IP Library Granted Patent US 10,050,577
Granted Patent B2
US 10,050,577 · App. 14/764,891 · Granted Aug 14, 2018

Vehicle cooling-fan motor/inverter system, control method therefor, and program therefor

Inventors: Koji Nakano (Tokyo, JP); Atsushi Suzuki (Kiyosu, JP); Hiroyuki Kamitani (Kiyosu, JP)
Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES THERMAL SYSTEMS, LTD.
H02P27/08B60H1/00428B60H1/00828F01P7/04F01P7/048F04D25/06F04D25/08F04D27/004
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,050,577
App. No.
14/764,891
Granted
Aug 14, 2018
Kind
B2
Abstract

Included are: a motor control device that has a switching element, that converts DC power supplied from a high-voltage power supply into three-phase AC power, and that supplies the three-phase AC power to a three-phase motor; a first control portion that controls the motor control device; an isolated-type CAN driver that is activated by using power supplied from a low-voltage power supply and that exchanges information with a vehicle ECU that is mounted in the vehicle and that is superordinate to a vehicle cooling-fan motor/inverter system; and an isolation portion that electrically isolates a low-voltage system to which power is supplied from the low-voltage power supply from a high-voltage system to which power is supplied from the high-voltage power supply. If a fault in the switching element is detected, the first control portion outputs fault information notifying that there is a fault in control of the three-phase motor to the vehicle ECU via the isolated-type CAN driver.

Claims (15)

1. A vehicle cooling-fan motor/inverter system that controls a three-phase motor that drives a cooling fan for supplying air to an in-vehicle heat exchanger, comprising:

a motor control device that has a switching element, that converts DC power supplied from a high-voltage power supply into three-phase AC power, and that supplies the three-phase AC power to the three-phase motor;

a communication driver that is activated by using power supplied from a low-voltage power supply and that exchanges information, via a vehicle network, with a second control unit that is mounted in a vehicle and that is on a superordinate side to the vehicle cooling-fan motor/inverter system;

an isolation unit that electrically isolates a low-voltage system to which power is supplied from the low-voltage power supply from a high-voltage system to which power is supplied from the high-voltage power supply;

a PWM driver that is activated by using power supplied from the low-voltage power supply, and that receives a PWM signal from a channel different from the vehicle network and outputs a rotation-speed instruction for the three-phase motor; and

a first control unit that obtains a rotation-speed instruction for the three-phase motor via the PWM driver and the communication driver and that controls the motor control device based on the obtained rotation-speed instruction for the three-phase motor,

wherein, if a fault in the switching element is detected, the first control unit outputs fault information notifying that there is a fault in control of the three-phase motor to the second control unit via the communication driver.

2. A vehicle cooling-fan motor/inverter system according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a measurement unit that measures and outputs at least one of a temperature value, a current value, and a voltage value of the switching element of the motor control device,

wherein the first control unit includes a determination unit that determines whether there is a fault in the switching element based on at least one of the temperature value, the current value, and the voltage value obtained from the measurement unit.

3. A control method for a vehicle cooling-fan motor/inverter system that controls a three-phase motor that drives a cooling fan for supplying air to an in-vehicle heat exchanger,

the vehicle cooling-fan motor/inverter system including: a motor control device that has a switching element, that converts DC power supplied from a high-voltage power supply into three-phase AC power, and that supplies the three-phase AC power to the three-phase motor; a communication driver that is activated by using power supplied from a low-voltage power supply and that exchanges information, via a vehicle network, with a second control unit that is mounted in a vehicle and that is on a superordinate side to the vehicle cooling-fan motor/inverter system; an isolation unit that electrically isolates a low-voltage system to which power is supplied from the low-voltage power supply from a high-voltage system to which power is supplied from the high-voltage power supply, a PWM driver that is activated by using power supplied from the low-voltage power supply; and that receives a PWM signal from a channel different from the vehicle network and outputs a rotation-speed instruction for a three-phase motor; and a first control unit that control the motor control device, the control method comprising:

configuring the first control unit to obtain a rotation-speed instruction for the three-phase motor via the PWM driver and the communication driver,

controlling, by the first control unit, the motor control device based on the obtained rotation-speed instruction for the three-phase motor; and

outputting, by the first control unit, fault information notifying that there is a fault in control of the three-phase motor to the second control unit via the communication driver if a fault in the switching element is detected.

Assignments (2)
MERGER Recorded Jun 28, 2018
From: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES AUTOMOTIVE THERMAL SYSTEMS CO., LTD.
To: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES THERMAL SYSTEMS, LTD.
Reel/Frame 046318/0599 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 31, 2015
From: NAKANO, KOJI; SUZUKI, ATSUSHI; KAMITANI, HIROYUKI
To: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES AUTOMOTIVE THERMAL SYSTEMS CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 036230/0207 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP 2013-033581 · Feb 22, 2013 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20150365039A1 · Dec 17, 2015