JP-2026075977-A - Temperature control device

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a temperature control device that appropriately controls the temperature of a battery mounted on a vehicle when charging begins. [Solution] The temperature control device according to the present invention is a temperature control device that controls the temperature of a battery mounted on a vehicle, and comprises: a selection unit that selects a candidate charging device to be used to charge the battery based on at least one of the vehicle's charging history information, installation location information indicating the installation location of a charging device for charging the battery, and current location information indicating the current location of the vehicle; a calculation unit that calculates the probability of charging the battery at the selected charging device; and a determination unit that determines the start of temperature control of the battery based on the calculated charging probability and the current location information. [Selection Diagram] Figure 1

Inventors

• 鴇田 裕幸

Assignees

• トヨタ自動車株式会社

Dates

Publication Date

20260511

Application Date

20241023

Claims (1)

1. A temperature control device that controls the temperature of a battery mounted on a vehicle, A selection unit that selects a candidate charging device to be used to charge the battery based on at least one of the following: the charging history information of the vehicle, the installation location information indicating the installation location of the charging device for charging the battery, and the current location information indicating the current location of the vehicle. A calculation unit that calculates the probability of charging the battery in the selected charging device, A determination unit that determines the start of temperature control for the battery based on the calculated charging probability and the current location information, A temperature control device equipped with the following features.

Description

This invention relates to a temperature control device for a battery mounted in a vehicle. Since charging time increases when the battery installed in a vehicle is low, preconditioning control is performed to preheat the battery before charging. Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle battery temperature control device that controls an air conditioning unit or the like to adjust the battery temperature so that the battery temperature at the start of charging reaches a target temperature in a vehicle equipped with a traction battery. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2011-152840 This is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a temperature control device according to one embodiment of the present invention.This figure illustrates an example of a method for calculating the probability of charging a battery by a selected charging device, which is performed by a temperature control device according to one embodiment of the present invention.This is a flowchart of the processing performed by a temperature control device according to one embodiment of the present invention. The embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the drawings are simplified, and the technical scope of the embodiments should not be narrowly interpreted based solely on their depiction. Furthermore, identical elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant explanations are omitted. [Embodiment] <Configuration of the temperature control device 10> Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a temperature control device 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The temperature control device 10 is installed, for example, in a vehicle equipped with a battery and is configured to communicate with an on-board GPS (Global Positioning System) antenna 20 and an on-board ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 30. The temperature control device 10 and the GPS antenna 20 are connected via a direct control line, also known as a "direct connection," which directly connects the devices one-to-one. Furthermore, the temperature control device 10 and the ECU 30 are connected via an in-vehicle LAN, such as a CAN bus, enabling them to exchange information with each other through the LAN. The temperature control device 10 may be included within the ECU 30. In this embodiment, the vehicle is, for example, a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV), or a battery electric vehicle (BEV). The temperature control device 10 controls the temperature of the battery installed in the vehicle. More specifically, the temperature control device 10 controls the battery to preheat when charging, for example, by rapid charging. Battery charging is performed by a charging device. Charging devices are installed in various locations, such as shopping malls and highway service areas. The temperature control device 10 receives GPS signals from GPS satellites via the GPS antenna 20 and acquires current location information indicating the vehicle's current position. Alternatively, the temperature control device 10 may acquire current location information by receiving positioning signals from satellites of other satellite positioning systems instead of GPS signals. Current location information includes, for example, the current time, latitude, and longitude indicating the current position. The history of current location information may be stored as a driving history in the temperature control device 10 and other devices capable of communicating with the temperature control device 10. The ECU 30, connected to the temperature control device 10, comprehensively manages the vehicle's operation and battery status, and includes charging and thermal management functions. The temperature control device 10 initiates battery charging and other operations by transmitting control signals to the ECU 30. The ECU 30 transmits a charging flag to the temperature control device 10 indicating that battery charging is in progress. The temperature control device 10 also obtains information regarding the battery's State of Charge (SOC) from the ECU 30. This SOC information may include the battery's charge rate, remaining charge, and information indicating the charging status, such as "charging." When the ECU 30 receives a battery preheating instruction from the temperature control device 10, it begins preheating the battery. Furthermore, when rapid charging is performed from a low SOC state to a predetermined charge state, the charging current is relatively high, which increases the amount of heat generated by the battery during charging. Therefore, as a thermal management function, the ECU 30 limits the charging power if the battery temperature rises above the suitable temperature range for charging during charging. The temperature control device 10 comprises a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), HD