JP2009068475A - Warming-up system of on-vehicle power train - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a warming-up system of an on-vehicle power train capable of instantly providing a warming-up effect when a user gets into a vehicle while achieving it in light weight and at low cost without requiring complicated parts and additional control and capable of reducing a working burden in connecting operation and disconnecting operation by the user. <P>SOLUTION: A housing hot water circuit using a domestic heat source is provided as a heat source, heat is taken in an engine cooling water circulating circuit by connecting the engine cooling water circulating circuit and the housing hot water circuit to each other before starting an engine and a one-touch connector to disconnect the engine cooling water circulating circuit and the housing hot water circuit from each other is provided after taking in the heat. The one-touch connector carries out connecting/disconnecting operation by communicating and cutting off both of branch pipes branched from the engine cooling water circulating circuit to and from each other. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle powertrain warm-up system that takes in heat from a heat source into a vehicle-side warm-up circuit and promotes in-vehicle powertrain warm-up such as an engine, a transmission, and a motor.

  Hybrid vehicles, which are expected to increase in demand as vehicles with environmentally friendly powertrains, have less exhausted heat than engine vehicles, and the cabin temperature will remain low for a while even when the vehicle starts off in cold weather. In addition, there is concern about insufficient heating performance.

In addition to improving the fuel efficiency of the engine itself, promoting warm-up of the engine and transmission is an important technology for improving fuel efficiency. As a countermeasure for promoting warm-up, there is currently known a method for operating an internal combustion engine for power generation of a hybrid vehicle that preheats an exhaust gas catalyst before starting the internal combustion engine (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Further, in a hybrid vehicle having an engine cooling circuit and a motor cooling circuit, a vehicle waste heat utilization device that collects waste heat and promotes warm-up is known (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
Japanese Patent No. 2874449 JP 2006-321389 A

  However, in the conventional method of operating an internal combustion engine for power generation of a hybrid vehicle, it is necessary to inject more fuel than usual for heating and warming up in engine combustion control, which eventually becomes a factor of deterioration of fuel consumption. ing.

  Moreover, in the conventional waste heat utilization apparatus for vehicles, the case where the effect is not fully exhibited by the weight increase by the increase in a number of parts in exhaust heat recovery or heat storage is considered. In addition, it is one of the causes of cost increase due to the addition of components and system circuits and the addition of complicated control.

  Furthermore, since all of the above conventional methods use an internal heat source of the vehicle, at the time of starting in a cold district or winter, at least several minutes from when the engine is started to when the engine warm-up is completed. Takes time, and there is a problem that a warm-up effect with immediate effect cannot be obtained.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above problems, and does not require addition of complicated parts and controls, and can be handled at a low cost and at the same time, while obtaining a warm-up effect immediately when the user enters the vehicle. An object of the present invention is to provide an on-vehicle powertrain warm-up system that can reduce the work load of connection operation and disconnection operation by a user.

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, in the warm-up system for an in-vehicle powertrain that takes in heat from a heat source into the warm-up circuit on the vehicle side and promotes warm-up of the in-vehicle powertrain,
As the heat source, a residential heat source circuit using a household heat source is provided,
A connector for connecting both circuits to the vehicle warm-up circuit and the house-side heat source circuit to connect the two circuits before starting the in-vehicle powertrain and to take heat into the vehicle-side warm-up circuit, and to disconnect both circuits after taking in the heat Provided,
The connector is a one-touch connector that connects and disconnects both branch pipes simply by connecting / disconnecting the first branch pipe branched from the vehicle side warm-up circuit and the second branch pipe branched from the residential heat source circuit. It is characterized by being.

Therefore, in the warming-up system for the in-vehicle power train of the present invention, the vehicle-side warming-up circuit and the house-side heat source circuit are communicated only by performing a connection operation with the one-touch connector before starting the in-vehicle power train. Heat is taken into the vehicle warm-up circuit from the house-side heat source circuit in the connected state of both circuits. And after taking in heat to the vehicle side warming-up circuit side, a vehicle-side warming-up circuit and a house side heat source circuit are interrupted | blocked only by performing isolation | separation operation with a one-touch connector.
That is, it uses household thermal energy to promote warm-up of the in-vehicle powertrain. For example, the same antifreezing liquid (LLC) as vehicle cooling water is used as hot water for home floor heating, and the engine cooling water circulation of the vehicle Hot water from the hot water circuit for home floor heating is fed into the circuit.
Thus, since it is possible to add, for example, only a branch pipe or a connector as an additional part on the vehicle side, it is not necessary to add complicated parts or control, and the weight and cost are reduced.
And, by getting heat into the vehicle warm-up circuit in advance before getting into the vehicle, a warm-up effect can be obtained immediately when the user gets into the vehicle. For example, in the case of engine warm-up in which the temperature of engine cooling water is increased, there is no feeling of cooling at the initial stage of engine start and no increase in fuel injection amount is required, leading to improved fuel efficiency.
In addition, since the one-touch connector that connects and disconnects the first branch pipe and the second branch pipe simply by performing the connection / disconnection operation, the work load of the connection operation and disconnection operation by the user is reduced.
As a result, it is possible to obtain a warm-up effect immediately when the user gets into the vehicle while not requiring the addition of complicated parts and control, and it can be handled at a light weight and low cost, and the user can perform connection operation and disconnection operation. The work burden can be reduced.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for realizing a warm-up system for an in-vehicle powertrain of the present invention will be described based on Example 1 and Example 2 shown in the drawings.

