/7072

  Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors · CPC title

• Y02T90/14

  Plug-in electric vehicles · CPC title

• G07C5/0816 Primary

  Indicating performance data, e.g. occurrence of a malfunction · CPC title