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US 8,418,789 B2Granted
Cooling system, vehicle equipped with the cooling system, and method for controlling the cooling system
AssigneeToyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsKimihito Nakamura, Yoshiaki Kikuchi, Masahito Suzuki
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A fan motor is controlled via a switching circuit from the moment when a cooling fan control routine is started until the moment when the rotational speed of the fan motor reaches a control-switching speed so that the higher the detected auxiliary battery voltage is when the cooling fan control is started, the lower the command duty ratio that is set. Accordingly, it is possible to activate the fan motor more reliably and to avoid generating excessive operating noise by the cooling fan when the fan motor is activated.
Claims8
A cooling system, comprising:
- a power source;
- an electric fan that is driven by the electric power from the power source and that blows air to cool a target object;
- a switching device that is connected to the power source and the electric fan;
- a voltage detection device that detects a voltage of the power source;
- a control device that controls the switching device so that air is supplied from the electric fan when the target object is cooled and that controls the switching device from the moment when an activation condition of the electric fan is satisfied until the moment when a cancellation condition of the electric fan is satisfied so that the higher the detected voltage is when the activation condition is satisfied, the lower the duty ratio is set;
- a temperature obtaining device that obtains a temperature of the target object;
- and
- a setting device that sets a target rotational speed for the electric fan based on the obtained temperature;
- wherein the activation condition is satisfied when the obtained temperature is at least equal to a specified temperature or higher, and
- wherein the cancellation condition is satisfied when the rotational speed of the electric fan reaches a prescribed rotational speed, which is lower than the target rotational speed.
7 more elements
A method for controlling a device cooling system, the method comprising:
- determining whether a target object needs to be cooled;
- controlling a switching device that is connected to a power source and an electric fan which is driven by electric power from the power source and capable of blowing air to cool a target object such that air can be supplied from the electric fan if it is determined that the target object needs to be cooled;
- and
- controlling the switching device from the moment when an activation condition for the electric fan is satisfied until the moment when a cancellation condition is satisfied so that the higher the detected voltage is when the activation condition is satisfied, the lower the duty ratio is set;
- wherein the activation condition is satisfied if the amount of air being blown by the electric fan reaches a predetermined air supply amount, which is smaller than a target air supply amount.
2 more elements
A cooling system, comprising:
- a power source;
- a blower that is driven by electric power from the power source and blows air to cool a target object;
- a voltage detection device that detects a voltage of the power source;
- and
- a control device that determines whether the target object needs to be cooled, and, if it is determined that the target object needs to be cooled, the control device activates the blower and controls a duty ratio of the current supplied to the blower from the power source from when the activation of the blower is started until when a predetermined condition is satisfied so that the higher the detected voltage is when the blower is activated, the lower the duty ratio is set;
- wherein the predetermined condition is satisfied if the amount of air being blown by the blower reaches a predetermined air supply amount, which is smaller than a target air supply amount.
3 more elements
A method for controlling a cooling system, comprising:
- determining whether a target object needs to be cooled;
- activating a blower to supply air to the target object if it is determined that the target object needs to be cooled;
- and
- controlling a duty ratio of current supplied to a blower from a power source from when the blower is activated until the moment when a predetermined condition is satisfied so that the higher the detected voltage is when the blower is activated, the lower the duty ratio is set;
- wherein the predetermined condition is satisfied when the amount of air being blown by the blower reaches a predetermined air supply amount, which is smaller than a target air supply amount.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.