Patents by Inventor Takahiro Umehara

Takahiro Umehara has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11831055
    Abstract: To provide a fuel cell system configured to appropriately measure the AC impedance of a fuel cell. A fuel cell system wherein the controller controls ON and OFF of the switches of n phases; wherein the controller operates the switches of the n phases at different phases, and the controller operates the switches of the n phases at the same duty ratio; wherein the controller operates the switches of the n phases at different duty ratios, when the controller determines that a specific condition is met; and wherein the controller measures the AC impedance of the fuel cell from the current waveform and voltage waveform of the fuel cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takahiro Umehara, Nobuyuki Kitamura, Masayuki Ito, Tomohiko Kaneko
  • Publication number: 20230378786
    Abstract: A power supply control apparatus includes a switching control device configured to switch each of switching elements of a power converter between an on state and an off state alternately, and a discharge control device configured to, when residual charge of the fuel cell is discharged, control a gas supply unit such that oxidant gas is not supplied to the fuel cell, in a first period, control the switching control device such that an on time during which at least one switching element is maintained in the on state is longer than the on time during an operation of the fuel cell and the at least one switching element is switched between the on state and the off state alternately, and, in a second period subsequent to the first period, control the switching control device such that the at least one switching element continues to maintain the on state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 4, 2023
    Publication date: November 23, 2023
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takahiro UMEHARA, Nobuyuki KITAMURA, Kota MANABE
  • Patent number: 11722047
    Abstract: To provide a voltage converter configured to suppress individual variation in voltage conversion ratio and configured to achieve a high voltage conversion ratio. A voltage converter comprising a reactor, a switching element, a diode, a current sensor, and a controller, wherein the controller detects a current value of the reactor several times in a switching period; wherein the controller calculates an estimated execution ON time length from a transition of a current value of the reactor detected in the switching period; wherein the controller calculates a difference between the estimated execution ON time length and a command ON time length instructed by the controller; and wherein, by using the difference, the controller corrects the command ON time length of the time when performing any of subsequent ON commands in a range not exceeding a predetermined command ON time upper limit value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2023
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Takahiro Umehara
  • Publication number: 20230070203
    Abstract: A power supply unit includes a power supply and a converter. The converter performs operation selected from the group consisting of boosting and stepping down of an output voltage of the power supply; and includes a reactor in which n-phase coils are magnetically coupled to each other, n-phase switches, and a control unit. The control unit controls duty cycles of the n-phase switches; monitors a current value flowing through the n-phase coils; and performs phase switching control when the control unit determines that an operation condition described below is satisfied, the phase switching control being control in which the control unit performs phase switching from in phase to out of phase in the case where the n-phase switches are being driven in phase and performs phase switching from out of phase to in phase in the case where the n-phase switches are being driven out of phase.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 22, 2022
    Publication date: March 9, 2023
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tomohiko KANEKO, Nobuyuki KITAMURA, Takahiro UMEHARA, Masayuki ITO
  • Publication number: 20220399556
    Abstract: To provide a fuel cell system configured to appropriately measure the AC impedance of a fuel cell. A fuel cell system wherein a controller controls ON and OFF of switches of n phases; wherein the controller monitors current values of coils; the controller operates the switches of the n phases at different phases; wherein the controller operates duty ratios of the switches of the n phases with periodically increasing and decreasing them, and the controller measures an AC impedance of a fuel cell from a current waveform of and a voltage waveform of the fuel cell; and wherein, when the controller determines that a predetermined condition 1 is met, the controller makes amplitudes which increase and decrease the duty ratios large compared to other operating conditions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 6, 2022
    Publication date: December 15, 2022
    Inventors: Masayuki ITO, Nobuyuki KITAMURA, Takahiro UMEHARA, Tomohiko KANEKO
  • Publication number: 20220348182
    Abstract: A structure equipped with a fuel cell system, wherein the structure comprises: a skirt configured to form an accumulation space between a bottom of the structure and the ground, an air supplier configured to supply off-gas, which is discharged from the fuel cell system, to at least one space selected from the group consisting of the accumulation space and an internal space of the skirt, and a pressure discharger configured to discharge pressure accumulated in the accumulation space to outside of the skirt from a lower end of the skirt, and wherein lift is imparted to the structure by supplying a predetermined amount of the off-gas from the air supplier to at least one space selected from the group consisting of the accumulation space and the internal space of the skirt.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 26, 2022
    Publication date: November 3, 2022
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Toshiaki Kusakari, Hideaki Tanaka, Takahiro Umehara, Kenjo Miyashita, Shinya Yamaguchi, Yoshihiro Tamura, Kaisei Hino, Riyo Hiraiso
  • Publication number: 20220293982
