Energy regeneration device and work machine provided with energy regeneration device

1:

• An energy regeneration device for regenerating energy of a working fluid, comprising:
• an actuator including a cylinder and a piston that is reciprocatable in the cylinder, the actuator being configured such that a volume of a cylinder fluid chamber delimited by the cylinder and the piston varies along with movement of the piston;
• an inertial fluid container including a first internal space that is configured to communicate with the cylinder fluid chamber, the inertial fluid container being configured to receive the working fluid that is discharged from the cylinder fluid chamber due to the movement of the piston;
• a low-pressure-side container including a second internal space that is set at a pressure lower than that of the cylinder fluid chamber and is configured to communicate with the first internal space of the inertial fluid container, the low-pressure-side container being configured to receive the working fluid flowing out of the inertial fluid container;
• a high-pressure-side container including a third internal space that is set at a pressure higher than that of the second internal space of the low-pressure-side container and is configured to communicate with the first internal space of the inertial fluid container, the high-pressure-side container being configured to receive the working fluid flowing out of the inertial fluid container;
• a low-pressure-side opening/closing device forming a low-pressure-side opening that is configured to permit circulation of the working fluid between the inertial fluid container and the low-pressure-side container, the low-pressure-side opening/closing device being configured to operate to vary an opening area of the low-pressure-side opening;
• a high-pressure-side opening/closing device forming a high-pressure-side opening that is configured to permit circulation of the working fluid between the high-pressure-side container and the inertial fluid container, the high-pressure-side opening/closing device being configured to operate to vary an opening area of the high-pressure-side opening;
• a first pressure obtaining unit configured to obtain a discharge pressure of the working fluid upstream of the inertial fluid container in flow of the working fluid flowing out of the cylinder fluid chamber;
• a second pressure obtaining unit configured to obtain a high-pressure-side pressure of the working fluid downstream of the high-pressure-side opening/closing device in the flow of the working fluid flowing out of the cylinder fluid chamber;
• a calculation unit configured to calculate a desired opening area of each of the high-pressure-side opening and the low-pressure-side opening for a case where the piston moves at a predetermined moving speed in such a direction as to reduce the volume of the cylinder fluid chamber, the calculation unit being configured to calculate the desired opening area of each of the high-pressure-side opening and the low-pressure-side opening based on a duty ratio for controlling an open time of each of the low-pressure-side opening and the high-pressure-side opening in a predetermined period, a desired flow rate of the working fluid discharged from the cylinder fluid chamber, the desired flow rate being set in accordance with the moving speed of the piston, the discharge pressure obtained by the first pressure obtaining unit, and the high-pressure-side pressure obtained by the second pressure obtaining unit;
• and
• an opening/closing-device control unit configured to set the opening area of each of the high-pressure-side opening and the low-pressure-side opening to the desired opening area, and control an opening/closing operation of the high-pressure-side opening/closing device and the low-pressure-side opening/closing device in accordance with the duty ratio such that the low-pressure-side container and the high-pressure-side container are alternately selected as a destination with which the inertial fluid container communicates, to cause the working fluid to flow into the high-pressure-side container due to an inertial force that is generated in the first internal space of the inertial fluid container when the working fluid flows toward the low-pressure-side container, while causing the piston to move at the moving speed.