阅读说明：本技术 一种电动汽车iccpd中的板载分流式电流传感器 (Onboard shunt current sensor in ICCPD (integrated circuit control power supply) of electric automobile ) 是由 张战祥 王志斌 张健 张贞远 于 2020-06-19 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及一种充电装置,包括：用于连接电源的电力输入端口,和用于连接用电设备的电力输出端口；印刷电路板PCB,所述PCB包括覆盖在其上的金属层；安装于所述PCB上的微控制单元MCU和电流传感器,其中,来自电力输入端口的电流以并联方式被分流到所述PCB的金属层和所述电流传感器中,所述电流传感器产生的电流信号馈入所述MCU。(The present invention relates to a charging device, including: the power output port is used for connecting the electric equipment; a printed circuit board, PCB, the PCB including a metal layer overlying the PCB; the current sensor comprises a Micro Control Unit (MCU) and a current sensor which are installed on the PCB, wherein the current from a power input port is shunted to a metal layer of the PCB and the current sensor in a parallel mode, and a current signal generated by the current sensor is fed into the MCU.)

1. A charging device, comprising:

the power output port is used for connecting the electric equipment;

a printed circuit board, PCB, the PCB including a metal layer overlying the PCB;

a Micro Control Unit (MCU) and a current sensor mounted on the PCB,

wherein the current from the power input port is shunted in parallel to the metal layer of the PCB and the current sensor, the current signal generated by the current sensor being fed to the MCU.

2. A charging arrangement as claimed in claim 1, in which the thickness, length, width and/or area of the metal layer is designed to be proportionally split in current with the current sensor.

3. A charging arrangement as claimed in any of claims 1-2, in which the metal layer overlying the PCB comprises a copper sheet.

4. The charging device of any one of claims 1-2, wherein the current sensor is further configured to measure a magnitude of current shunted thereto, the MCU being coupled to the current sensor to monitor the magnitude of current shunted thereto.

5. A charging arrangement as claimed in any of claims 1-2, in which the metal layer is connected in parallel with the current sensor.

6. The charging device of any of claims 1-2, wherein the PCB comprises a PCB in an on-cable control and protection device IC-CPD of an electric vehicle.

7. The charging device of claim 6, wherein the charging device does not require an additional sampling resistor to monitor the magnitude of the charging current.

8. A charging arrangement as claimed in any of claims 1-2, in which the current sensor may take the form of a chip provided on the PCB.

9. The charging device of any of claims 1-2, wherein a shunt current on the metal layer of the PCB is greater than a current shunt on the current sensor.

10. A charging arrangement as claimed in claim 9, in which the ratio of the current diverted to the metal layer of the PCB and the current sensor is 4: 1.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of automobiles, and more particularly, to an on-board shunt current sensor in an on-cable control and protection device (IC-CPD) of an electric vehicle.

Background

With the increasing awareness of environmental protection and the increasing shortage of petroleum resources, the acceptance and the demand of the public on pure electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles are increasing day by day. Under such a background, many manufacturers of entire vehicles and automobile parts have developed pure electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles as a strategic focus. At present, in order to charge power batteries of pure electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles, most of the pure electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles are equipped with vehicle-mounted chargers.

The charger can be connected with a household power supply to charge the power battery. In order to ensure the safety of the household power network, the magnitude of the charging current is an important factor in safety considerations. In the traditional safety design, a resistor is connected In series with a main circuit of a Control and Protection Device (IC-CPD, In Cable Control and Protection Device) on a Cable, the voltage at two ends of the resistor is sampled, and a voltage sensor outputs a signal to an amplifier, so that a charging current is monitored by an MCU (micro Control unit), and a safe charging process is realized.

When efficient charging is required, the charging current is generally large. The large charging current may cause high power consumption and high temperature in the charging circuit, especially on the sampling resistor, thereby causing certain potential safety hazard. Therefore, in daily life with faster pace of life, how to enable electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles to charge efficiently and ensure the safety of charging has become a demand and trend nowadays.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the above technical problem, the present application provides a charging device, including: the power output port is used for connecting the electric equipment; a printed circuit board, PCB, the PCB including a metal layer overlying the PCB; the current sensor is arranged on the PCB, wherein the current from the power input port is shunted to the metal layer of the PCB and the current sensor in a parallel mode, and a current signal generated by the current sensor is fed into the MCU.

In the charging device as described above, the thickness, length, width and/or area of the metal layer is designed to be in proportion to the current sensor for current shunting.

As described above, the metal layer covering the PCB includes the copper sheet.

In the charging device as described above, the current sensor is further configured to measure the magnitude of the current shunted thereto, and the MCU is coupled to the current sensor to monitor the magnitude of the current shunted thereto.

In the charging device as described above, the metal layer is connected in parallel with the current sensor.

In the charging device, the PCB includes a PCB in an on-cable control and protection device IC-CPD of the electric vehicle.

According to the charging device, the charging device does not need to use an additional sampling resistor to monitor the magnitude of the charging current.

As with the charging device described above, the current sensor may take the form of a chip disposed on the PCB.

In the charging device, the shunt current on the metal layer of the PCB is larger than the current shunt on the current sensor.

