# US 2014/0152214 A1 · Vehicle and method for controlling vehicle > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0152214 A1 - Document ID: US20140152214A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 14/131,474 - Filed: 2011-07-12 - Published: 2014-06-05 - Earliest claimed: 2011-07-12 - Assignees: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha - Inventors: Tomonori Furukawa - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140152214A1 ## CPC - H02P 6/28: Arrangements for controlling current (H02P6/10 takes precedence) - B60L 15/025: {using field orientation; Vector control; Direct Torque Control [DTC]} - H02M 7/53875: {with analogue control of three-phase output} - H02P 27/085: {wherein the PWM mode is adapted on the running conditions of the motor, e.g. the switching frequency} - Y02T 10/64: Electric machine technologies in electromobility - H02P: CONTROL OR REGULATION OF ELECTRIC MOTORS, ELECTRIC GENERATORS OR DYNAMO-ELECTRIC CONVERTERS; CONTROLLING TRANSFORMERS, REACTORS OR CHOKE COILS - B60L: PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (arrangements or mounting of electrical propulsion units or of plural diverse prime-movers for mutual or common propulsion in vehicles B60K1/00, B60K6/20; arrangements or mounting of electrical gearing in vehicles B60K17/12, B60K17/14; preventing wheel slip by reducing power in rail vehicles B61C15/08; dynamo-electric machines H02K; control or regulation of electric motors H02P); SUPPLYING ELECTRIC POWER FOR AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (electric coupling devices combined with mechanical couplings of vehicles B60D1/64; electric heating for vehicles B60H1/00); ELECTRODYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEMS FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL (control or regulation of electric motors H02P); MAGNETIC SUSPENSION OR LEVITATION FOR VEHICLES; MONITORING OPERATING VARIABLES OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRIC SAFETY DEVICES FOR ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES - H02M: APPARATUS FOR CONVERSION BETWEEN AC AND AC, BETWEEN AC AND DC, OR BETWEEN DC AND DC, AND FOR USE WITH MAINS OR SIMILAR POWER SUPPLY SYSTEMS; CONVERSION OF DC OR AC INPUT POWER INTO SURGE OUTPUT POWER; CONTROL OR REGULATION THEREOF (transformers H01F; dynamo-electric converters H02K47/00; controlling transformers, reactors or choke coils, control or regulation of electric motors, generators or dynamo-electric converters H02P) - Y02T: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION ## Abstract A control device stores, as a dead time Td, a period from a point of time of a switching-off operation of an inverter to a point of time when an inverter output voltage becomes lower than a control target value “0”. In overmodulation PWM control over the inverter, the control device performs the switching-off operation at a time t1, and thereafter starts a switching-on operation at a time t2 with passage of dead time Td read from a memory. With the setting of dead time Td, the inverter output voltage becomes lower than the control target value “0” at time t2 at which the switching-off operation is started. Hence, the inverter output voltage just after the switching-on operation is less likely to be affected by surge voltage during the switching-off operation, whereby the peak value of the inverter output voltage is made small. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A vehicle comprising: a power controller that includes a switching element and that outputs a voltage in accordance with an operation of said switching element; and a control device that causes the output voltage of said power controller to come close to a control target value by controlling the operation of said switching element in accordance with pulse width modulation control, in an overmodulation region in which a modulation factor is higher than a predetermined value, said control device starting a switching-on operation of said switching element at a point of time when said output voltage becomes lower than said control target value after a switching-off operation of said switching element. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein after the switching-off operation of said switching element, said output voltage has an attenuating waveform that gradually converges toward said control target value, and in said overmodulation region, said control device starts the switching-on operation of said switching element at a point of time when said output voltage corresponds to a minimum point of said attenuating waveform after the switching-off operation of said switching element. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said control device starts the switching-on operation of said switching element at a point of time with passage of a predetermined period after the switching-off operation of said switching element, and in said overmodulation region, said predetermined period is set in advance to be a period from the point of time of the switching-off operation of said switching element to the point of time when said output voltage becomes lower than said control target value. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a motor, wherein said power controller is an inverter that outputs a voltage to be applied to said motor. ### Claim 5 A method for controlling a vehicle including a power controller that includes a switching element and that outputs a voltage in accordance with an operation of said switching element, and a control device that causes the output voltage of said power controller to come close to a control target value by controlling the operation of said switching element in accordance with pulse width modulation control, the method comprising the steps of: performing a switching-off operation of said switching element in an overmodulation region in which a modulation factor is higher than a predetermined value; and starting a switching-on operation of said switching element at a point of time when said output voltage becomes lower than said control target value after the switching-off operation of said switching element.