First, the configuration will be described.
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an engine vehicle to which a warm-up system and a warm-up method of an engine (an example of an in-vehicle power train) according to a first embodiment are applied. FIG. 2 is an overall system diagram illustrating the engine warm-up system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a disconnected state immediately before the connector is connected in the engine warm-up system of the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a connector connection state in the engine warm-up system of the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the engine warm-up system of the first embodiment takes heat from a heat source into the engine coolant circulation circuit 1 (vehicle-side warm-up circuit) of the vehicle and promotes warm-up of the engine E. As the heat source, a house warm water circuit 2 (house side heat source circuit) using a household heat source is provided, and both circuits 1 and 2 are connected to the engine coolant circulation circuit 1 and the house warm water circuit 2 before starting the engine E. A one-touch connector 3 (connector) is provided for connecting and taking heat into the engine coolant circulation circuit 1 and separating the circuits 1 and 2 after taking heat.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the engine coolant circulation circuit 1 is a circuit for connecting an engine E, a radiator 4 and a heater core 5 in parallel. As engine coolant, an antifreezing liquid (LLC: Long Life Coolant) is used. Yes. In addition, the said heater core 5 is arrange | positioned in the air-conditioner unit case for vehicle interior heating.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the house warm water circuit 2 circulates warm water (warm water) for home floor heating stored in the tank 7 by a heater 6 (house heat source) that is heated using electricity or gas at midnight. As the aqueous medium, the same antifreeze as the engine cooling water is used. That is, the engine coolant circulation circuit 1 and the house warm water circuit 2 are circuits using the same aqueous medium.

As shown in FIG. 2, the house warm water circuit 2 circulates warm water through the warm water circulation switching valve 8 that switches the warm water to the vehicle circulation side, the house warm water circuit 2, and the engine coolant circulation circuit 1 when taking heat. And a circulating pump 9 to be provided.
Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the hot water circulation switching valve 8 is provided on the side of the main circuit, and the hot water stored in the tank 7 is circulated in the house hot water circuit 2 during floor heating for driving the circulation pump 9. The floor heating heat exchanger 10 to be introduced is included.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the one-touch connector 3 includes a vehicle-side jack 3 a provided at a position of the first branch pipes 301 and 301 ′ branched from the engine coolant circulation circuit 1 and a first branch branched from the residential hot water circuit 2. And a housing-side plug 3b provided at the position of the two branch pipes 302, 302 ′.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the one-touch connector 3 is simply connected to the vehicle-side jack 3a and the house-side plug 3b, and in the connected state, the first branch pipes 301 and 301 ′ and the second branch pipes 302 and 302 are connected. Communicate '. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the one-touch connector 3 simply disconnects the vehicle-side jack 3a and the house-side plug 3b, and in the disconnected state, the first branch pipes 301, 301 ′ and the second branch pipe 302 are disconnected. , 302 'is cut off.

  That is, in the vehicle side jack 3a at the time of disconnection, the inlet opening 304 is closed by the inlet lid 305 by the biasing force of the spring 303 provided in the first branch pipe 301 as shown in FIG. The outlet opening 307 is closed by the outlet lid 308 by the urging force of the spring 306 provided at '. The butterfly valve 309 in the engine coolant circulation circuit 1 is open. For this reason, the normal engine coolant circulation circuit 1 is formed so that the engine coolant flows in the direction of the arrow.

  In the housing-side plug 3b at the time of disconnection, as shown in FIG. 3, the inlet opening 315 is closed by the inlet lid 316 by the biasing force of the spring 314 provided in the second branch pipe 302, and the second branch pipe 302 ' The outlet opening 318 is closed by the outlet lid 319 by the biasing force of the provided spring 317.

  On the other hand, in the vehicle side jack 3a at the time of connection, as shown in FIG. 4, the inlet pushing end portions 310, 310 formed in the second branch pipe 302 push the inlet lid 305 against the urging force of the spring 303. The inlet opening 304 is opened, and the outlet pushing ends 311 and 311 formed in the second branch pipe 302 ′ push the outlet lid 308 against the biasing force of the spring 306 to open the outlet opening 307. Then, the butterfly valve 309 provided at a position between the inlet opening 304 and the outlet opening 307 in the engine coolant circulation circuit 1 is pushed and closed by the first push rod 320 formed on the inlet lid 305.

  In the housing-side plug 3b at the time of connection, as shown in FIG. 4, the second push-out bar 321 formed on the inlet lid 305 pushes the inlet lid 316 against the urging force of the spring 314, thereby opening the inlet opening 315. The outlet opening 318 is opened when the third pushing bar 322 formed on the outlet lid 308 pushes the outlet lid 319 against the urging force of the spring 317.

