Abstract:
A method for operating an in-vehicle charger and an in-vehicle charger mounted to a vehicle. The in-vehicle charger includes a charging coil for performing non-contact charging to a mobile device placed in the vehicle; and a control unit connected to the charging coil. The control unit instructs start or stop of supplying power to the charging coil in response to detecting a first signal indicating the engine is driven and a second signal indicating a state of a vehicle component of the vehicle other than the engine. The method includes a step of detecting the first signal; a step of detecting the second signal; and a step of instructing a start or stop of supplying power to the charging coil in response to detecting both of the first and second signals.

Description:
[0001]    This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 14/003,545, which is the National Stage of International Application No. PCT/JP2012/001536, filed Mar. 6, 2012. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Technical Field 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to an in-vehicle charger to be mounted to a vehicle and a program therefore. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    With the widespread use of mobile devices, an in-vehicle charger has been suggested which allows the mobile devices to be charged also in the vehicle (see JP-A-4-317527, for example). 
         [0006]    Specifically, the in-vehicle charger includes a case whose one face is an opening, a lid which covers the opening of the case in an openable/closable manner and a charging coil which is disposed in an inner surface portion of the case opposite to the lid. 
         [0007]    When the mobile device is charged using the in-vehicle charger, power is supplied by magnetic flux in such a way that the mobile device is accommodated in the case and the charging coil of the in-vehicle charger and a charging coil of the mobile device are placed to face each other. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Problems to be Solved by the Invention 
       [0008]    In the related art above described, there is a possibility that the reliability of a vehicle control, for example, an open/close control of a door is decreased. 
         [0009]    Specifically, the vehicles in recent years perform a so-called keyless entry control in order to open/close the door. In this keyless entry control, the opening/closing of the door is performed by the wireless communication between a remote control key and a transceiver of a vehicle. 
         [0010]    In this case, when the mobile device is charged in the vehicle by the in-vehicle charger, electromagnetic waves emitted from a charging coil thereof affect the wireless communication between the remote control key and the transceiver of the vehicle. As a result, there is a possibility that the reliability of the open/close control of the door can be decreased. 
         [0011]    Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to prevent a decrease in the reliability of a vehicle control. 
       2. Means for Solving the Problems 
       [0012]    An in-vehicle charger of the invention includes a charging coil mounted to a vehicle including a communication device; and a control unit connected to the charging coil, and the control unit supplies power to the charging coil at the time of detecting a vehicle driving state. 
         [0013]    Also, the invention provides a program for causing a computer to execute: a step of acquiring an engine operation state signal of a vehicle and a parking brake release signal of the vehicle, the vehicle including a communication device; a step of detecting a vehicle driving state based on the engine operation state signal and the parking brake release signal; and a step of instructing supply of power to a charging coil mounted to the vehicle at the time of detecting the vehicle driving state. 
         [0014]    According to the configuration or the program described above, power is supplied to the charging coil in accordance with, for example, the detection of the engine operation state of the vehicle and whether the parking brake is pulled or not, at the time of detecting the vehicle driving state. Accordingly, in a state before driving the vehicle, that is, in a state where the door is opened/closed and boarding or exiting is performed, power is not supplied to the charging coil. 
         [0015]    Accordingly, even when the wireless communication between the remote control key and the transceiver of the vehicle is performed in order to open/close the door, for example, the electromagnetic waves emitted from the charging coil do not affect the wireless communication. As a result, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the reliability of the open/close control of the door, etc., for example. 
       3. Advantageous Effects of the Invention 
       [0016]    According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the reliability of a vehicle control. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0017]      FIG. 1  is a view showing an in-vehicle charger according to a first embodiment of the present invention in the state of being mounted to a vehicle. 
           [0018]      FIG. 2  is a control block diagram of the vehicle. 
           [0019]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart showing an operation of the in-vehicle charger. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0020]    Hereinafter, an illustrative embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 
       First Embodiment 
       [0021]    By referring to  FIG. 1 , a steering wheel  3  is arranged in the front of a vehicle interior  2  of a vehicle body  1  and front seats  4  and rear seats  5  are arranged in the rear of the steering wheel  3 . 
