Fuel cell/battery hybrid power system for vehicle
US5631532A · kind A · utility
Assignees
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 31, 1994 |
| Grant date | May 20, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 31, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S903/944
- WIPO fieldTransport
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A hybrid type power source control system controls the output of a fuel cell, with disregard of the operation of the vehicle accelerator pedal, responsive to the detected amount of residual charge of the battery, which amount fluctuates as the vehicle travels. For example, the output of the fuel cell system 3 might be 3 kW when the residual charge is from 70% to 90%, 5 kW when the residual charge is from 70% to 60% and 10 kW when the residual charge is below 60%. Consequently, the fuel cell system 3 can generate power with an efficiency of from 30% to 33% and can charge the battery 1 effectively. Because the output of the fuel cell is fixed for each of the rather broad ranges of residual battery charge, thermal fatigue of the fuel cell is prevented because of little output fluctuation. When the electric motor is continuously operated, the fuel cell continuously charges the battery to maintain a fully charged stated, optionally with some allowance for fluctuation thereof. When a fixed charge time is manually input, the output of the fuel cell is selected to fully charge (90%) the battery during the time selected.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.