SAFETY SUPERVISORY MODULE OF AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATION
First Claim
1. A safety supervisory module of an electric vehicle charging station that controls flow of current from the electric vehicle charging station to an electric vehicle, comprising:
- a set of two or more processors to control operation of a contactor control circuitry to open and close a set of one or more contacts of a set of one or more power supply lines to control flow of current from the electric vehicle charging station to an electric vehicle, wherein each of the set of processors is to independently determine whether an unsafe condition exists and is to assert a relay enable signal to the contactor control circuitry only when an unsafe condition does not exist;
the contactor control circuitry to;
generate a current to energize a relay to close the set of contacts responsive to the relay enable signal being asserted by each and every processor of the set of processors, andinhibit closure of the set of contacts or open the set of contacts to prevent electricity from flowing between the electric vehicle charging station and an electric vehicle when any of the set of processors is not asserting the relay enable signal; and
wherein each and every processor of the set of processors must be operating and asserting the relay enable signal for the set of contacts to be closed and any one or more processors of the set of processors are capable of inhibiting closure of the set of contacts and causing the set of contacts to open in the event of an unsafe condition.
14 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A safety supervisory module (SSM) of an electric vehicle charging station that controls flow of current from the electric vehicle charging station to an electric vehicle. The SSM includes a set of two or more processors to control operation of a contactor control circuitry of the SSM to open and close a set of contacts of a set of power supply lines to control flow of current from the charging station to an electric vehicle. Each processor independently determines whether an unsafe condition exists and asserts a relay enable signal to the contactor control circuitry only when an unsafe condition does not exist. The contactor control circuitry generates a current to energize a relay to close the set of contacts responsive to the relay enable signal being asserted by each and every processor of the set of processors, and inhibits closure of the set of contacts or opens the set of contacts to prevent electricity from flowing between the charging station and an electric vehicle when any of the set of processors is not asserting the relay enable signal.
-
Citations
22 Claims
-
1. A safety supervisory module of an electric vehicle charging station that controls flow of current from the electric vehicle charging station to an electric vehicle, comprising:
-
a set of two or more processors to control operation of a contactor control circuitry to open and close a set of one or more contacts of a set of one or more power supply lines to control flow of current from the electric vehicle charging station to an electric vehicle, wherein each of the set of processors is to independently determine whether an unsafe condition exists and is to assert a relay enable signal to the contactor control circuitry only when an unsafe condition does not exist; the contactor control circuitry to; generate a current to energize a relay to close the set of contacts responsive to the relay enable signal being asserted by each and every processor of the set of processors, and inhibit closure of the set of contacts or open the set of contacts to prevent electricity from flowing between the electric vehicle charging station and an electric vehicle when any of the set of processors is not asserting the relay enable signal; and wherein each and every processor of the set of processors must be operating and asserting the relay enable signal for the set of contacts to be closed and any one or more processors of the set of processors are capable of inhibiting closure of the set of contacts and causing the set of contacts to open in the event of an unsafe condition. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A method performed by a safety supervisory module of an electric vehicle charging station, comprising:
-
receiving, at a first processor and second processor of the safety supervisory module, a charge request input that indicates a request to close a set of one or more contacts to allow current to flow between the electric vehicle charging station and an electric vehicle; responsive to the charge request input, the first and second processors each verifying that a charge circuit interrupting device (CCID) circuitry will generate a fault signal to the first and second processors respectively when a threshold amount of differential current exists through the one or more power supply lines; after verifying that the CCID circuitry will generate the fault signal, the first processor and second processor each asserting a signal to a contactor control circuitry to cause it to generate a current output to close the set of one or more contacts, wherein the contactor control circuit only generates the current output to close the set of one or more contacts when both of the first and second signals are asserted. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 14)
-
-
13. The method of claim 13, further comprising:
-
the first and second processors starting a first and second automatic retry timer respectively; and responsive to the first and second automatic retry timer expiring, the first and second processors each respectively asserting the signal to the contactor control circuitry to cause it to generate current to close the set of one or more contacts.
-
-
15. An electric vehicle charging station, comprising:
-
a relay including a set of one or more contacts that closes the set of contacts when energized to allow current to flow through a set of one or more power supply lines and opens the set of contacts when de-energized to prevent current from flowing through the set of power supply lines; and a safety supervisory module coupled with the relay that controls flow of current from the electric vehicle charging station to an electric vehicle, the safety supervisory module including; a set of two or more processors to control operation of a contactor control circuitry that controls opening and closing of the set of one or more contacts in the relay to control flow of current from the electric vehicle charging station to an electric vehicle, and the contactor control circuitry to generate a current to energize the relay to close the set of one or more contacts responsive to assertion of a relay enable signal from each of the set of processors and to de-energize the relay to open the set of one or more contacts responsive to one or more of the set of two or more processors de-asserting the relay enable signal. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
-
Specification