         [0022]    Further, an in-vehicle charger  6  is arranged on the left side of the steering wheel  3  in the vehicle interior  2 . 
         [0023]    The in-vehicle charger  6  is connected to a vehicle control device (U-COM)  7  to perform various controls for the vehicle, as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0024]    The vehicle control device  7  performs various controls for the vehicle as described above and is connected to antennas  9  and an antenna  10 . The antennas  9  are provided on all sides of the vehicle body  1  and intended to transmit an output for opening/closing the door to a wireless key  8 . The antenna  10  is intended to receive an output from the wireless key  8 . The antennas  9 ,  10  are examples of a communication device. 
         [0025]    Meanwhile, a RF circuit  11  is interposed between the antenna  10  and the vehicle control device  7 . 
         [0026]    Further, as shown in  FIG. 1 , the in-vehicle charger  6  is connected to the vehicle control device  7 . Further, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the in-vehicle charger  6  includes a charging coil  12  and a charging circuit  6   c  to drive the charging coil  12 . 
         [0027]    Furthermore, a control unit  6   a  is connected to the charging circuit  6   c.  As the charging coil  12  and a charging coil  14  of a mobile device  13  approach to face each other, the control unit  6   a  instructs the charging circuit  6   c  to start a non-contact charging. 
         [0028]    That is, as magnetic flux is transmitted from the charging coil  12  of the vehicle body  1  toward the charging coil  14  of the mobile device  13 , the non-contact charging of the mobile device  13  is performed. 
         [0029]    In the present embodiment, as described above, the non-contact charging of the mobile device  13  is performed by the charging coil  12  of the vehicle body  1 . At this time, the control unit  6   a  of the in-vehicle charger  6  is configured to receive a vehicle driving state detection signal from the vehicle control device  7 . 
         [0030]    Specifically, the control unit  6   a  is connected to an engine operation detection unit  15 , a speed pulse detection unit  16  and a parking brake detection unit  17 . The engine operation detection unit  15  is intended to detect the engine operation state of the vehicle. The speed pulse detection unit  16  detects whether the vehicle is moving or not. The parking brake detection unit  17  is intended to receive a parking brake release output of the vehicle. The control unit  6   a  can detect the vehicle driving state by receiving vehicle driving state detection signals from these units. 
         [0031]    In the above configuration, a non-contact charging operation is described with reference to the process flow shown in  FIG. 3 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , when the mobile device  13  is charged in the vehicle interior  2  by the in-vehicle charger  6 , a user approaches the charging coil  12  and the charging coil  14  and operates a charging start switch  6   b  ( 51  in  FIG. 3 ). 
         [0032]    Then, the control unit  6   a  of the in-vehicle charger  6  first detects an engine operation state via the engine operation detection unit  15  (S 2  in  FIG. 3 ). 
         [0033]    At this time, when the engine is not operated, the control unit  6   a  does not start to charge the mobile device  13  in order to prevent the battery consumption of the vehicle or the interference with the opening/closing operation of the door. 
         [0034]    That is, in a state where the engine is not operated, now, boarding into the vehicle interior  2  or the like is performed. That is, there is a possibility that communication between the wireless key  8  and the antennas  9  and communication between the wireless key  8  and the antenna  10  are performed in order to open/close the door. 
         [0035]    Therefore, in this case, the control unit  6   a  does not cause magnetic flux to be emitted from the charging coil  12 . In addition, it is preferred that power is not supplied to the charging circuit  6   c.  In this way, the opening/closing operation of the door is not affected. The reason is that supply of power to the charging circuit  6   c  may affect the opening/closing operation of the door. 
         [0036]    Further, when the control unit  6   a  determines that the engine is in a state of being operated, subsequently, then, the parking brake detection unit  17  detects whether the parking brake is pulled or not (S 3  in  FIG. 3 ). 