    Abstract: To provide a fuel cell system configured to appropriately measure the AC impedance of a fuel cell. A fuel cell system wherein the controller controls ON and OFF of the switches of n phases; wherein the controller operates the switches of the n phases at different phases, and the controller operates the switches of the n phases at the same duty ratio; wherein the controller operates the switches of the n phases at the same phase, when the controller determines that a specific condition is met; and wherein the controller measures the AC impedance of the fuel cell from the current waveform and voltage waveform of the fuel cell.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 9, 2022
    Publication date: September 15, 2022
    Inventors: Nobuyuki KITAMURA, Masayuki ITO, Tomohiko KANEKO, Takahiro UMEHARA
  • Publication number: 20220293981
    Abstract: To provide a fuel cell system configured to appropriately measure the AC impedance of a fuel cell. A fuel cell system wherein the controller controls ON and OFF of the switches of n phases; wherein the controller operates the switches of the n phases at different phases, and the controller operates the switches of the n phases at the same duty ratio; wherein the controller operates the switches of the n phases at different duty ratios, when the controller determines that a specific condition is met; and wherein the controller measures the AC impedance of the fuel cell from the current waveform and voltage waveform of the fuel cell.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 9, 2022
    Publication date: September 15, 2022
    Inventors: Takahiro UMEHARA, Nobuyuki KITAMURA, Masayuki ITO, Tomohiko KANEKO
  • Publication number: 20220231590
    Abstract: To provide a voltage converter configured to suppress individual variation in voltage conversion ratio and configured to achieve a high voltage conversion ratio. A voltage converter comprising a reactor, a switching element, a diode, a current sensor, and a controller, wherein the controller detects a current value of the reactor several times in a switching period; wherein the controller calculates an estimated execution ON time length from a transition of a current value of the reactor detected in the switching period; wherein the controller calculates a difference between the estimated execution ON time length and a command ON time length instructed by the controller; and wherein, by using the difference, the controller corrects the command ON time length of the time when performing any of subsequent ON commands in a range not exceeding a predetermined command ON time upper limit value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 14, 2022
    Publication date: July 21, 2022
    Inventor: Takahiro UMEHARA
  • Publication number: 20220224232
    Abstract: To provide a power supply unit configured to determine the boundary between the operation modes (continuous mode and discontinuous mode) of a converter with high accuracy. The power supply unit is a power supply unit wherein the controller controls a value of output current of the power supply by controlling a duty ratio by switching the second switch; wherein the controller detects the current value of the reactor acquired by the current sensor, at a frequency of at least n (n is an integer of 2 or more) times in a cycle of the switching.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 12, 2022
    Publication date: July 14, 2022
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tomohiko KANEKO, Masayuki ITO, Takahiro UMEHARA
  • Patent number: 11214151
    Abstract: A voltage control system includes: a converter controlling portion; a current value acquisition portion; and a voltage value acquisition portion. The converter controlling portion sets a duty ratio in a present cycle by adding an addition term to a feedforward term, the addition term being determined by use of a current deviation, which is a difference between a target value of an output current in the present cycle and a current measured value in a previous cycle, and the duty ratio in the previous cycle, the addition term being corresponding to an increase of the output current in the present cycle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2022
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yutaka Tano, Kenji Umayahara, Takahiro Umehara
  • Patent number: 11142093
    Abstract: A fuel cell vehicle according to the present disclosure includes: a fuel cell; a multiphase converter configured to control an output current of the fuel cell; a current sensor provided in each phase of the multiphase converter; an electric load configured to receive power supplied from the fuel cell; and a control unit. The control unit performs, when it detects an excess or a deficiency of electric energy of the electric load, replacement of phases driven by the multiphase converter while the output current of the fuel cell is kept constant, and determines, when the excess or the deficiency of the electric energy of the electric load is eliminated after the replacement of the phases, that an offset failure has occurred in the current sensor provided in the phase that has been driven before the replacement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shinya Owatari, Yutaka Tano, Osamu Yumita, Takahiro Umehara
  • Patent number: 10818945
    Abstract: A voltage control system includes a converter device, and a controller configured to set a duty ratio according to a current target value so as to cause the converter device to repeatedly perform a boost operation according to the duty ratio. The controller is configured to set the duty ratio by use of a basic term including a feedforward term, and an additional term, the feedforward term being derived by use of a measured value of a magnitude of an input of a reactor provided in the converter device and a measured value of a magnitude of an output of the reactor or by use of respective target values of the magnitude of the input and the magnitude of the output in the reactor, the additional term being derived by use of the variation of the current target value during one cycle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yutaka Tano, Kenji Umayahara, Takahiro Umehara, Tomoya Ogawa
  • Publication number: 20200215932
