Refrigeration – Automatic control – Of external fluid or means
Reexamination Certificate
2001-12-18
2002-10-22
Tapolcai, William E. (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Automatic control
Of external fluid or means
C062S323200, C165S041000, C180S065230
Reexamination Certificate
active
06467286
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cooling apparatuses for hybrid vehicles which are driven by an engine and a motor, and in particular, to a technique of performing a cooling operation based on heat resisting allowable temperatures assigned to various kinds of electric devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
In known cooling apparatuses, a plurality of cooling systems are each provided for a plurality of electric systems such as a motor, battery, inverters, and the like, which are built into a hybrid vehicle, and the cooling systems are arranged and connected in parallel. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 11-107748 discloses an example of such an apparatus.
Additionally, in such a conventional cooling apparatus, the diameter of a pipe, through which a refrigerant flows, can be changed according to the heating value of each cooling system, and flow control valves for controlling the flow rate of each cooling system are provided. Therefore, a larger quantity of refrigerant flows through a cooling system which has a larger heating value.
However, since the plurality of electric devices are arranged in parallel, the piping arrangement for circulating the refrigerant is complicated.
Additionally, the operation of controlling a plurality of flow control valves is complicated. Furthermore, the flow rate of the refrigerant is changed by controlling the degree of opening of each flow control valve. Therefore, the circulating pump for circulating the refrigerant in the cooling circuit is always working, so that the power consumption of the battery system for supplying electric power to the circulating pump is unnecessarily increased.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In consideration of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a cooling apparatus which has a simple structure and which can efficiently cool a plurality of electric devices.
Therefore, the present invention provides a cooling apparatus built into a hybrid vehicle, comprising:
a cooling circuit (e.g., cooling circuit
10
a
in an embodiment explained below) including a plurality of serially-connected cooling systems (e.g., battery cooling system
14
, PDU cooling system
15
, D/V cooling system
16
, first motor cooling system
17
, and second motor cooling system
18
in the embodiment explained below) for cooling a plurality of electric devices by circulating a refrigerant, wherein the electric devices include at least a motor (e.g., first motor in the embodiment explained below) for driving the vehicle, a battery system, and an inverter (e.g., power drive unit PDU in the embodiment explained below) for supplying electric power to the motor;
a circulating pump (e.g., refrigerant circulating pump
13
in the embodiment explained below) for circulating the refrigerant through the cooling circuit; and
a radiator (e.g., electric device radiator
11
in the embodiment explained below) which is serially connected to the cooling systems in the cooling circuit and has a refrigerant outlet (e.g., refrigerant outlet
11
a
in the embodiment explained below) from which a refrigerant is supplied, wherein:
the serially-connected cooling systems are arranged in a manner such that heat resisting allowable temperatures, assigned to the electric devices which respectively correspond to the cooling systems, increase from the cooling system closest to the refrigerant outlet to the cooling system farthest from the refrigerant outlet in the cooling circuit, wherein each heat resisting allowable temperature is the maximum temperature at which the relevant electric device can operate.
According to the above structure, the plurality of the cooling systems for circulating and supplying the refrigerant to the electric devices which are built into the vehicle are serially connected via the radiator, so that the cooling circuit is formed. Therefore, the piping arrangement for circulating the refrigerant can be simplified.
In addition, the serially-connected cooling systems are arranged along a refrigerant circulating path in a manner such that the heat resisting allowable temperatures assigned to the electric devices increase in the order of arrangement of the electric devices. That is, the electric devices having higher priority are located at the upstream side of the cooling circuit so as to reliably cool these electric devices, while the electric devices having relatively lower priority are located at the downstream side of the cooling circuit. Therefore, the plurality of the electric devices can be efficiently cooled, thereby improving the fuel consumption of the vehicle.
The cooling apparatus may further comprise:
an air-conditioner condenser (e.g., air-conditioner condenser
21
in the embodiment explained below) which is provided for an air conditioner of the vehicle and which faces the radiator; and
a cooling fan (e.g., condenser cooling fan
19
in the embodiment explained below) which faces the air-conditioner condenser, wherein:
the radiator and the air-conditioner condenser are cooled by the cooling fan.
According to this structure, the air-conditioner condenser is located in a manner such that the air-conditioner condenser faces the radiator which is connected to the cooling circuit for cooling the electric devices (which include at least the motor, the battery system, and the inverter). The radiator and the air-conditioner condenser are cooled by the cooling fan which faces the air-conditioner condenser. Therefore, the radiator and the air-conditioner condenser can be efficiently cooled by the common cooling fan, thereby simplifying the structure of the apparatus.
The present invention also provides a cooling apparatus built into a hybrid vehicle, comprising:
an engine radiator (e.g., engine radiator
12
in the embodiment explained below) connected to an engine cooling system (e.g., engine cooling system
12
a
in the embodiment explained below) which cools an engine by circulating a refrigerant, wherein the engine outputs a driving force of the vehicle;
a radiator cooling fan (e.g., radiator cooling fan
20
in the embodiment explained below) which faces the engine radiator;
a cooling circuit (e.g., cooling circuit
10
a
in the embodiment explained below) including a plurality of serially-connected cooling systems (e.g., battery cooling system
14
, PDU cooling system
15
, D/V cooling system
16
, first motor cooling system
17
, and second motor cooling system
18
in the embodiment explained below) for cooling a plurality of electric devices by circulating a refrigerant, wherein the electric devices include at least a motor (e.g., first motor M
1
and second motor M
2
in the embodiment explained below) for outputting driving force according to a driving state of the vehicle, a battery system, and an inverter (e.g., power drive unit PDU in the embodiment explained below) for supplying electric power to the motor;
a circulating pump (e.g., refrigerant circulating pump
13
in the embodiment explained below) for circulating the refrigerant through the cooling circuit; and
an electric device radiator (e.g., electric device radiator
11
in the embodiment explained below) which is serially connected to the cooling systems in the cooling circuit and has a refrigerant outlet (e.g., refrigerant outlet
11
a
in the embodiment explained below) from which a refrigerant is supplied, wherein:
the serially-connected cooling systems are arranged in a manner such that heat resisting allowable temperatures, assigned to the electric devices which respectively correspond to the cooling systems, increase from the cooling system closest to the refrigerant outlet to the cooling system farthest from the refrigerant outlet in the cooling circuit, wherein each heat resisting allowable temperature is the maximum temperature at which the relevant electric device can operate.
The above structure comprises the electric device radiator which is connected to the cooling circuit for cooling the electric devices which include at least the motor, the
Hasebe Tetsuya
Tatara Yusuke
Tsukamoto Toshinori
Armstrong Westerman & Hattori, LLP
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Tapolcai William E.
LandOfFree
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