  Therefore, warm water from the house warm water circuit 2 flows into the engine coolant circulation circuit 1 in the direction of the arrow from the inlet openings 315 and 304, and engine coolant from the engine coolant circulation circuit 1 flows from the outlet openings 307 and 318 in the direction of the arrow to the house warm water. It flows out to the circuit 2. In addition, in order to ensure a watertight sealability at the time of connection, the second branch pipes 302 and 302 ′ are provided with an inlet side O-ring 312 and an outlet side O-ring 313.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle side jack 3a of the one-touch connector 3 is set around the fender of the vehicle, opens when the housing side plug 3b is connected, and closes after the housing side plug 3b is disconnected. 11. Note that the opening / closing lid 11 is an opening / closing lid whose shape is set to be a continuous surface that is integral with the vehicle body outer panel surface when the lid is closed, for example, so as to be set at a gasoline filler port.

  Next, the configuration of the plug-in warm-up control system in the engine warm-up system of the first embodiment will be described. Here, “plug-in warm-up” is a state in which the housing-side plug 3b of the connector 3 is connected to the vehicle-side jack 3a (plug-in), and warm-up of the engine E is promoted by the warm water of the housing warm water circuit 2 ( Warm-up).

  As shown in FIG. 2, the plug-in warm-up control system includes a plug-in warm-up controller 12 as an arithmetic processing circuit. The operation panel of the plug-in warm-up controller 12 has a manual switch 13, an auto switch 14, a timer setting dial 15, and an operation lamp 16.

  Further, the plug-in warm-up controller 12 receives sensor signals and switch signals from the outside air temperature sensor 17, the hot water temperature sensor 18, the connector connection switch 19, and the like. Further, the plug-in warm-up controller 12 outputs a control command to the hot water circulation switching valve 8 and the circulation pump 9.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of the plug-in warm-up control process executed by the plug-in warm-up controller 12 according to the first embodiment. Each step will be described below.

In step S1, it is determined whether or not the switch signal from the connector connection switch 19 has changed from OFF to ON. If YES, the process proceeds to step S2, and if NO, the determination in step S1 is repeated.
That is, in this step S1, it is confirmed by the change of the switch signal from the connector connection switch 19 that the plug-in operation for connecting the house-side plug 3b of the one-touch connector 3 to the vehicle-side jack 3a has been performed.

In step S2, following the determination that the plug-in operation has been performed in step S1, it is determined whether or not the switch signal from the manual switch 13 is ON. If YES, the process proceeds to step S5, and NO is determined. If so, the process proceeds to step S3.
That is, in the first embodiment, manual control and automatic control can be selected as plug-in warm-up control, but manual control by operating the manual switch 13 is performed with priority over automatic control.

  In step S3, following the determination that the switch signal from the manual switch 13 is OFF in step S2, it is determined whether or not the switch signal from the auto switch 14 is ON. If YES, the process proceeds to step S4. If NO, the process returns to step S2.

In step S4, following the determination that the switch signal from the auto switch 14 is ON in step S3, it is determined whether or not the set time set by the timer setting dial 15 has been reached. The process proceeds to S5. If NO, the process returns to Step S2.
Here, the timer setting dial 15 sets the operation start time so that the inflow of hot water into the vehicle is completed before the engine operation is started (for example, 10 minutes before). A waiting time may be set such as after minutes, or a clock time may be set such as 6:00 am.

  In step S5, following the determination that the manual switch 13 is ON in step S2 or the determination that the timer set time has been reached in step S4, the outside temperature To from the outside temperature sensor 17 at that time Then, the hot water temperature Tw from the hot water temperature sensor 18 is read, and the process proceeds to step S6.

In step S6, following the reading of the outside air temperature To and the hot water temperature Tw in step S5, a command to switch the hot water to the vehicle circulation side is output to the hot water circulation switching valve 8 and a command to drive the circulation pump 9 is output. The process proceeds to step S7.
Since the circulation pump 9 is also drive-controlled on the home heating controller side, the pump drive state is maintained when the pump is already in the pump drive state for floor heating control.

In step S7, following the output of the hot water circulation start command to the hot water circulation switching valve 8 and the circulation pump 9 in step S6, the target warm-up temperature T ^* based on the outside air temperature To and the hot water temperature Tw read in step S5 ^. Is set, and the process proceeds to step S8.
Here, an example of setting the target warm-up temperature T ^* will be described. Since the engine cooling water temperature can be estimated from the outside air temperature To, the temperature rise of the engine cooling water reached when the engine cooling water and the hot water are circulated by changing the temperature difference between the hot water temperature and the engine cooling water temperature through experiments. Find and map it. The target warm-up temperature T ^* is set by obtaining the temperature rise of the engine coolant based on the difference temperature between the hot water temperature Tw and the outside air temperature To and the map, and adding this temperature rise to the outside air temperature To.

In step S8, following the setting of the target warm-up temperature T ^* in step S7, it is determined whether or not the hot water temperature Tw from the hot water temperature sensor 18 has become equal to or lower than the target warm-up temperature T ^*. The process proceeds to S10, and if NO, the process proceeds to step S9.
In other words, the hot water temperature Tw gradually decreases due to the circulating mixing of the hot water and the engine cooling water, but when the hot water temperature Tw becomes equal to or lower than the target warm-up temperature T ^* , This is because it can be estimated that engine warm-up has been completed. By the way, the time required for circulating and mixing warm water and engine cooling water is about 30 seconds, and the completion of engine warm-up may be estimated by timer management from the start of circulation.

