CHARGING INSTALLATION AND METHOD FOR INDUCTIVELY CHARGING AN ELECTRICAL ENERGY STORAGE DEVICE

• US 20140002016A1
• Filed: 06/28/2013
• Published: 01/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Siemens AG
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: BACHMAIER, Georg, BACHMANN, Christian, BERGMANN, Dominik, CYRIACKS, Marco, FREITAG, Reinhard, GERLICH, Matthias
• Granted Patent: US 9,254,755 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 320/108
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/36 Temperature of vehicle components or parts
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/12 Inductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/126 Methods for pairing a vehicle and a charging station, e.g. establishing a one-to-one relation between a wireless power transmitter and a wireless power receiver
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/38 specially adapted for charging by inductive energy transfer
• 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

Abstract

A charging installation for inductively charging an electrical energy storage device of a vehicle, has a vehicle-side coil and a ground-side coil. At least one temperature sensor is disposed in the region of the ground-side coil and at least one heat source is disposed in the region of the vehicle-side coil.

Claims

1. A charging installation for inductively charging an electrical energy storage device of a vehicle, wherein a vehicle-side coil is mounted to the vehicle and connected to the electrical energy storage device, the charging installation comprising:

a ground-side coil and at least one temperature sensor disposed in a vicinity of said ground-side coil;

at least one heat source disposed in a vicinity of the vehicle-side coil;

said at least one heat source being configured to be activated at a start of a charging process and said at least one temperature sensor being configured to detect said at least one heat source.

2. The charging installation according to claim 1, wherein said at least one temperature sensor is formed of a pyroelectric film.

3. The charging installation according to claim 2, wherein said at least one temperature sensor is one of a plurality of temperature sensors arranged in a region of said ground-side coil.

4. The charging installation according to claim 3, wherein said plurality of temperature sensors are arranged along a grid around said ground-side coil.

5. The charging installation according to claim 4, wherein a distance between mutually adjacent sensors is all the smaller, the closer the sensors are arranged to said ground-side coil.

6. The charging installation according to claim 3, wherein said temperature sensors are strip-shaped sensors arranged in first and second layers one above the other, and wherein main directions of extension of the temperature sensors of said first and second layers enclose an angle of substantially 90°

therebetween.

7. A method of positioning a vehicle in respect of an ground-side inductive charging apparatus for an electrical energy storage device of the vehicle, the method which comprises:

determining whether or not a ground-side coil is in line with a vehicle-side coil, indicating a correct positioning of the vehicle relative to the inductive charging apparatus, by

activating a heat source mounted to the vehicle at a start of a charging process for outputting a signal from a heat source;

receiving the signal with at least one temperature sensor disposed at the ground-side charging apparatus; and

determining that the vehicle is correctly positioned if the signal output by the heat source is properly received by the at least one temperature sensor.

8. The method according to claim 7, which comprises using a plurality of temperature sensors to receive the signal from the heat source and, upon receiving a signal by way of one of the plurality of temperature sensors, deducing from a spacing distance of the receiving temperature sensor to a ground-side coil of the charging apparatus, that the position of the vehicle deviates from a target position.

9. The method according to claim 8, which comprises using a plurality of strip-shaped temperature sensors arranged one above the other in two layers as a receiving apparatus, the strip-shaped temperature sensors having main directions of extension enclosing an angle of 90°

therebetween them, wherein when a signal is received by way of a temperature sensor of the first and a temperature sensor of the second layer, determining a deviation in the position of the vehicle from a target position from a distance of the temperature sensors from a ground-side coil of the charging apparatus.