In the charging device described above, the ratio of the current that is shunted to the metal layer of the PCB and the current sensor is 4: 1.

drawings

To further clarify the above and other advantages and features of embodiments of the present invention, a more particular description of embodiments of the present invention will be rendered by reference to the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope as claimed.

FIG. 1A shows a circuit schematic of charge current monitoring commonly used in IC-CPD in the prior art;

FIG. 1B shows a flow chart of a charge current monitoring method commonly used in IC-CPD in the prior art;

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of charge current shunting in an IC-CPD to achieve efficient and safe charging, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic block diagram of a portion of the circuit components of the IC-CPD relevant to the present invention, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 shows a thermal map of the IC-CPD after charge current shunting, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The drawings show, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which the claimed subject matter may be practiced. It is to be understood that the following detailed description is intended for purposes of illustration, and is not to be construed as limiting the invention; those skilled in the art, having the benefit of this disclosure, may effect numerous modifications thereto and changes may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the claimed subject matter.

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various described embodiments. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the various embodiments described may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, circuits, and networks have not been described in detail as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments. Unless defined otherwise, technical and scientific terms used herein shall have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

Embodiments of the present application are exemplary implementations or examples. Reference in the specification to "an embodiment," "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "various embodiments," or "other embodiments" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments is included in at least some embodiments, but not necessarily all embodiments, of the technology. The various appearances "an embodiment," "one embodiment," or "some embodiments" are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiments. Elements or aspects from one embodiment may be combined with elements or aspects of another embodiment.

Fig. 1A shows a circuit schematic of a charging current monitoring commonly used in IC-CPDs of the prior art. Fig. 1B shows a flow chart of a charging current monitoring method commonly used in the IC-CPD in the prior art. For ease of understanding, only the main components related to current monitoring are shown in fig. 1A, and other components are omitted. Those skilled in the art will understand the presence and necessity of other components. As shown in fig. 1, a sampling resistor 101 is generally provided on a main circuit of an IC-CPD of an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle. The sampling resistor 101 may be connected in series on the main circuit, for example. A voltage sampling sensor may be provided in parallel with the sampling resistor 101. In the charging process of an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle, the voltage sampling sensor 102 samples the voltage at two ends of the sampling resistor 101 to monitor the charging current. As shown in connection with fig. 1B, after voltage sampling sensor 102 measures a voltage, information including the voltage may be sent to, for example, an amplifier circuit. In turn, the voltage information may be sent to, for example, an MCU for further processing and analysis (e.g., analog-to-digital conversion, etc.), so that it may be monitored from the measured voltage signal whether the current value in the charging circuit exceeds the maximum limit current, which may pose a safety hazard.

The charging mode can realize the monitoring of the charging current in the charging process. However, this charging method has a certain limitation for efficient charging. As mentioned above, when efficient charging is required, the charging current is typically relatively large. A large charging current may result in high power consumption and high temperatures in the charging circuit, leading to certain risks.

Therefore, the invention provides a charging method and a charging device which can realize high-efficiency large-current charging and ensure the charging safety.

IC-CPDs typically have integrated circuits, such as those implemented on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB), for performing their various functions. Fig. 2 shows a schematic block diagram of a part of the circuit components related to the present invention in an IC-CPD according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 2, the PCB in the present invention may be a PCB 201. For purposes of illustration and not limitation, the PCB201 is described herein primarily as a PCB in an IC-CPD. However, it is understood that the PCB201 may be a PCB in any charging device. The charging device may include a power input port for connection to a power source, and a power output port for connection to a powered device.

The substrate of the printed circuit board is typically covered (e.g., by a deposition process, etc.) with a metal layer (not shown in fig. 2). In one non-limiting example, the metal layer may be copper, i.e., a copper skin deposited on the substrate of the printed circuit board. The inventors of the present application have contemplated that such a metal layer (e.g., copper sheet) on the substrate of the printed circuit board and the current sensor in the circuit may be used together to achieve shunting of the charging current and that the current may be monitored during charging to achieve safe charging. In one embodiment, the current from the power input port is shunted in parallel to the metal layer of the PCB201 and the current sensor 202, and the current signal generated by the current sensor 202 can be fed to the MCU 203 to enable current monitoring during charging.

Specifically, the current sensor 202 may be provided on the PCB. In a preferred embodiment, the sensor 202 may take the form of a chip. The charging current may be shunted to the metal layer of PCB201 and current sensor 202. In addition, the current sensor may also measure and monitor the charging current, as described in more detail below in conjunction with FIG. 3. The MCU 203 may be disposed on the PCB 201. The MCU 203 may be coupled or connected to the current sensor 202 to enable communication between the two.

It will be appreciated that the dimensions of the various components in fig. 2 are not drawn to scale and that the relationship between the dimensions of the various components is merely an example. Meanwhile, the relative positional relationship between the respective components is also merely an example. In practical applications, the various components may have different positional arrangements.

