Charging system, power supply device and aircraft

• US 10,074,998 B2
• Filed: 12/09/2016
• Issued: 09/11/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd. (d/b/a DJI) (iFlight Technology Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd. (d/b/a DJI) (iFlight Technology Company Limited)
• Inventors: Mo, Weiyu
• Primary Examiner(s): CHEUNG, CALVIN K
• Application Number:
  US15/374,868
• Publication Number:
  US 20170126031A1
• Time in Patent Office: 641 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/14 Conductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/305 Communication interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/36 by positioning the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/65 involving identification of vehicles or their battery types
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 1/35 for supplying electrical power to stationary aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 1/36 Other airport installations ground installations for de-icing aircraft B64F5/20
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 1/362 Installations for supplying conditioned air to parked aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 50/19 using electrically powered motors
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 80/25 for recharging batteries; for refuelling
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0011 associated with a remote control arrangement
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 1/108 using diodes blocking reverse current flow H02J1/12 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00 Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00034 Charger exchanging data with an electronic device, i.e. telephone, whose internal battery is under charge
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0045 concerning the insertion or the connection of the batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/12 Electric charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 Plug-in electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/167 : Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for supporting the interoperability of electric or hybrid vehicles, i.e. smartgrids as interface for battery charging of electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV]
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 30/14 : Details associated with the interoperability, e.g. vehicle recognition, authentication, identification or billing

Abstract

A charging system includes a power supply device and a charging device. The power supply device includes a power supply and at least two exposed power supply panels connected to the power supply. The at least two power supply panels are electrically insulated from each other and include at least one anode power supply panel connected to an anode of the power supply and at least one cathode power supply panel connected to a cathode of the power supply. The at least one anode power supply panel and the at least one cathode power supply panel are alternately arranged. The charging device includes a charging circuit and at least two charging contacts each being connected to a charging anode and a charging cathode of the charging circuit respectively through a diode. The charging device is configured to contact the power supply panels through the charging contacts.

Claims

1. A charging system, comprising:

a power supply device including;

a power supply; and

at least two exposed power supply panels that are connected to the power supply, the at least two power supply panels being electrically insulated from each other and including;

at least one anode power supply panel connected to an anode of the power supply; and

at least one cathode power supply panel connected to a cathode of the power supply,

wherein the at least one anode power supply panel and the at least one cathode power supply panel are alternately arranged;

a charging device including;

a charging circuit; and

at least two charging contacts each being connected to a charging anode and a charging cathode of the charging circuit respectively through a diode,

wherein the charging device is configured to contact the power supply panels through the charging contacts to charge a connected load.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein:

each of the charging contacts includes a contact portion configured to contact the power supply panels, and

a distance between any two points on a contact plane of the contact portion for contacting the supply panel is less than a smallest distance between any two of the power supply panels.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein:

the contact portion includes a columnar, and

the contact plane is a bottom plane of the columnar.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein each of the charging contacts further includes a fixed portion and an elastic portion, one end of the elastic portion being connected with the fixed portion, and another end of the elastic portion being connected with the contact portion.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the power supply device further includes a controller configured to identify whether any of the power supply panels are in contact with one or more of the charging contacts.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the controller is further configured to, if one of the at least one anode power supply panel and one of the at least one cathode power supply panel are identified, control the power supply to supply power to the identified power supply panels.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the controller is further configured to identify whether any of the power supply panels are in contact with one or more of the charging contacts by:

detecting whether pressure-induced deformation exists in any of the power supply panels; and

identifying the power supply panel that has pressure-induced deformation as being in contact with one or more of the charging contacts.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein the controller is further configured to identify whether any of the power supply panels are in contact with one or more of the charging contacts by:

supplying power to the power supply panels;

detecting whether an electric current is generated in any of the power supply panels; and

identifying the power supply panel that has the electric current as being in contact with one or more of the charging contacts.

9. A power supply device, comprising:

a power supply; and

at least two exposed power supply panels that are connected to the power supply, the at least two power supply panels being electrically insulated from each other and including;

at least one anode power supply panel connected to an anode of the power supply; and

at least one cathode power supply panel connected to a cathode of the power supply,

wherein the at least one anode power supply panel and the at least one cathode power supply panel are alternately arranged,

wherein the power supply device is configured to be in contact with charging contacts of an external apparatus through the power supply panels to supply power to the external apparatus.

10. The device of claim 9, further comprising:

a controller configured to identify whether any of the power supply panels are in contact with one or more of the charging contacts.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein the controller is further configured to, if one of the at least one anode power supply panel and one of the at least one cathode power supply panel are identified, control the power supply to supply power to the identified power supply panels.

12. The device of claim 10, further comprising:

a communication module,

wherein;

the controller is further configured to transmit to the communication module a movement control signal if;

no power supply panel is identified,

only one power supply panel is identified, or

only multiple anode power supply panels or multiple cathode power supply panels are identified, and

the communication module is configured to transmit the movement control signal to the external apparatus to control the external apparatus to move in response to the movement control signal.

13. The device of claim 10, further comprising:

a cleaning component configured to perform cleaning operation on the power supply panels based on a preset control rule.

14. An aircraft, comprising:

a power supply module; and

a charging device coupled to the power supply module, the charging device including;

a charging circuit; and

at least two charging contacts each being connected to a charging anode and a charging cathode of the charging circuit respectively through a diode,

wherein the charging device is configured to contact at least two power supply panels of an external power supply device through the charging contacts to charge the power supply module.

15. The aircraft of claim 14, wherein:

each of the charging contacts includes a contact portion configured to contact the power supply panels, and

a distance between any two points on a contact plane of the contact portion for contacting the supply panel is less than a smallest distance between any two of the power supply panels.

16. The aircraft of claim 15, wherein:

the contact portion includes a columnar, and

the contact plane is a bottom plane of the columnar.

17. The aircraft of claim 15, wherein each of the charging contacts further includes a fixed portion and an elastic portion, one end of the elastic portion being connected with the fixed portion, and another end of the elastic portion being connected with the contact portion.

18. The aircraft of claim 14, further comprising:

a probing device configured to identify locations of the at least two power supply panels of the external power supply device to instruct the aircraft to land.

19. The aircraft of claim 14, further comprising:

a communication module configured to instruct the aircraft to take off, move, and land in response to a movement control signal transmitted from the external power supply device.

20. The aircraft of claim 14, further comprising:

a detecting device configured to instruct the aircraft to take off, move, and land when detecting that no charging current is generated in the charging circuit after the aircraft lands on the supply panels of the external power supply device.