Fuel cell system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9889765-B2
Application number	US-201214414948-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 20, 2012
Priority date	Jul 20, 2012
Publication date	Feb 13, 2018
Grant date	Feb 13, 2018

Abstract

A fuel cell system that includes a fuel cell and a secondary battery, each acting as a power supply source. A first converter a second converter is provided between the fuel cell and the secondary battery and first and second loads. A first inverter is provided between the first and second converters and the first load and a second inverter is provided between the first and second converters and the second load. A first controller controls an output of the fuel cell by controlling the first converter, and a second controller is configured separately from the first controller. If one of the first controller and the second controller receives the failure information sent from the other, the first controller or the second controller that has received the failure information stops operation of the control target thereof.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A fuel cell system comprising:
a fuel cell and a secondary battery, each acting as a power supply source;
a first converter and a second converter provided between the fuel cell and the secondary battery and first and second loads;
a first inverter provided between the first and second converters and the first load and a second inverter provided between the first and second converters and the second load;
a first controller that controls an output of the fuel cell by controlling the first converter; and
a second controller configured separately from the first controller, the second controller controlling the second converter, the first inverter and the second inverter to thereby control outputs supplied to the first inverter and the second inverter, including an output from the secondary battery,
wherein the first controller and the second controller are connected so as to be able to communicate with each other regarding failure information on respective control targets, and
wherein if one of the first controller and the second controller receives the failure information sent from the other, operation of the control target of the first controller or the second controller that has received the failure information is stopped,
wherein, if a failure is detected in any of the first converter, the second converter, the first inverter or the second inverter, the first controller and the second controller are programmed to:
stop the operation of the first converter, the second converter, the first inverter and the second inverter if the failure is detected in the second converter; and
stop the operation of the first converter, the first inverter and the second inverter if the failure is detected in any of the first converter, the first inverter or the second inverter, and then stop the operation of the second converter after a predetermined time has passed from the stop of the operation of the first converter, the first inverter and the second inverter.

2. The fuel cell system according to claim 1 , comprising a judgment part that judges a cause of the failure,
wherein the first controller and the second controller restart at least one of the first converter, the second converter, the first inverter and the second inverter based on a result of judgment by the judgment part.

3. The fuel cell system according to claim 2 ,
wherein the first converter is a multi-phase converter comprising a step-up circuit part having two or more phases, and
wherein the first controller and the second controller restart the first converter, the second converter, the first inverter and the second inverter if a failure in the first converter is caused by an overcurrent abnormality in a particular phase and if the abnormality is a first-time overcurrent abnormality.

4. The fuel cell system according to claim 2 ,
wherein the first converter is a multi-phase converter comprising a step-up circuit part having two or more phases, and
wherein the first controller and the second controller restart all phases of the first converter excluding a particular phase, the second converter, the first inverter and the second inverter if a failure in the first converter is caused by an overcurrent abnormality in the particular phase and if the abnormality is a second or subsequent time overcurrent abnormality.

5. The fuel cell system according to claim 2 ,
wherein the first converter is a multi-phase converter comprising a step-up circuit part having two or more phases, and
wherein the first controller and the second controller restart remaining phases other than a particular phase in the first converter, the second converter, the first inverter and the second inverter if a failure in the first converter is caused by an overheat abnormality or a circuit abnormality in the particular phase.

6. The fuel cell system according to claim 2 ,
wherein the first controller and the second controller restart the second converter, the first inverter and the second inverter if a failure in the first converter is caused by a circuit abnormality in a circuit on an output port side of the first converter.

7. The fuel cell system according to claim 2 ,
wherein, if a failure in the first converter is caused by any of an overvoltage abnormality on an output port side of the first converter, a low voltage abnormality on an input port side of the first converter, or a circuit abnormality in a circuit on the input port side of the first converter, the first controller and the second controller block an output from the fuel cell to the first and second loads and thereafter restart the second converter, the first inverter and the second inverter.

8. The fuel cell system according to claim 3 ,
wherein the first controller performs failure diagnosis for determining the existence of the failure, and
wherein the first controller and the second controller prohibit the restart until the failure diagnosis has been completed.

9. The fuel cell system according to claim 4 ,
wherein the first controller performs failure diagnosis for determining the existence of the failure, and
wherein the first controller and the second controller prohibit the restart until the failure diagnosis has been completed.

10. The fuel cell system according to claim 5 ,
wherein the first controller performs failure diagnosis for determining the existence of the failure, and
wherein the first controller and the second controller permit the restart after completion of the failure diagnosis.

11. The fuel cell system according to claim 6 ,
wherein the first controller performs failure diagnosis for determining the existence of the failure, and
wherein the first controller and the second controller permit the restart after completion of the failure diagnosis.

12. The fuel cell system according to claim 7 ,
wherein the first controller performs failure diagnosis for determining the existence of the failure, and
wherein the first controller and the second controller permit the restart after completion of the failure diagnosis.

Assignees

• Manabe Kota
• Tano Yutaka
• Kaneko Tomohiko
• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Manabe Kota
• Tano Yutaka
• Kaneko Tomohiko

Classifications

• H01M8/0494

  of fuel cell stacks · CPC title

• H01M8/04626

  of auxiliary devices, e.g. batteries, capacitors · CPC title

• Y02T90/16

  Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles · CPC title

• H01M8/04858

  Electric variables · CPC title

• B60L3/04

  Cutting off the power supply under fault conditions (protective devices and circuit arrangements in general H01H; H02H) · CPC title