In addition, for ease of understanding and to avoid confusion, only the components of the charging device and its PCB that are germane to the present invention are shown in fig. 2, while some other components are omitted. However, the invention may be embodied in any suitable form depending on the needs and application. Also, it is also exemplary that each component is illustrated in fig. 2 as a relatively independent module in the form of each block. They may be divided into smaller modules or units or some of them may be integrated with other modules on the PCB, not shown, without departing from the idea of the invention.

Fig. 3 shows a flow diagram of a method of achieving efficient and safe charging through charging current shunting in an IC-CPD according to an embodiment of the present invention. As described above, the present invention utilizes a metal layer on a substrate of a printed circuit board and a current sensor in a circuit to achieve a certain charge current division ratio. As shown in fig. 2, since the metal layer (e.g., copper sheet) on the substrate of the PCB201 has a large area, a large current can be allowed to pass through, the generated power consumption is also small, a large heat dissipation area is provided, and the current and the generated heat can be relatively uniformly distributed over the large area. Therefore, the present invention proposes that a relatively large charging current can be shunted with the current sensor 202 by using this metal layer (e.g., copper sheet) on the substrate of the printed circuit board PCB201 to achieve efficient and safe charging.

A metal layer (e.g., copper sheet) on the substrate of the printed circuit board PCB201 enables shunting of a portion of the charging current during charging. As described above, the current sensor 202 may be arranged to shunt another portion of the current. The metal layers on the substrate of the printed circuit board PCB201 and the proportion of the shunt achieved by the current sensor 202 in the circuit may be reasonably set depending on one or more of the total current passing in the circuit, the current limit through the current sensor 202, and the actual requirements. In one embodiment of the invention, the shunt current passing over a metal layer (e.g., copper sheet) on the substrate of the printed circuit board PCB201 is greater than the shunt current passing over the current sensor. For example, in one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, an AC charging load requires, for example, 20 amperes (A) of current. If the maximum safe current that the current sensor 202 can pass is 4A, the remaining 16A of the 20A current may be shunted to the metal layer on the substrate of the printed circuit board PCB201, thereby achieving a current shunt ratio of 4:1 for the metal layer on the substrate of the printed circuit board PCB201 to the current sensor 202. In one embodiment, even if the maximum safe current that can be passed by the current sensor 202 is 4A, the current shunted by the current sensor 202 may be set to be less than 4A for safety reasons. Accordingly, it is to be understood that this current splitting ratio is merely exemplary and not limiting. Any other proportion according to the requirements can be reasonably designed according to the related idea of the invention.

Different current shunting capabilities of the metal layers may be achieved by changing or designing the dimensions of the metal layers on the substrate of the printed circuit board PCB 201. For example, one or more of the thickness, length, width, area of the metal layer may be varied to achieve current shunting capability of the metal layer on the substrate of the printed circuit board. Varying one or more of the thickness, length, width, area of the metal layer may vary the impedance of the metal layer. Furthermore, different current splitting ratios can be realized according to the designed impedance of the metal layer and the impedance of the current sensor. In one embodiment of the present invention, the resistance of the metal layer (e.g., copper sheet) is preferably changed by changing the thickness of the metal layer, thereby changing the shunt capability of the metal layer.

After the current splitting is achieved, the current information detected by the current sensor may be sent to, for example, an amplifier circuit. In turn, this current information may be sent to, for example, the MCU 203 for further processing analysis (e.g., analog-to-digital conversion, etc.), so that it may be monitored from the measured current signal whether the current value in the charging circuit exceeds the maximum limit current to monitor the safety of the charging process.

Fig. 4 shows a thermal map after charge current shunting in an IC-CPD according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the illustrated heat map of fig. 4, oval 401 represents the current distribution heat map around the current sensors on the chip and oval 402 represents the current distribution heat map on the copper skin of the PCB. The region with a darker gradation indicates a higher current density flowing through the region. As can be seen from fig. 4, since the copper sheet on the substrate of the printed circuit board has a relatively large area, a relatively large shunt current can be allowed to pass, but large power consumption and high temperature are not generated, and the current and the generated heat can be relatively uniformly distributed over this large area. Thereby achieving efficient and safe current transfer.

According to the high-current shunt and monitoring device, additional components such as a sampling resistor and a voltage sensor which are commonly used in the prior art are not required to be added, so that the transmission of high current can be more efficiently and safely realized at lower cost.

Therefore, the invention provides an efficient method and device for large-current transmission (such as charging), which solves the technical problems of high power consumption, high temperature and the like in the large-current charging process. Such a method and device according to the invention can be used, for example, in an on-cable control and protection device (IC-CPD) of an electric vehicle in order to efficiently and safely charge the electric vehicle. However, it is to be understood that the high current charging efficiency method and apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the on-cable control and protection device (IC-CPD) example for electric vehicles. The design idea of the invention can be applied to any application scene which needs large-current charging and is expected to solve the problems of high power consumption, high temperature and the like in the large-current charging process.

Accordingly, those skilled in the art can make appropriate modifications and adaptations to the embodiments described specifically above without departing from the spirit and substance of the present invention. Therefore, it is intended that claimed subject matter not be limited to the particular examples disclosed, but that such claimed subject matter may also include all implementations falling within the scope of the appended claims, and equivalents thereof.