Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60W—CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT
  • B60W20/00—Control systems specially adapted for hybrid vehicles
  • B60W20/10—Controlling the power contribution of each of the prime movers to meet required power demand
  • B60W20/15—Control strategies specially adapted for achieving a particular effect
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60K—ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OF TRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PLURAL DIVERSE PRIME-MOVERS IN VEHICLES; AUXILIARY DRIVES FOR VEHICLES; INSTRUMENTATION OR DASHBOARDS FOR VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH COOLING, AIR INTAKE, GAS EXHAUST OR FUEL SUPPLY OF PROPULSION UNITS IN VEHICLES
  • B60K6/00—Arrangement or mounting of plural diverse prime-movers for mutual or common propulsion, e.g. hybrid propulsion systems comprising electric motors and internal combustion engines ; Control systems therefor, i.e. systems controlling two or more prime movers, or controlling one of these prime movers and any of the transmission, drive or drive units
  • B60K6/20—Arrangement or mounting of plural diverse prime-movers for mutual or common propulsion, e.g. hybrid propulsion systems comprising electric motors and internal combustion engines ; Control systems therefor, i.e. systems controlling two or more prime movers, or controlling one of these prime movers and any of the transmission, drive or drive units the prime-movers consisting of electric motors and internal combustion engines, e.g. HEVs
  • B60K6/42—Arrangement or mounting of plural diverse prime-movers for mutual or common propulsion, e.g. hybrid propulsion systems comprising electric motors and internal combustion engines ; Control systems therefor, i.e. systems controlling two or more prime movers, or controlling one of these prime movers and any of the transmission, drive or drive units the prime-movers consisting of electric motors and internal combustion engines, e.g. HEVs characterised by the architecture of the hybrid electric vehicle
  • B60K6/46—Series type
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60W—CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT
  • B60W10/00—Conjoint control of vehicle sub-units of different type or different function
  • B60W10/04—Conjoint control of vehicle sub-units of different type or different function including control of propulsion units
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60W—CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT
  • B60W10/00—Conjoint control of vehicle sub-units of different type or different function
  • B60W10/04—Conjoint control of vehicle sub-units of different type or different function including control of propulsion units
  • B60W10/06—Conjoint control of vehicle sub-units of different type or different function including control of propulsion units including control of combustion engines
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60W—CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT
  • B60W10/00—Conjoint control of vehicle sub-units of different type or different function
  • B60W10/04—Conjoint control of vehicle sub-units of different type or different function including control of propulsion units
  • B60W10/08—Conjoint control of vehicle sub-units of different type or different function including control of propulsion units including control of electric propulsion units, e.g. motors or generators
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60W—CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT
  • B60W10/00—Conjoint control of vehicle sub-units of different type or different function
  • B60W10/24—Conjoint control of vehicle sub-units of different type or different function including control of energy storage means
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60W—CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT
  • B60W20/00—Control systems specially adapted for hybrid vehicles
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60K—ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OF TRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PLURAL DIVERSE PRIME-MOVERS IN VEHICLES; AUXILIARY DRIVES FOR VEHICLES; INSTRUMENTATION OR DASHBOARDS FOR VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH COOLING, AIR INTAKE, GAS EXHAUST OR FUEL SUPPLY OF PROPULSION UNITS IN VEHICLES
  • B60K1/00—Arrangement or mounting of electrical propulsion units
  • B60K1/02—Arrangement or mounting of electrical propulsion units comprising more than one electric motor
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02T—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION
  • Y02T10/00—Road transport of goods or passengers
  • Y02T10/60—Other road transportation technologies with climate change mitigation effect
  • Y02T10/62—Hybrid vehicles

