Vehicle and power receiving device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9919612-B2
Application number	US-201414901641-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 20, 2014
Priority date	Jun 28, 2013
Publication date	Mar 20, 2018
Grant date	Mar 20, 2018

Abstract

A vehicle includes: an electrical storage device; an inlet; a power conversion unit; and an ECU configured to: (a) determine whether the connector connected to the inlet is a charge connector for charging the electrical storage device or a discharge connector for feeding electric power to an external device on the basis of a first signal that is supplied via the inlet; (b) determine whether the discharge connector is a power extracting connector for feeding electric power to a single load or a facility connector for feeding electric power to a facility on the basis of a second signal that is supplied via the inlet when the ECU determines that the connector is the discharge connector; and (c) control an exchange of electric power between the inlet and the electrical storage device with the use of the power conversion unit on the basis of the determination of the connector.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle comprising:
an electrical storage device;
an inlet configured to feed electric power to an external device or charge the electrical storage device when a connector is connected to the inlet;
a power conversion unit configured to exchange electric power between the inlet and the electrical storage device; and
an ECU configured to:
(a) determine, based on a value of a first signal that is supplied via the inlet, whether the connector connected to the inlet is a charge connector for charging the electrical storage device or a discharge connector for feeding electric power to an external device, the ECU determining that the connector connected to the inlet is the charge connector when the value of first signal is within a first range and determining that the connector connected to the inlet is the discharge connector when the value of first signal is within a second range that is different from the first range;
(b) in a case where the ECU determines that the connector is the discharge connector, determine, based on a second signal that is supplied via the inlet, whether the discharge connector is a power extracting connector for feeding electric power at a predetermined upper limit current to a load outside the vehicle or a V2H connector for feeding electric power at a variably set upper limit to a home; and
(c) control an exchange of electric power between the inlet and the electrical storage device with the use of the power conversion unit based on the determination of the connector.

2. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein
the first signal is a proximity detection signal that is used to detect that the connector is connected to the inlet, and the second signal is a control pilot signal that is used to inform a charging condition to a charging facility outside the vehicle at the time of charging.

3. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein
the ECU is configured to:
(d) control the power conversion unit such that electric power is fed from the inlet at the predetermined upper limit current in a case where the ECU determines that the connector connected to the inlet is the power extracting connector; and
(e) control the power conversion unit such that electric power is fed from the inlet at the upper limit current determined based on the second signal in a case where the ECU determines that the connector connected to the inlet is the V2H connector.

4. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein
the ECU is configured to:
(f) control the power conversion unit such that a supply voltage that is output to power terminals of the connector becomes a first supply voltage in a case where the ECU determines that the connector is the discharge connector; and
(g) control the power conversion unit such that the supply voltage that is output to the power terminals of the connector changes from the first supply voltage in a case where the ECU subsequently further determines that the discharge connector is the V2H connector.

5. A power receiving device for outputting charging power to an electrical storage device provided on a vehicle and receiving electric power from the electrical storage device, the power receiving device comprising:
a connector configured to be connected to an inlet of the vehicle;
a power line configured to feed electric power from the connector to a home;
a relay provided on the power line;
a circuit configured to transmit a first signal and a second signal to the vehicle via the connector;
a supply voltage detector configured to detect a level of a voltage that is supplied from the vehicle to power terminals of the connector; and
an ECU configured to:
(i) determine whether the supply voltage detector detects that the voltage supplied from the vehicle to the power terminals of the connector is a first supply voltage;
(ii) cause the circuit to transmit the second signal to the vehicle via the connector after determining that the supply voltage detector detects that the voltage supplied from the vehicle to the power terminals of the connector is the first supply voltage;
(iii) determine that the vehicle connected to the connector is of a vehicle type that is able to feed electric power to a facility located outside the vehicle when the supply voltage detector detects that the voltage that is supplied from the vehicle to the power terminals of the connector has changed from the first supply voltage to a second supply voltage higher than the first supply voltage in response to the second signal; and
(iv) set the relay in a connected state in a case where the ECU determines that the vehicle connected to the connector is the vehicle type that is able to feed electric power to the facility located outside the vehicle.

6. The power receiving device according to claim 5 , wherein
the first signal is a proximity detection signal that is used to detect that the connector is connected to the inlet, and the second signal is a control pilot signal that is used to inform a charging condition to a charging facility outside the vehicle at the time of charging.

7. The power receiving device according to claim 5 , further comprising
an operating unit configured to carry out operation for transmitting the first signal, wherein
the circuit includes a first circuit that transmits the first signal in response to operation of the operating unit and a second circuit that transmits the second signal by changing from an oscillation stopped state to an oscillating state.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Mizuno Tomoyuki
• Igarashi Yoshiyuki

Classifications

• B60L50/16

  with provision for separate direct mechanical propulsion · CPC title

• B60L50/61

  by batteries charged by engine-driven generators, e.g. series hybrid electric vehicles · CPC title

• B60L55/00

  Arrangements for supplying energy stored within a vehicle to a power network, i.e. vehicle-to-grid [V2G] arrangements · CPC title

• Y02T90/14

  Plug-in electric vehicles · CPC title

• Y04S10/126

  the energy generation units being or involving electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV], i.e. power aggregation of EV or HEV, vehicle to grid arrangements [V2G] · CPC title