Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – With indicator or control of power plant
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-08
2001-03-27
Wolfe, Willis R. (Department: 3747)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
With indicator or control of power plant
C322S007000, C322S015000, C322S023000, C322S028000, C290S04000F
Reexamination Certificate
active
06208931
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for energy distribution in a motor vehicle having a vehicle electrical power supply system with a battery and a generator and, more particularly, to an apparatus for energy distribution in a motor vehicle having a vehicle electrical power supply system with a battery, a generator regulated by a voltage regulator and a number of consumers and a control arrangement to which required information is fed from t he vehicle electrical power supply system for determining control variables and regulating variables for corresponding components of the vehicle electrical power supply system and/or internal combustion engine. 2. Prior Art
At present, supplying power to electric consumers in a motor vehicle increasingly presents a problem because the number and power consumption of the electric consumers in the vehicle are constantly increasing. At the same time, the available energy that is generated by means of a three-phase generator regulated by a voltage regulator cannot be increased to any desired extent because certain defaults or presets must be adhered to with respect to the size of the generator and its effects on the internal combustion engine driving it. In order to enable a reliable power supply of the electric consumers, various measures are currently implemented which either lead to an increase in output in the electrical energy delivered by the generator or which ensure that electric consumers which are not safety-related will be shut off at least temporarily in the event of critical energy supply so as to enable a reduction in the electric energy to be made available.
An energy supply system for the electric consumers in a motor vehicle in which it is suggested to switch electric consumers depending on the driving state is known from EP-0 601 300 B1. In the vehicle supply system described in this reference, the electric energy is generated in a conventional manner by a three-phase generator which is driven by the internal combustion engine. In order to save fuel, the internal combustion engine is turned off when the vehicle is stopped. Accordingly, no electric energy is generated by the generator during this time. On the other hand, in different driving states electrical energy which is used to charge the vehicle battery and to supply the electric consumers is generated in the customary manner. In order to achieve a reliable energy supply for operation-related electric consumers regardless of the driving state, a strategy for supplying electric consumers is pursued with the aid of a control device which communicates with various sensors and switches and which can influence electric actuators and display devices, wherein consumers are switched on and off automatically when the control device detects certain driving states. The hierarchy in which consumers are switched on and off is selected in such a way that unessential consumers are switched off first and consumers required for operation or related to safety are not switched off at all. In certain driving states, the electric energy is supplied by the vehicle battery or by an auxiliary battery which is uncoupled from the vehicle battery.
In the known energy supply in a vehicle supply system, the driving states are assumed to be given and not subject to influence and, in order to ensure adequate supply of energy to electric consumers, and it is stated only that groups of electric consumers are switched on or off corresponding to the detected driving state. However, influence is exerted on the internal combustion engine depending on the required electric output.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for energy distribution to engine and power supply components, especially consumers, in a motor vehicle, which avoids or reduces the above-described disadvantages.
This object and others, which will be made more apparent hereinafter, are attained in an apparatus for energy distribution in a motor vehicle having a vehicle electrical power supply system with a generator regulated by a voltage regulator, a battery and a number of consumers and a control arrangement to which required information is fed from the vehicle electrical power supply system for determining control variables and regulating variables for corresponding components of the vehicle electrical power supply system and/or internal combustion engine.
According to the invention the control arrangement includes the voltage regulator and a vehicle power supply system managing means. The vehicle power supply system managing means includes means for establishing an energy management strategy and pre-control means, which cooperate to determine at least one set value of the power supply set voltage from the required information with the help of a predetermined energy distribution strategy. The at least one set value of the power supply set voltage is compared with a measured voltage to produce a comparison result and the voltage regulator regulates the generator according to the comparison result. The voltage regulator and the pre-control means are formed as separate units.
In contrast to the prior art, a further improvement in the supplying of electrical energy is achieved by the apparatus according to the invention for energy distribution in a motor vehicle. At the same time, it is ensured that the battery charge level remains within a desired range. Further, an improved interaction between the generator, battery, vehicle drive or drivetrain and electric consumers is achieved. Voltage fluctuations in the electric power supply are advantageously reduced, so that it is possible to achieve a voltage tolerance range which meets the requirements of especially sensitive consumers, for example, control devices, in particular. Further, the reliability of the electric vehicle supply system is advantageously increased and the design criteria for the generator and battery are simplified in an advantageous manner.
These advantages are achieved in that an apparatus for energy distribution in the motor vehicle operates in such a way that the internal combustion engine driving the generator as well as the electric consumers of the vehicle supply system are taken into account in the distribution strategy. For this purpose, the information supplied by the vehicle supply system and internal combustion engine is processed in a control arrangement for determining control variables and/or regulating variables and these quantities are supplied to the appropriate components in the vehicle supply system or internal combustion engine. The energy distribution is then carried out by the control arrangement according to predeterminable requirements, taking into account the condition that the actual voltage of the vehicle supply system lies within predeterminable limits.
The required information is advantageously obtained via suitable sensors or state detectors and is supplied to the control arrangement. This control arrangement acts, by way of determined control signals, on different components of the vehicle supply system or on the internal combustion engine itself. A differential output corresponding to the difference between the required output with respect to reference voltage and the realized output is determined in an advantageous manner. An actual voltage of the vehicle supply system can be determined from this differential output. The vehicle supply system manager changes the required output and/or the realized output in such a way that the resulting actual voltage of the vehicle supply system remains within the tolerance range.
In a particularly advantageous manner, the control arrangement which carries out the energy distribution is arranged as a vehicle supply system manager, wherein the energy management structure comprises a voltage regulator, pre-control and management strategy. The interaction of the generator, battery, drivetrain and electric consumers can be predetermined by this energy management structure, wherein special r
Kaiser Karl-Heinz
Schmucker Clemens
Schoettle Richard
Robert & Bosch GmbH
Striker Michael J.
Wolfe Willis R.
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