Definitions

• This invention relates to hybrid vehicles having dual mode of drives, e.g. an emission-less battery-powered motor and petroleum combustion engine, whereby drive mode switching needs to be performed when entering an area where a particular drive mode is preferred or required. While the drive mode switching has to be performed hitherto manually by the driver or operator of the vehicle, our present invention discloses a method and apparatus for performing such switching automatically.
• dual mode of drives e.g. an emission-less battery-powered motor and petroleum combustion engine
• One of the advantages of a hybrid vehicle is the ability to choose a drive mode or propulsion from two or more energy source.
• the first mode may be chosen when the vehicle is driven into an enclosed space or indoors in a building such as a warehouse, a hanger, cargo terminal, cold- storage rooms, etc. where exhaust emission, oxygen depletion, internal combustion process and high heat generation is not desirable due to the enclosed space and/or air conditioning.
• Such vehicles are usually deployed to operate both indoors and outdoors, and in the latter situation, the internal combustion engine drive mode may be switched on and the battery-powered drive may be switched off.
• battery power conventionally does not last long, recharging often is required particularly when it is used to run relatively heavy machinery such as a vehicle for some time in a zero-emission area.
• this second mode of drive may also be spared to recharge the batteries for the next trip into the enclosed area.
• hybrid electric- diesel towing tractors are used. Upon entering the terminal building, the driver of the tractor are reminded to switch off the combustion engine and switch on the battery power by notice boards placed at or as gantries over the building entrance. This manual reminder method distracts the driver from concentrating on his driving and stopping at pickup and unload halt points.
• our invention provides for a method for automatically switching drive modes of a hybrid vehicle, including a hybrid electric-petroleum vehicle, relative to a pre-designated area wherein said vehicle is desired to be driven in a first drive mode within said area and in a second drive mode outside said area, said method comprising deploying electromagnetic means to define at least a gateway to said area; and providing on-board said vehicle means to detect said electromagnetic means, upon which the drive mode of said vehicle is switched from one drive mode to the other.
• the electromagnetic means is deployed to define each of the gateways, including entrance to and/or exits from said area.
• the electromagnetic means define a perimeter around said area.
• the electronic means is provided as a transponder wherein a plurality of the transponders may be deployed to define each of said gateways, including entrances, exits and perimeter.
• the means to detect the electromagnetic means on board said hybrid vehicle may include a transceiver capable of detecting proximity of said electromagnetic means and actuating drive switching to select the drive mode accordingly.
• the automatic switching of drive modes of a hybrid vehicle may be provided with at least a radio frequency (RF) transmitter which field of transmission covering at least a gateway to said area and providing on-board said vehicle at least a receiver capable of receiving the transmitted RF, upon which the drive mode of said vehicle is switched from one drive mode to the other.
• the first drive mode is desirably to be driven within said pre-designated area is non-emissive, including battery-powered drive while the second drive mode is a combustion powered drive to be driven outside said pre-designated area.
• a plurality of RF transmitters may be placed in and about said pre-designated area providing an RF field covering the area.
• a plurality of RF transmitters may be placed around said pre- designated area defining a perimeter thereof.
• a single frequency or frequency range may be employed to signal to the receiver to switch on and off alternately upon each occurrence of detection.
• Preferably, 2 frequencies or frequency ranges are employed to signal to the receiver to switch on and to switch off respectively.
• the switching to operate a first drive mode is maintained as long as the receiver detects the RF, and in the absence of such RF being detected, a second drive mode is switched on.
• the switching is preset to operate with a time lag to achieve a switching a buffer distance of about 5 m away from the pre-designated area.
• the RF emitted is at small or low frequency.
• Our method may be embodied in a hybrid vehicle for use in between open area and closed area including baggage tow vehicle, mobile conveyor, support and supply vehicles, fork lift, cargo handling vehicles and the like. Our method may also be incorporated in a system wherein the electromagnetic means, transponder, transmitter or receiver, or combination thereof may be implemented in a method for automatically switching hybrid vehicle drives in warehouse, cargo terminal and like environment.
• FIGURE 1 illustrates schematically an area, such as terminal or warehouse building, which requires a specific mode of drive of a hybrid vehicle being covered or defined by overlapping fields of radio frequency transmissions according to one embodiment of our invention
• FIGURE 2 shows a schematic diagram of a drive transmission for a hybrid vehicle with a control system according to another embodiment of our invention
• FIGURE 3 depicts a schematic diagram of RF control circuit on board a hybrid vehicle according to another embodiment of our invention.
• FIGURE 4 illustrates an algorithm of the automatic switching between the two operating modes of drive according to our invention.
• a hybrid vehicle which may be defined as including a hybrid electric-petroleum vehicle.
• the switching is actuated relative to a pre-designated area wherein it is desirable for the vehicle to be driven in a first drive mode within the area and in a second drive mode outside said area.
• the first mode is a non-emissive or emission- free non oxygen depleting, non high heat generating drive such as battery- powered motor operation while the second drive mode is an internal combustion engine.
• Our method includes, in principle, deploying electromagnetic means to define at least a gateway to the pre-designated area and further providing, on-board the hybrid vehicle, means to detect the electromagnetic means. Upon the detection of the electromagnetic means, the drive mode of the vehicle is switched from one drive mode to the other.
• electromagnetic means include any signal or field of the electromagnetic spectrum including radio waves or radio frequency or Infra-red or laser or ultrasonic or location based sensors (GPS) or visual identification, and any active or passive electronic device operative with such signal or field, including transponder, transmitter, receiver, camera and the like.
• Gateway will also be understood as entrance or exits of (or used for entering and exiting) a zero-emission control area, which in the following an air- conditioned warehouse will be used as an example of such emission controlled area.