    Abstract: A fuel cell vehicle according to the present disclosure includes: a fuel cell; a multiphase converter configured to control an output current of the fuel cell; a current sensor provided in each phase of the multiphase converter; an electric load configured to receive power supplied from the fuel cell; and a control unit. The control unit performs, when it detects an excess or a deficiency of electric energy of the electric load, replacement of phases driven by the multiphase converter while the output current of the fuel cell is kept constant, and determines, when the excess or the deficiency of the electric energy of the electric load is eliminated after the replacement of the phases, that an offset failure has occurred in the current sensor provided in the phase that has been driven before the replacement.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 18, 2019
    Publication date: July 9, 2020
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shinya OWATARI, Yutaka TANO, Osamu YUMITA, Takahiro UMEHARA
  • Patent number: 10693163
    Abstract: A fuel cell system includes a control section that: transmits a first current command value used to lower an output voltage of a fuel cell stack to a fuel cell converter when the output voltage becomes equal to or higher than a first voltage; transmits a second current command value used to boost the output voltage to the fuel cell converter when the output voltage becomes equal to or lower than a second voltage; stores the first current command value as a first storage value when the output voltage becomes equal to or lower than the second voltage; stores the second current command value as a second storage value when the output voltage becomes equal to or higher than the first voltage; and transmits a current command value that falls between the first storage value and the second storage value to the fuel cell converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2020
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Akihiro Kamiya, Yutaka Tano, Takahiro Umehara
  • Patent number: 10573909
    Abstract: A fuel cell system includes: a fuel cell stack; a voltage sensor configured to detect voltage of the fuel cell stack; a fuel cell relay connected to the fuel cell stack; a switch connected between the fuel cell stack and the fuel cell relay; an overcurrent detector configured to detect an overcurrent flowing to the switch; and a power generation stop device configured to stop power generation of the fuel cell stack when the overcurrent detector detects the overcurrent and the detected voltage becomes a specified value or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2020
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takahiro Umehara, Shinji Aso
  • Patent number: 10511227
    Abstract: The present disclosure is made in order to reduce inaccuracy of current sensors. A fuel cell system includes a converter configured to convert output voltage of the fuel cell, and a current sensor including a preliminarily magnetized magnetic core and configured to measure current flowing in the converter from the fuel cell. A controller operates in a first driving mode in which a maximum current value in a target circuit of current measurement by the current sensor is lower than a current value for preliminary magnetization of the magnetic core, and a second driving mode in which the maximum current value in the target circuit is higher than the maximum current value in the target circuit in the first driving mode. When an accumulated temperature value of the current sensor in the first driving mode exceeds a threshold, the second driving mode is executed, followed by the first driving mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2019
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yutaka Tano, Takahiro Umehara
  • Publication number: 20190273437
    Abstract: The present disclosure is made in order to reduce inaccuracy of current sensors. A fuel cell system 100 comprises a converter 150 configured to convert output voltage of the fuel cell 1, and a current sensor CS1 including a preliminarily magnetized magnetic core MC1 and configured to measure current flowing in the converter 150 from the fuel cell 1. A controller 160 comprises, as driving modes of the fuel cell system 100, a first driving mode DM1 in which a maximum current value IL1max in a target circuit of current measurement by the current sensor CS1 is lower than a current value for preliminary magnetization of the magnetic core and a second driving mode DM2 in which the maximum current value IL2max in the target circuit is higher than the maximum current value IL1max in the target circuit in the first driving mode DM1.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 25, 2019
    Publication date: September 5, 2019
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yutaka TANO, Takahiro UMEHARA
  • Publication number: 20190198894
    Abstract: A fuel cell system includes a control section that: transmits a first current command value used to lower an output voltage of a fuel cell stack to a fuel cell converter when the output voltage becomes equal to or higher than a first voltage; transmits a second current command value used to boost the output voltage to the fuel cell converter when the output voltage becomes equal to or lower than a second voltage; stores the first current command value as a first storage value when the output voltage becomes equal to or lower than the second voltage; stores the second current command value as a second storage value when the output voltage becomes equal to or higher than the first voltage; and transmits a current command value that falls between the first storage value and the second storage value to the fuel cell converter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 17, 2018
    Publication date: June 27, 2019
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Akihiro KAMIYA, Yutaka TANO, Takahiro UMEHARA
  • Publication number: 20180114999
    Abstract: A fuel cell system includes: a fuel cell stack; a voltage sensor configured to detect voltage of the fuel cell stack; a fuel cell relay connected to the fuel cell stack; a switch connected between the fuel cell stack and the fuel cell relay; an overcurrent detector configured to detect an overcurrent flowing to the switch; and a power generation stop device configured to stop power generation of the fuel cell stack when the overcurrent detector detects the overcurrent and the detected voltage becomes a specified value or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 4, 2017
    Publication date: April 26, 2018
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takahiro UMEHARA, Shinji ASO