In step S9, following the determination that Tw> T ^* in step S8, it is determined whether or not the switch signal from the manual switch 13 is OFF. If YES, the process proceeds to step S10, and NO is determined. If so, the process returns to step S8.

In step S10, following the determination in step S8 that Tw ≦ T ^* or the determination in step S9 that the manual switch 13 is OFF, the hot water is supplied to the hot water circulation switching valve 8 via the hot water circuit circulation side. And a command to stop the circulation pump 9 are output, and the process proceeds to return.
Since the circulation pump 9 is also driven and controlled on the home heating controller side, the pump drive state is maintained without stopping the circulation pump 9 when a pump drive command is issued on the floor heating control side. To do.

Next, the operation will be described.
First, “vehicle warm-up promotion technology” will be described, and then the operation of the engine warm-up system of the first embodiment will be described as “plug-in warm-up operation by manual operation”, “automatic plug-in by automatic control”. The explanation will be divided into “warm-up action”.

[Vehicle warm-up promotion technology]
Current vehicle warm-up promotion technologies are performed by methods such as increasing the engine speed, recovering waste heat, and storing heat. Among these, when the engine speed is increased, the fuel consumption increases, resulting in deterioration of fuel consumption. In addition, since any method of increasing the engine speed, recovering waste heat, and storing heat uses the thermal energy of the vehicle itself, the engine warms up from the time when the engine is started when starting in cold regions or in winter. By the time the machine is completed, it takes at least a few minutes, and the immediate effect of warm-up is insufficient.

  On the other hand, the development of environmentally friendly technologies that raise fuel efficiency as one of the goals has been advanced, and hybrid vehicles, biofuel engine vehicles, idle stop vehicles, and the like have been proposed. However, since these vehicles aim to reduce the thermal energy generated by the vehicles themselves, it is difficult to promote warm-up compared to general engine vehicles.

  That is, in the case of a vehicle based on environmentally-friendly technology, in order to achieve a desired fuel efficiency improvement, it is important to promote warm-up of engines, transmissions, and the like as in general engine vehicles. However, as the environment-friendly technology advances, the amount of heat energy generated by the vehicle itself increases, so that the amount of heat energy used for warm-up becomes insufficient as compared with general engine vehicles.

Therefore, the present inventor cannot solve the immediate effect of warm-up by following the idea of using the thermal energy of the vehicle itself, and the point of using external thermal energy instead of the vehicle thermal energy. Focusing on the use of household heating media or waste heat as external heat energy.
According to this point of interest,
-Circulate the home heating medium (hot water) to the car body at the time of key-off.
-The connection part (connector) should be structured to make the work of the user as easy as possible.
-The timer function controls the operation so that the warm-up is completed before starting the engine.
We proposed a warm-up system for in-vehicle powertrains with a plug-in warm-up based on the concept.

[Manual plug-in warm-up operation]
For example, when it becomes necessary to run a vehicle parked at home at an unscheduled time in cold regions or in winter, first, go to the parking lot and open the opening / closing lid 11 before starting the engine E. The house side plug 3b is connected to the exposed vehicle side jack 3a. By the connection operation of this one-touch connector 3, the engine coolant circulation circuit 1 and the house hot water circuit 2 are connected.

  When the manual switch 13 provided on the operation panel of the plug-in warm-up controller 12 is operated to turn on the switch, the process proceeds from step S1 to step S2 to step S5 to step S6 in the flowchart of FIG. In S6, a command to switch the hot water to the vehicle circulation side is output to the hot water circulation switching valve 8 and a command to drive the circulation pump 9 is output. And it progresses from step S6 to step S7-> step S8-> step S9, and heat is taken in into the engine-cooling-water circulation circuit 1 by repeating the flow of step S8-> step S9.

  Therefore, the hot water of the residential hot water circuit 2 flows into the engine cooling water circulation circuit 1 in a connected state of the engine cooling water circulation circuit 1 and the residential hot water circuit 2, and further, low-temperature engine cooling water is supplied from the engine cooling water circulation circuit 1 to the residential hot water circuit. Returning to 2, the circulation flow of the warm water is repeated, heat is taken into the engine coolant circulation circuit 1 from the house warm water circuit 2, and the temperature of the engine coolant rises.

  Wait for a while with the manual switch 13 turned on, and operate the manual switch 13 provided on the operation panel of the plug-in warm-up controller 12 at the time before the engine warm-up completion condition in step S8 is satisfied. When it is off, in the flowchart of FIG. 5, the process proceeds from step S9 to step S10. In step S10, a command for switching to the hot water circuit is output to the hot water circulation switching valve 8, and when floor heating is not used. A command to stop the circulation pump 9 is output.

  If the engine warm-up completion condition in step S8 is satisfied while the manual switch 13 is kept on, the process proceeds from step S8 to step S10 in the flowchart of FIG. 5. In step S10, the hot water circulation switching valve 8 is set. In contrast, a command to switch to the hot water circuit side is output, and a command to stop the circulation pump 9 is output when floor heating is not used.

  Thereafter, the housing-side plug 3b is disconnected from the vehicle-side jack 3a, and the one-touch connector 3 is disconnected to close the opened opening / closing lid 11, whereby the engine cooling water circulation circuit 1 and the house warm water circuit 2 are disconnected.

