Apparatus for controlling cooling fan for vehicle

An apparatus for controlling a cooling fan for a vehicle, comprising:

• a motor for rotating a cooling fan for a vehicle;
• and
• a driving apparatus for driving the motor to rotate the cooling fan, wherein:
• the driving apparatus is constructed to regenerate electrical energy through the motor during rotation of the cooling fan for a vehicle when the cooling fan is rotated by flowing air when the motor is in a non-driven state,
• the driving apparatus has rotational speed detecting means for detecting rotational speed of the motor, and
• the electric energy is regenerated through the motor when the rotational speed detected by the rotational speed detecting means is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, while the electrical energy is not regenerated by the motor when the rotational speed detected by the rotational speed detecting means is lower than a predetermined value.

An apparatus for controlling a vehicle cooling fan, comprising:

• a brushless motor for rotating the vehicle cooling fan;
• and
• a driving apparatus for driving the brushless motor to rotate the vehicle cooling fan,
• wherein the driving apparatus is constructed to regenerate electrical energy by the brushless motor in association with rotation of the vehicle cooling fan when the cooling fan is rotated by flowing air when the brushless motor is in a non-driven state,
• the driving apparatus has rotational speed detecting means for detecting rotational speed of the brushless motor, an inverter circuit including a switching device for selectively switching power to the brushless motor;
• and a control circuit for outputting either a drive signal for driving the brushless motor or a regenerative drive signal for regenerating the electrical energy through the brushless motor to the switching device,
• wherein the electrical energy is regenerated through the brushless motor when the rotational speed detected by the rotational speed detecting means is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, while the electric energy is not regenerated by the brushless motor when the rotational speed detected by the rotational speed detecting means is lower than the predetermined value,
• the inverter circuit is a bridge circuit comprising a switching device constituting an upper arm and a switching device on a lower arm, and
• the control circuit supplies, as the regenerative drive signal, an off signal to the switching device constituting the upper arm and a switching signal having a predetermined frequency and a predetermined duty ratio to the switching device constituting the lower arm.

A regenerative apparatus for controlling an electrical motor of a cooling fan to operate as a generator, comprising:

• a computing circuit for calculating a rotational speed of the cooling fan;
• and
• a driving circuit for driving the electrical motor to rotate the cooling fan and for generating electrical energy through the electrical motor in association with rotation of the cooling fan when the cooling fan is rotated by flowing air when the electrical motor is in a non-driven state;
• wherein the driving circuit is controlled for generating electrical energy when the rotational speed calculated by the computing circuit is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, while the driving circuit is not controlled for generating electrical energy when the rotational speed calculated by the computing circuit is lower than the predetermined value.