         [0037]    That is, when an occupant exits from a vehicle and returns to the vehicle again even after the engine is driven, communication between the wireless key  8  and the antennas  9  and communication between the wireless key  8  and the antenna  10  are performed in order to open/close the door in a state where the engine is still driven. Accordingly, at this time, it is intended not to hinder the opening/closing operation of the door. 
         [0038]    Specifically, when the parking brake is in a pulled state, the control unit  6   a  causes the in-vehicle charger  6  to be turned off even when the in-vehicle charger  6  is in an on state (S 6 , S 7  in  FIG. 3 ). 
         [0039]    Further, when the parking brake is in a non-pulled state, then, the control unit  6   a  determines whether the vehicle is moving or not, on the basis of the signal from the speed pulse detection unit  16  (S 4  in  FIG. 3 ). 
         [0040]    And, when the control unit  6   a  determines that the vehicle is moving, based on the signal from the speed pulse detection unit  16 , the control unit  6   a  starts to supply power to the charging circuit  6   c  and therefore causes the in-vehicle charger  6  to be turned on for the first time (S 5  in  FIG. 3 ). 
         [0041]    Meanwhile, when the parking brake is in the non-pulled state, the control unit  6   a  determines that the vehicle is in a driving state. And, the control unit  6   a  may instruct the charging circuit  6   c  to supply power and cause the in-vehicle charger  6  to be turned on. 
         [0042]    However, when the control unit  6   a  determines that the vehicle is not moving, based on the signal from the speed pulse detection unit  16 , there is a possibility that the parking brake is pulled. Accordingly, at this time, it is preferred that the in-vehicle charger  6  is not turned on. 
         [0043]    As described above, the in-vehicle charger of the present embodiment includes the charging coil and the control unit connected to the charging coil and has a configuration that the control unit supplies power to the charging coil at the time of detecting a vehicle driving state. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the reliability of the vehicle control. 
         [0044]    That is, in the present embodiment, power is supplied to the charging coil in accordance with, for example, the detection of the engine operation state of the vehicle and whether the parking brake is pulled or not, at the time of detecting the vehicle driving state. Accordingly, in a state before driving the vehicle, that is, in a state where the door is opened/closed and boarding or exiting is performed, power is not supplied to the charging coil. 
         [0045]    Accordingly, even when wireless communication between the remote control key and the transceiver of the vehicle is performed in order to open/close the door, for example, the electromagnetic waves emitted from the charging coil do not affect the wireless communication. As a result, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the reliability of the open/close control of the door, etc., for example. 
         [0046]    Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to particular illustrative embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the illustrative embodiments and it is obvious to those skilled in the art that the illustrative embodiments can be variously modified without departing the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
         [0047]    This application is based upon Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-048701 filed on Mar. 7, 2011, and the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
         [0048]    In the present embodiment described above, power is supplied to the charging coil in accordance with, for example, the detection of the engine operation state of the vehicle. Accordingly, in a state before driving the vehicle, that is, in a state where the door is opened/closed and boarding or exiting is performed, power is not supplied to the charging coil. 
         [0049]    Accordingly, even when wireless communication between the remote control key and the transceiver of the vehicle is performed in order to open/close the door, for example, the electromagnetic waves emitted from the charging coil do not affect the wireless communication. As a result, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the reliability of the open/close control of the door, etc., for example. 
         [0050]    Accordingly, the present invention is expected to be utilized as the in-vehicle charger. 
       DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS AND SIGNS 
       [0000]    
       
           1  vehicle body 
           2  vehicle interior 
           3  steering wheel 
           4  front seats 
           5  rear seats 
           6  in-vehicle charger 
           6   a  control unit 
           6   b  charging start switch 
           6   c  charging circuit 
           7  vehicle control device 
           8  wireless key 
           9 ,  10  antenna 
           11  RF circuit 
           12  charging coil 
           13  mobile device 
           14  charging coil 
           15  engine operation detection unit 
           16  speed pulse detection unit 
           17  parking brake detection unit