Power supply apparatus and method for an electric vehicle
AssigneeHonda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsKunihiko Tanaka, Kaoru Hatanaka
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Abstract
A field-effect transistor incorporates a diode which is disposed between a battery power source and an inverter. A rush-current suppressive starting circuit is provided in a stage anterior to the field-effect transistor. The transistor is shifted to its conducting state while the on-resistance of the transistor is gradually lowered to thereby limit a charging current to a power smoothing capacitor. In an off-state of a main switch, a charge stored in the current smoothing capacitor is released therefrom via a stabilized power circuit and a controller which is a power load to the circuit.
Claims22
A power supply unit for a motor of an electric vehicle, wherein a semiconductor power switching element is disposed between a battery power source and an inverter for supplying electric power to the motor;
- a rush-current suppressing starting circuit provided in a stage following said semiconductor power switching element driving said semiconductor power switching element to shift said semiconductor switching element to its ON-state while gradually lowering the ON-resistance of said semiconductor switching element;
- and
- a stabilized power circuit for supplying a stabilized constant power to an inverter controller connected to a stage following said semiconductor power switching element in parallel to positive and negative terminals of said inverter, whereby the electric charge of a current smoothing capacitor is discharged therefrom via said stabilized power circuit when said semiconductor power switching element is in its OFF-state.
A power supply for supplying power to a motor of a vehicle comprising:
- a DC power source,
- a main switch connected to said DC power source,
- a power converter converting DC power to AC power and supplying the converted AC power to the motor,
- a semiconductor switch element interposed between said main switch and said power converter,
- a rush current suppressing circuit suppressing a rush current to the inverter when the main switch is switched ON by shifting said semiconductor switch element to a conducting state and gradually lowering the ON-resistance of said semiconductor switching element, and
- a constant voltage source supplying constant voltage to a control terminal of said semiconductor switch element in response to switch-ON of said main switch to shift said semiconductor switch element into a conducting state.
A power supply for supplying power to a motor of a vehicle comprising:
- a DC power source;
- a main switch connected to said DC power source;
- a power converter converting DC power to AC power and supplying the converted AC power to the motor;
- a semiconductor switch element interposed between said main switch and said power converter;
- and
- a rush current suppressing circuit suppressing a rush current to the inverter when the main switch is switched ON by shifting said semiconductor switch element to a conducting state and gradually lowering the ON-resistance of said semiconductor switch element, said rush current suppressing circuit further including
- a quick-charging circuit, responsive to a switch-ON of said main switch, for quickly charging a capacitor to an initial output voltage that is supplied to a control terminal of said semiconductor switch element wherein the initial output voltage shifts said semiconductor switch element into a conducting state.
A method for preventing rush-current to a motor of an electric vehicle that occurs during switch-ON of the motor comprising the steps of:
- supplying stabilized DC power to an AC power controller with a stabilized power circuit,
- supplying DC power to a main switch,
- turning the main switch ON,
- shifting a second switch into a conducting state in response to switch-ON of the main switch to supply DC power from the main switch to a power converter,
- smoothing the DC power supplied to the power converter with a current smoothing capacitor,
- gradually lowering the ON-resistance of the second switch,
- converting the DC power from the second switch to AC power with the power converter,
- controlling said converting step with the AC power controller,
- supplying the controlled AC power to the motor, and
- discharging a charge stored on the current smoothing capacitor through the stabilized power circuit when the main switch is turned OFF.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.