• the electromagnetic means may be deployed only at the entrances to or exits from the area in which zero emission policy is to be enforced, or multiple units of the electromagnetic means may be deployed so as to define a perimeter around the area.
• the electromagnetic means may be an active or passive device such as a transponder placed at the gateway to the warehouse whereby the hybrid vehicle may pass as it enters or exits the warehouse.
• passive transponders such as embodied in the popular radio frequency identification (RFID) tags
• RFID or passive transponder it may derive power from radio waves coming into contact with it and generate a signal to be read by a receiver.
• a suitable RF transceiver may be installed at a position on board the hybrid vehicle that could easily transmit RF to and receive signal from the transponder.
• the signal received from the transponder could then be programmed to actuate an electronic circuit on the hybrid vehicle that could perform the switching of drive modes, e.g. switching off the ignition to the combustion engine and switching on the battery-powered motor to continue driving the vehicle.
• gateways may be quickly set up or changed as a situation warrants.
• Many of the features of our invention may be incorporated into hybrid marine vehicles in addition to land- based vehicles. E.g. ecological tours in open vegetation or wildlife areas where exhaust fumes and excessive combustion engine noise would drive away insects or animals to be observed, or react to volatile fluids, such transponder gateways may be quickly set up or repositioned according to terrain, tide, migration of creatures or drift of oil slick, etc., so that the hybrid vehicle or boat enters the controlled area with the least hazardous mode of drive.
• the method of our invention may also be implement by providing at least a radio frequency (RF) transmitter which field of transmission covering at least a gateway to controlled area, such as the example of a warehouse, and also providing on-board the hybrid vehicle at least a receiver capable of receiving the transmitted RF.
• RF radio frequency
• the transmitters may be arranged in a layout and in sufficient numbers to cover each of the gateways to the warehouse, or form a complete perimeter around the warehouse, or as shown in FIGURE 1, to completely cover the floor area of the warehouse 10 with a perimeter space 12 as buffer.
• FIGURE 2 shows a schematic diagram of a hybrid vehicle 20 having a drive transmission which may be controlled with an auto-switching control system according to our present invention.
• the RF control system Key to the RF control system is the RF Receiver Board 22 which components and circuit board may be installed at a suitable location for ease of receiving RF depending on the transmitter's location and height with respect to the vehicle's passing by the transmitter, i.e. whether on the left or right side, window or bumper height, etc., which is also dependent on the strength or distance of effective transmission of the radio wave.
• a logic device on board the RF Receiver Board 22 may activate or deactivate the combustion engine 24, as the case may be. If the engine 24 is activated, the battery power supply 26 will be deactivated and vice versa. If the engine is activated, the normal combustion drive transmission to the differential axle may occur and the driver may drive the vehicle as normal. A preferred embodiment of the drive transmission would be that shown in FIG. 2 wherein a generator 28 is shown coupled permanently to the engine wherein during combustion drive it is also used to run the generator 28 to recharge the battery 26 which may be regulated by a generator controller 30. If the engine 24 is deactivated, the generator controller
• the 30 may sense that the engine 24 is NOT running and will hence NOT charge the battery 26 but would instead, via a separate motor controller 32, enable the battery 26 to discharge to run a motor 34 to drive the vehicle's differential axle
• FIGURE 3 a schematic diagram of RF control circuit on board a hybrid vehicle is shown whereby the actuating signals may be transmitted via general input/output (GIO) ports A and B and which are shown connected via opto-couplers to protect the sensitive RF circuit from the excessive current or voltage of the components to be actuated.
• GIO general input/output
• the RF receiver board With this break in the electrical contact between the RF receiver board and the other components of the hybrid vehicle such as the high power relay and starter relay for the engine's starter connected to the GIO-A port and the fuel solenoid for starving off fuel to the engine which circuit is connected to GIO-B port of the RF Receiver Board, the RF receiving components are protected.
• this example of FIGURE 3 only shows the circuitry schematics for a diesel engine of the hybrid vehicle.
• connection to the ignition system may be provided.
• the signals from the transmitters that are received by the RF Receiver Board are transmitted via the GIO-A and GIO-B ports according to digital logic whereby time lag (shown in FIGURE 4 is 3 seconds) may be set so that the vehicle moves clear of the warehouse perimeter before the diesel engine is started and the battery power switched off to switch the drive mode to combustion mode.
• the preferred buffer distance is about 5 metres from the warehouse gateway and the time lag of 3 seconds may be varied according to the vehicle's average - speed to achieve the desired buffer distance.
• Another preferred feature is to install multiple transmitters that provide lower power transmissions as compared to a single transmitters with a higher power transmission so as to reduce health risks to the driver and personnel working in and around the warehouse.
• our invention may also be implemented for a wide range of hybrid vehicles to be driven alternating between open area and closed area including airport baggage tow vehicle, mobile conveyor, hospital buses, eco- friendly theme park buses, Inter-City Center Buses, support and supply vehicles, fork lift, cargo handling vehicles and the like. It is also useful for setting a temporary or arbitrary perimeter or transient gateway to a protected wildlife, hazmat, disaster or hostility zone where exhaust gas or noise cannot be tolerated. [033] It will also be apparent to a skilled person to modify and adapt our invention to a wide range of configurations.
• a temporary gateway may be set up at any time or at any point by having the transponder devices affixed at removable pole stands marking the gateway.
• active transponder may be used instead. If more signal inputs are to be processed apart from the detection of the ON or OFF RF signals to decide if the vehicle's drive switching should be activated, more complicated logic flow or artificial intelligence technology may be employed.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Transportation (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Automation & Control Theory (AREA)
• Electric Propulsion And Braking For Vehicles (AREA)
• Hybrid Electric Vehicles (AREA)

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• 2007
  • 2007-10-01 CN CN200780101380A patent/CN101842277A/zh active Pending
  • 2007-10-01 WO PCT/SG2007/000331 patent/WO2009045166A1/en active Application Filing

Patent Citations (3)

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