  Therefore, when the user gets into the vehicle and starts the engine, the engine warm-up effect is immediately obtained by the plug-in warm-up action, and the vehicle interior heating by the heater core 5 is exhibited from the beginning of the engine start, and the user is cooled. It does not give a feeling and it is not necessary to increase the fuel injection amount, which leads to an improvement in fuel consumption.

[Auto plug-in warm-up action by automatic control]
For example, when driving a vehicle parked at home in the cold or winter season at the same morning work hours as usual, return to the home the night before to stop the vehicle at the parking lot and turn off the engine. After getting off the vehicle, the opening / closing lid 11 is opened, and the housing side plug 3b is connected to the exposed vehicle side jack 3a. By the connection operation of this one-touch connector 3, the engine coolant circulation circuit 1 and the house hot water circuit 2 are connected.

  Then, the auto switch 14 provided on the operation panel of the plug-in warm-up controller 12 is operated to switch on, the warm-up start time is set by the timer setting dial 15, and the vehicle is separated from the vehicle. When starting warming up at a fixed time every day, the setting operation by the timer setting dial 15 is not necessary.

  When this automatic setting operation is performed, in the flowchart of FIG. 5, the process proceeds from step S1 to step S2 to step S3 to step S4. In step S4, the timer set time has not been reached, so step S2 to step S3. → The process of proceeding to step S4 is repeated, and the process waits until the warm-up starts.

  Then, in the next morning, when it is determined in step S4 that the timer set time has been reached, the process proceeds from step S4 to step S5 to step S6. In step S6, hot water is moved to the vehicle circulation side with respect to the hot water circulation switching valve 8. A command for switching and a command for driving the circulation pump 9 are output. And it progresses from step S6 to step S7-> step S8-> step S9, and heat is taken in into the engine-cooling-water circulation circuit 1 by repeating the flow of step S8-> step S9.

  Therefore, the hot water of the residential hot water circuit 2 flows into the engine cooling water circulation circuit 1 in a connected state of the engine cooling water circulation circuit 1 and the residential hot water circuit 2, and further, low-temperature engine cooling water is supplied from the engine cooling water circulation circuit 1 to the residential hot water circuit. Returning to 2, the circulation flow of the warm water is repeated, heat is taken into the engine coolant circulation circuit 1 from the house warm water circuit 2, and the temperature of the engine coolant rises.

  When the engine warm-up progresses and the engine warm-up completion condition in step S8 is satisfied, the process proceeds from step S8 to step S10 in the flowchart of FIG. 5, and in step S10, the warm water circulation switching valve 8 And a command to stop the circulation pump 9 are output when floor heating is not used.

  After that, the user who came to the parking lot to get into the vehicle disconnects the housing side plug 3b from the vehicle side jack 3a, and performs the operation of disconnecting the one-touch connector 3 that closes the opened opening / closing lid 11, thereby the engine coolant circulation circuit. 1 and the house warm water circuit 2 are separated.

  Therefore, when the user gets into the vehicle and starts the engine, the engine warm-up effect is immediately obtained by the plug-in warm-up action, and the vehicle interior heating by the heater core 5 is exhibited from the beginning of the engine start, and the user is cooled. It does not give a feeling and it is not necessary to increase the fuel injection amount, which leads to an improvement in fuel consumption.

  It should be noted that, regardless of whether the operation is manual operation or automatic control, when the user forgets to disconnect the one-touch connector 3 and tries to start the engine E when the user gets into the vehicle, the one-touch connector 3 is in the connected state. It is notified by a buzzer sound and a blinking lamp. In this case, an alarm function based on a switch signal from a connector connection switch provided on the vehicle side is added to the alarm control system on the vehicle side. Further, in addition to the alarm, the engine E start prohibition measure may be taken until the connector connection is confirmed.

Next, the effect will be described.
In the on-vehicle powertrain warm-up system of the first embodiment, the effects listed below can be obtained.

  (1) In a vehicle powertrain warm-up system that takes in heat from a heat source into the vehicle-side warm-up circuit and promotes warm-up of the vehicle-mounted power train, a housing-side heat source circuit that uses a household heat source is provided as the heat source, A connector for connecting both circuits to the vehicle warm-up circuit and the house-side heat source circuit to connect the two circuits before starting the in-vehicle powertrain and to take heat into the vehicle-side warm-up circuit, and to disconnect both circuits after taking in the heat The connector can be constructed by simply connecting / disconnecting the first branch pipes 301, 301 ′ branching from the vehicle side warm-up circuit and the second branch pipes 302, 302 ′ branching from the residential heat source circuit. One-touch connector 3 that cuts off communication between 301, 301 ', 302, and 302', so it does not require complicated parts or additional controls, and can be handled at a light weight and low cost. As well as being able to obtain results, it is possible to reduce the work load of the connection operation and disconnection operation by the user.

  (2) Since the vehicle-side warm-up circuit is a vehicle engine coolant circulation circuit 1, and the house-side heat source circuit is a house warm water circuit 2 through which the warm water stored in the tank 7 is circulated by the household heat source. When the user gets into the vehicle, an engine warm-up effect can be obtained immediately, the vehicle interior heating by the heater core 5 can be exhibited from the beginning of the engine start, and fuel consumption can be improved. In addition, the hot water can be communicated / blocked only by connecting and disconnecting the one-touch connector 3.

