KIOSKS FOR STORING, CHARGING AND EXCHANGING BATTERIES USABLE IN ELECTRIC VEHICLES AND SERVERS AND APPLICATIONS FOR LOCATING KIOSKS AND ACCESSING BATTERIES
First Claim
1. A system for providing access to exchangeable batteries, comprising,(a) a kiosk, the kiosk having,(i) a plurality of receptacle slots for holding batteries, the plurality of receptacle slots arranged on a side of the kiosk, the plurality of receptacle slots arranged in one more columns and one or more rows, each receptacle slot having a connection disposed therein that interfaces to a power source;
- (ii) a plurality of batteries, each of the plurality of batteries have a form factor that is dimensioned to at least partially fit within ones of the receptacle slots, such that at least one of the batteries present in a receptacle slot is configured to receive power via the connection from the power source, wherein the received power is utilized to recharge at least one of the batteries present in at least one of the receptacle slots of the kiosk; and
(b) a computer disposed in the kiosk and configured for communication with a server over a network, the computer configured to process status of each of the plurality of receptacle slots and enable delivery of power to each of the batteries present in one or more of the receptacle slots,wherein the computer is further configured to process status data regarding at least an inventory of batteries present in the receptacle slots, or a charge level of batteries present in the receptacle slots, or a number of available batteries having a charged state in the kiosk;
wherein the computer is further configured to process requests from the server, the requests being for at least some of the status data of the kiosk;
wherein the computer is further configured to process reservations for at least one of the available batteries in the kiosk.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Electric vehicles that use replaceable and exchangeable batteries, applications for communicating with a service that provides access to kiosks of batteries, and methods and systems for finding charged batteries, reserving batteries, and paying for use of the batteries, are disclosed. One example is a system for managing access to and exchange of batteries for use by electric vehicles. The electric vehicles have receptacle slots for receiving batteries for powering an electric motor of the electric vehicle. The system includes a kiosk having a plurality of receptacle slots for holding a plurality of batteries, and at least one of the plurality of receptacle slots is accessible to enable access of a battery from the kiosk. each receptacle slot having a connection disposed therein that connects to a power source. Each of the plurality of batteries have a form factor that is dimensioned to at least partially fit within ones of the receptacle slots and to be hand-inserted and hand-removed to and from the plurality of receptacle slots of the kiosk and the electric vehicle. The system includes a computer integrated in the kiosk and configured for communication with a server over a network. The computer configured to monitor status of each of the plurality of receptacle slots and enable delivery of power to each of the batteries present in one or more of the receptacle slots. The computer is further configured to process status data regarding at least an inventory of batteries present in the receptacle slots, or a charge level of the batteries present in the receptacle slots, or a number of available batteries having a charged state when in the kiosk. Mobile applications are useable to finding kiosks and obtaining batteries for exchange.
21 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for providing access to exchangeable batteries, comprising,
(a) a kiosk, the kiosk having, (i) a plurality of receptacle slots for holding batteries, the plurality of receptacle slots arranged on a side of the kiosk, the plurality of receptacle slots arranged in one more columns and one or more rows, each receptacle slot having a connection disposed therein that interfaces to a power source; -
(ii) a plurality of batteries, each of the plurality of batteries have a form factor that is dimensioned to at least partially fit within ones of the receptacle slots, such that at least one of the batteries present in a receptacle slot is configured to receive power via the connection from the power source, wherein the received power is utilized to recharge at least one of the batteries present in at least one of the receptacle slots of the kiosk; and (b) a computer disposed in the kiosk and configured for communication with a server over a network, the computer configured to process status of each of the plurality of receptacle slots and enable delivery of power to each of the batteries present in one or more of the receptacle slots, wherein the computer is further configured to process status data regarding at least an inventory of batteries present in the receptacle slots, or a charge level of batteries present in the receptacle slots, or a number of available batteries having a charged state in the kiosk; wherein the computer is further configured to process requests from the server, the requests being for at least some of the status data of the kiosk; wherein the computer is further configured to process reservations for at least one of the available batteries in the kiosk. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system for managing access to and exchanging batteries for use by electric vehicles, the electric vehicles having receptacle slots for receiving batteries for powering an electric motor of the electric vehicle, the system comprising,
a kiosk having a plurality of receptacle slots for holding a plurality of batteries, at least one of the plurality of receptacle slots of the kiosk being accessible to enable access to one or more of the plurality of batteries from the kiosk, each receptacle slot of the kiosk having a connection to a power source, such that one or more of the batteries present in receptacle slots of the kiosk is capable of receiving power via the connection from the power source, wherein the received power is utilized to recharge the at least one of the batteries, and each of the plurality of batteries have a form factor that is dimensioned to at least partially fit within ones of the receptacle slots and to be hand-inserted and hand-removed to and from the plurality of receptacle slots of the kiosk and the electric vehicle; - and
a computer of the kiosk configured for communication with a server over a network, the computer configured to monitor status of each of the plurality of receptacle slots of the kiosk and enables providing of power to one or more of batteries present in one or more of the receptacle slots of the kiosk, wherein the computer is further configured to process status data regarding at least an inventory of batteries present in the receptacle slots of the kiosk, or a charge level of the batteries present in the receptacle slots of the kiosk, or a number of available batteries having a charged state when in the kiosk; wherein the computer is further configured to process requests from the server, the requests being for at least some of the status data. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. A system for exchanging batteries for use by electric vehicles, the system comprising,
a kiosk having a plurality of receptacle slots for holding a plurality of batteries, at least one of the plurality of receptacle slots of the kiosk being accessible to enable access to one or more of the plurality of batteries from the kiosk, each receptacle slot of the kiosk being electrically connected to a power source, such that one or more of the batteries present in receptacle slots of the kiosk is capable of receiving power from the power source, wherein the received power is utilized to enable recharge of at least one of the batteries, and each of the plurality of batteries have a form factor that is dimensioned to at least partially fit within ones of the receptacle slots and to be hand-inserted and hand-removed to and from the plurality of receptacle slots of the kiosk and the electric vehicle; - and
a computer of the kiosk configured for communication with a server over a network, the computer configured to monitor status of each of the plurality of receptacle slots of the kiosk and enables providing of power to one or more of batteries present in one or more of the receptacle slots of the kiosk, the computer is further configured to process status data of a number of available batteries in the kiosk; wherein the computer is further configured to process requests from the server and at least one of the requests from the server to the kiosk is in response to a request from a user account that is interfaced with or processed by the server, the request from the user account being made via a mobile application or a website. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification