Electric hybrid vehicle conversion

Abstract

An assembly is described for converting an Internal Combustion (IC) vehicle to an IC-electric hybrid vehicle comprising a battery, a battery charger, a controller, an electric motor and a power transmission means involving a flexible rotational speed reduction to connect the motor to a drive shaft of the vehicle. The system can be made available in the form of a kit allowing those skilled in automobile mechanics to perform the conversion. Regenerative braking and provision of AC power from the vehicle can be made available as options.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The means by which these objectives are achieved by the present invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of the major mechanical components of the hybrid system according to the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of the electrical components of the hybrid system according to the principles of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for converting an existing internal combustion vehicle to an internal combustion-electric hybrid comprising the installation of: An electric storage battery comprising a plurality of rechargeable cells in series adjacent connections, each cell having a positive and a negative terminal,A charger connected to the battery to recharge it using alternating current electric power derived from an alternating current receptacle or an inductive connection,A controller receiving direct current electric power from the battery and an accelerator signal from the driver along with necessary signal input devices and instruments which can provide controllable electric power to an electric motor,An electric motor mechanically connected to a drive shaft of the vehicle by a power transmission subsystem andA power transmission subsystem comprising a flexible speed reduction drive such that the electric motor can provide some or all of the mechanical power required to propel the vehicle while accepting some relative motion between the existing vehicle drive train and the electric motor.

2. The method in claim 1 in which the battery is selected from the group; flooded lead-acid, gel cell lead-acid, absorbed glass mat lead-acid, nickel-cadmium, nickel-metal hydride, sodium-nickel chloride, sodium-sulfur, lithium-ion and lithium-polymer batteries.

3. The method in claim 1 in which the charger is selected from the group; transformer-rectifier, silicon controlled rectifier or electronically controlled switching circuit, and in which the charger is selected to match the specific requirements of the battery being used.

4. The method in claim 1 in which the charger can provide two-way flow of power by converting AC power from the grid to DC power to recharge the battery or by converting DC power from the battery to AC power to the grid to accomplish regulation and provide reserve capacity to the grid.

5. The method in claim 1 in which the controller is chosen from the group; pulse width modulation controller, on/off switch, step switch, series/parallel switch, rheostat, and field weakening rheostat, and in which the controller is chosen to match the requirements of the DC motor.

6. The method in claim 1 in which the motor is a DC motor chosen from the group; series wound, shunt wound, compound wound, permanent magnet and brushless DC motors.

7. The method in claim 1 in which the controller is an inverter providing variable frequency AC power from the battery DC power to control the speed of an AC motor, and in which the AC motor is chosen from the group; induction (squirrel cage), synchronous AC and switched reluctance AC motors.

8. The method in claim 1 in which the speed reduction means is chosen from the group; timing belt, (multiple)V belt, J (multigroove) belt, roller chain and timing chain.

9. The method in claim 1 in which the speed reduction means is connected to the drive shaft via a clutch means which is chosen from the group: roller ramp clutch, cam clutch, ball clutch, electrically operated clutch, hydraulically operated clutch and mechanically operated clutch.

10. The method in claim 1 applied to four-wheel drive vehicles in which the speed reduction means is applied to one of the drive shafts, allowing the electric motor to provide power to the gear train to drive the front and rear wheels of the vehicle in conjunction with the IC engine or by electric energy alone.

11. The method in claim 1 in which a regenerative braking module is installed to recover energy from the moving vehicle and to allow the IC engine to recharge the battery.

12. The method in claim 1 in which an AC inverter is installed to allow the provision of AC power from the vehicle battery through a conventional electrical receptacle or receptacles.

13. A conversion package or kit based on claims 1-12 comprising the parts necessary to convert a particular vehicle from an internal combustion vehicle to an IC-electric hybrid by the teachings of this invention, these parts comprising principally; the battery, the battery charger, the controller, the electric motor and the power transmission means including the speed reducer, along with necessary switches, meters, wiring, fastenings and brackets, and an instruction manual detailing the individual steps in the conversion process, so that mechanics skilled in automotive repair can perform the conversion.

14. A conversion package in claim 13 in which the drive shaft or one of its components, with the speed reduction means installed is supplied as a preconstructed, properly aligned and balanced unit.

15. A vehicle converted from an internal combustion vehicle to an IC-electric hybrid vehicle using the method of claim 1, either as a new vehicle or a previously used vehicle, having the essential components of a rechargeable battery, a battery charger, a controller, an electric motor and a power transmission means involving a flexible rotational speed reduction means to connect the motor to a drive shaft of the vehicle.