  The second embodiment is an example in which the one-touch connector is used as both a hot water connection and a charge connection when applied to a plug-in hybrid vehicle that can charge a battery with a household power source.

First, the configuration will be described.
FIG. 6 is an overall perspective view showing a plug-in hybrid vehicle to which a warm-up system of an engine (an example of an in-vehicle powertrain) according to a second embodiment is applied. FIG. 7 is a view showing a housing-side connector portion in a plug-in hybrid vehicle to which the engine warm-up system of the second embodiment is applied. FIG. 7A is a view showing the housing-side connector portion in the direction of FIG. ) Shows a side view of the housing side connector part.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the plug-in hybrid vehicle 21 has a charging connection portion 22 that charges a vehicle-mounted battery from a house-side power source. The vehicle-side warm-up circuit in the plug-in hybrid vehicle 21 is an engine coolant circulation circuit as in the first embodiment, and the house-side heat source circuit is stored in a tank by a household heat source, as in the first embodiment. This is a residential hot water circuit where hot water is distributed.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the one-touch connector 23 according to the second embodiment includes a vehicle-side connector portion 24 set at the position of the charging connection portion 22 and a housing-side connector portion set at the end portion position of the branch pipe from the housing hot water circuit. 25. And charging connection is performed simultaneously with the warm water connection (warm-up heat connection) of an engine cooling water circulation circuit and a house warm water circuit by one connection operation.

  The vehicle-side connector portion 24 includes a hot water inflow pipe and a hot water discharge pipe constituting a vehicle side jack provided at the end position of the first branch pipe branched from the engine coolant circulation circuit, and a charge provided at the position of the vehicle side jack. Collecting outlets. Although illustration of this vehicle side connector part 24 is abbreviate | omitted, it is a structure of the housing side connector part 25 and a pair.

  As shown in FIG. 7 (a), the housing-side connector section 25 includes a hot-water inflow pipe 26 and a hot-water discharge pipe 27 that constitute a housing-side plug provided at the end position of the second branch pipe branched from the house hot water circuit. And charging plugs 28 provided at the position of the house side plug.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 (a) and 7 (b), the housing-side connector portion 25 has the charging plug 28 disposed at the upper position, and the hot water inflow pipe 26 and the hot water drain pipe 27 are disposed below the charging plug 28. Placed in position. And the partition plate 29 which protrudes in a connector axial direction from the connection member end surface is set in the position between the plug 28 for charge, the warm water inflow pipe 26, and the warm water drain pipe 27.

  The housing-side connector 25 includes a warm hose structure that surrounds the hot water inflow pipe 26, the hot water drain pipe 27, the charging plug 28, and the partition plate 29, at least including the outer peripheral position of the end gripped by the operator. It is covered with an electrical insulating layer 30. Further, the housing-side connector section 25 is provided with a breaker (not shown) that cuts off the energization to the charging plug 28 at the time of electric leakage at a middle position of the charging power circuit from the housing power source to the charging plug 28.

  Note that the one-touch connection structure of the hot water inflow pipe 26 and the hot water drain pipe 27 and the other system configuration in the one-touch connector 23 of the second embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment, and thus illustration and description thereof are omitted.

Next, the operation will be described.
As shown in FIG. 8, a plug-in hybrid vehicle that can charge a battery with a household power source increases the battery capacity as compared with a general hybrid vehicle, thereby extending the distance that can be traveled in the electric vehicle mode by the motor. Long-distance traveling and high-speed traveling are driven in a hybrid vehicle mode using an engine and a motor.

Since the ratio of using electricity as gasoline as a driving energy source increases, it can be expected to reduce CO ₂ and prevent air pollution compared to general hybrid vehicles. Charging with low-cost late-night electricity will give users the benefit of reducing fuel costs.

  Therefore, when the warm-up system of the present invention is adopted in a plug-in hybrid vehicle, if the connector for charging and the connector for warm-up are set independently, two opening / closing lids covering the connector are set on the vehicle side. In addition, it is necessary to perform a plug-in warm-up operation and a plug-in battery charging operation, respectively, which significantly increases the operation burden on the user.

  On the other hand, in Example 2, the hot water of the engine coolant circulation circuit and the hot water circuit of the house is obtained by a single connection operation of inserting the housing side connector part 25 into one vehicle side connector part 24 constituting the one-touch connector 23. At the same time as the connection, the charging connection is performed.

  Therefore, the charging connection can be performed following the connection operation for performing the hot water connection, and the hot water connection can be performed following the connection operation for performing the charging connection. As described above, the necessity of performing the plug-in warm-up operation and the plug-in battery charging operation is eliminated, so that the operation burden on the user can be reduced. When only the plug-in warm-up operation is desired, the power to the plug 28 for charging may be cut off by manual switch operation, and when only the plug-in battery charge operation is desired, The switching valve of the hot water circuit may be switched to the side where the hot water supply is stopped. Since other operations are the same as those of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

Next, the effect will be described.
In the in-vehicle powertrain warm-up system of the second embodiment, the effects listed below can be obtained in addition to the effects (1) and (2) of the first embodiment.

  (3) The vehicle is a plug-in hybrid vehicle 21 having a charging connection portion that charges a vehicle-mounted battery from a house-side power source, and the one-touch connector 23 is connected to the vehicle-side warm-up circuit by a single connection operation. Since the plug-in warm-up operation and the plug-in battery charging operation can be performed by a single operation since the charging connection is performed simultaneously with the warm-up heat connection of the house side heat source circuit, the plug-in hybrid vehicle 21 User operation burden can be reduced.

  (4) The vehicle-side warm-up circuit is a vehicle engine coolant circulation circuit, and the house-side heat source circuit is a house warm water circuit in which warm water stored in a tank is circulated by the household heat source, and the engine coolant circulation A vehicle side jack is provided at the end position of the first branch pipe branched from the circuit, a charging outlet is provided at the position of the vehicle side jack, and the housing is provided at the end position of the second branch pipe branched from the residential hot water circuit. A vehicle-side connector in which a hot-water inflow pipe, a hot-water discharge pipe, and a charging outlet that form the vehicle-side jack are gathered. Part 24, and a hot water inflow pipe 26, a hot water discharge pipe 27, and a housing side connector part 25 in which charging plugs 28 are assembled. Due to the configuration, the engine warm-up with immediate effect and the battery power storage that extends the travel distance by the motor travel mode are achieved by a single operation of simply connecting the housing-side connector portion 25 to the vehicle-side connector portion 24. be able to.

  (5) The housing-side connector portion 25 has the charging plug 28 arranged at the upper position, and the hot water inflow pipe 26 and the hot water drain pipe 27 are arranged at the lower position of the charging plug 28, so Even if there is a water leak from the pipe 26 or the hot water drain pipe 27, it does not flow into the charging plug 28 and the occurrence of electric leakage can be prevented beforehand.

  (6) The housing-side connector portion 25 has a partition plate 29 that protrudes in the connector axial direction from the end face of the connecting member at a position between the charging plug 28 and the hot water inflow pipe 26 and the hot water drain pipe 27. For this reason, even if the hot water is scattered from the hot water inflow pipe 26 or the hot water drain pipe 27 to the charging plug 28 side, it is received by the partition plate 29, and the hot water scattering to the charging plug 28 side can be reliably prevented.

  (7) Since the housing-side connector portion 25 covers at least the outer peripheral position of the end portion gripped by the operator with the electrical insulating layer 30, even if leakage occurs, the user can be protected by electrical insulation. .

  (8) Since the housing-side connector portion 25 is provided with a breaker that cuts off the power supply to the charging plug 28 in the middle of the charging power supply circuit from the housing power source to the charging plug 28, for example, an electric leakage Even if this occurs, the user can be protected by turning off the power. In other words, double protection measures are taken against the occurrence of electric leakage.

  As mentioned above, although the warm-up system of the vehicle-mounted powertrain of this invention has been demonstrated based on Example 1 and Example 2, it is not restricted to these Examples about a concrete structure, Claim of Claim Changes and additions in the design of the warm-up system and changes and additions in the warm-up method are allowed without departing from the spirit of the invention according to each claim.

  In the first and second embodiments, an example is shown in which hot water for household use is directly drawn into the vehicle by plug-in warm-up. In the concept of using thermal energy at home, the temperature of engine cooling water is increased via a heat exchanger. An example of this may be used. When the temperature of the engine cooling water is raised through this heat exchanger, there is no restriction on the aqueous medium. Therefore, in addition to hot water for floor heating, domestic exhaust heat such as hot water and bath is used to warm the engine cooling water. You can also

  In Examples 1 and 2, a vehicle engine coolant circulation circuit is shown as the vehicle-side warm-up circuit, and a house warm water circuit through which the hot water stored in the tank by the household heat source circulates is shown as the house-side heat source circuit. However, a transmission oil circuit, a motor coolant circulation circuit, or the like may be used as the vehicle side warm-up circuit. In addition to the hot water circuit having a heat exchanger for heating and a heat exchanger for recovering waste heat, the housing side heat source circuit is a medium introduced from the vehicle side warm-up circuit such as an instantaneous water heater without a heater or tank. A circuit that directly heats the film may be used.

  In the first and second embodiments, the example of the one-touch connector that extends the pipe from the house side and connects by one-touch operation is shown, but conversely, the one-touch connector that extends the pipe from the vehicle side and connects by one-touch operation may be used. .

  In short, a house-side heat source circuit using a household heat source is provided as a heat source, and both circuits are connected to the vehicle-side warm-up circuit and the house-side heat source circuit before starting the in-vehicle powertrain to heat the vehicle-side warm-up circuit. After the heat is taken in, a connector that disconnects both circuits is provided, and the connector connects and disconnects the first branch pipe that branches from the vehicle warm-up circuit and the second branch pipe that branches from the residential heat source circuit. It is not limited to the first and second embodiments as long as it is a one-touch connector that cuts and communicates both branch pipes.

  In the first and second embodiments, an example of application to the engine warm-up system has been shown. However, as a warm-up system for in-vehicle powertrains other than the engine, such as transmission warm-up by transmission oil heating and motor warm-up by motor cooling water heating. Can also be applied. In short, any warming-up system that takes in heat from a heat source into the vehicle-side warming-up circuit and promotes warming-up of the in-vehicle powertrain can be applied.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an engine vehicle to which a warm-up system and a warm-up method of an engine (an example of an onboard power train) according to a first embodiment are applied. 1 is an overall system diagram illustrating an engine warm-up system according to a first embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the disconnection state just before the connection of the connector in the engine warming-up system of Example 1. FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the connection state of the connector in the warming-up system of the engine of Example 1. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the plug-in warm-up control process performed by the plug-in warm-up controller 12 of Example 1. FIG. It is a whole perspective view which shows the plug-in hybrid vehicle to which the warming-up system of the engine (example of vehicle-mounted powertrain) of Example 2 is applied. It is a figure which shows the house side connector part in the plug-in hybrid vehicle to which the engine warm-up system of Example 2 is applied, (a) shows the arrow view of FIG. 6A of a house side connector part, (b) is a house. The side view of a side connector part is shown. It is a perspective view which shows the present plug-in hybrid vehicle.

Explanation of symbols

E Engine 1 Engine coolant circulation circuit (vehicle warm-up circuit)
2 Residential hot water circuit (residential heat source circuit)
3 One-touch connector (connector)
3a Vehicle side jack 3b Housing side plug
301,301 '1st branch pipe
302, 302 '2nd branch pipe 3a' Vehicle side plug 3b 'Housing side jack 4 Radiator 5 Heater core 6 Heater (household heat source)
7 Tank 8 Hot water circulation switching valve 9 Circulating pump 10 Heat exchanger for floor heating 11 Opening / closing lid 12 Plug-in warm-up controller 13 Manual switch 14 Auto switch 15 Timer setting dial 16 Operating lamp 17 Outside air temperature sensor 18 Hot water temperature sensor 19 Connector connection Switch 21 Plug-in hybrid vehicle 22 Charging connection portion 23 One-touch connector 24 Vehicle-side connector portion 25 Housing-side connector portion 26 Hot water inflow pipe 27 Hot water discharge pipe 28 Charging plug 29 Partition plate 30 Electrical insulation layer

Claims (8)

In-vehicle powertrain warm-up system that takes heat from the heat source into the vehicle-side warm-up circuit and promotes warm-up of the in-vehicle powertrain.
As the heat source, a residential heat source circuit using a household heat source is provided,
A connector for connecting both circuits to the vehicle warm-up circuit and the house-side heat source circuit to connect the two circuits before starting the in-vehicle powertrain and to take heat into the vehicle-side warm-up circuit, and to disconnect both circuits after taking in the heat Provided,
The connector is a one-touch connector that connects and disconnects both branch pipes simply by connecting / disconnecting the first branch pipe branched from the vehicle side warm-up circuit and the second branch pipe branched from the residential heat source circuit. A warm-up system for in-vehicle powertrains. In the warm-up system for an in-vehicle powertrain according to claim 1,
The vehicle side warm-up circuit is a vehicle engine coolant circulation circuit,
The on-vehicle powertrain warm-up system, wherein the house-side heat source circuit is a house hot water circuit through which hot water stored in a tank by the household heat source flows. In the warm-up system for an in-vehicle powertrain according to claim 1 or 2,
The vehicle is a plug-in hybrid vehicle having a charging connection portion for charging an in-vehicle battery from a house-side power source,
The one-touch connector performs a charging connection at the same time as a warm-up heat connection between the vehicle-side warm-up circuit and the house-side heat source circuit by a single connection operation. In the warm-up system for an in-vehicle powertrain according to claim 3,
The vehicle side warm-up circuit is a vehicle engine coolant circulation circuit,
The house side heat source circuit is a house hot water circuit through which hot water stored in a tank by the household heat source circulates,
A vehicle side jack is provided at the end position of the first branch pipe branched from the engine coolant circulation circuit, and a charging outlet is provided at the position of the vehicle side jack.
Providing a housing-side plug at an end position of the second branch pipe branched from the housing hot water circuit, and providing a charging plug at the position of the housing-side plug;
The one-touch connector includes a vehicle-side connector unit that collects a hot water inflow pipe, a hot water discharge pipe, and a charging outlet that constitute the vehicle side jack, and a hot water inflow pipe, a hot water discharge pipe, and a charging plug that constitute the housing side plug. A vehicle-mounted powertrain warm-up system, characterized in that the housing-side connector unit is assembled. In the warm-up system for an in-vehicle powertrain according to claim 4,
The housing-side connector section has the charging plug disposed at an upper position, and the warm water inflow pipe and the warm water drain pipe are disposed at a lower position of the charging plug. system. In the warm-up system for an in-vehicle powertrain according to claim 5,
In the vehicle-mounted power, the housing-side connector portion has a partition plate protruding in the connector axial direction from a connecting member end face at a position between the charging plug, the hot water inflow pipe and the hot water drain pipe. Train warm-up system. In the warm-up system for an in-vehicle powertrain according to any one of claims 3 to 6,
The vehicle-mounted powertrain warming-up system characterized in that the housing-side connector portion has at least the outer peripheral position of the end portion gripped by an operator covered with an electrical insulating layer. In the warm-up system for an in-vehicle powertrain according to any one of claims 3 to 7,
The housing-side connector portion is provided with a breaker that interrupts energization of the charging plug at the time of electric leakage at a position midway in the charging power circuit from a housing power source to the charging plug. Warm-up system.

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