CONTROLLING BATTERIES FOR ELECTRIC BUS
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Accused Products
Abstract
An onboard charging system for an electric vehicle is configured to communicate with a power supply through exchange of control signals on a power supply line by modulating a charging current being supplied to the charging system. The charging system is capable of communicating fault and battery parameter data to the power supply, as well as a requested charging current used to regulate the power supply output. The power supply may convert high voltage AC power into a controllable DC output supplied directly to the electric vehicle, thereby providing a convenient means for the vehicle to initiate charging during operations. Connection between the electric vehicle and the power supply may be effected using an extendible and retractable electrical connection, such as a mechanical pantograph.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. (canceled)
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2. (canceled)
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3. (canceled)
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4. (canceled)
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5. A method of charging a plurality of energy storage devices, comprising:
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supplying a charging current to a first grouping of the energy storage devices comprising one or more energy storage devices currently connected to a power supply line; selecting an energy storage device, from a second grouping of the energy storage devices comprising one or more energy storage devices not currently connected to the power supply line, for connection to the power supply line, the selected energy storage device having a voltage that is more than a specified maximum difference greater than a group voltage of the one or more energy storage devices in the first grouping; monitoring the group voltage of the one or more energy storage devices in the first grouping while the charging current is supplied to the power supply line; and connecting the selected energy storage device to the power supply line when it is determined that the monitored group voltage of the one or more energy storage devices in the first grouping and the voltage of the energy storage device selected from the second grouping are within the specified maximum difference of each other. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of charging a plurality of energy storage devices, comprising:
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connecting an initial grouping of the energy storage devices to a power supply line, the initial grouping comprising one or more energy storage devices determined to have respective voltages within a specified maximum difference of each other; supplying the initial grouping of energy storage devices with a charging current on the power supply line; connecting a remainder of the energy storage devices not included in the initial grouping to the power supply line by monitoring a group voltage of the one or more energy storage devices currently connected to the power supply line while the charging current is supplied to the power supply line and, for each respective energy storage device in the remainder, connecting the respective energy storage device to the power supply line when it is determined that the monitored group voltage of the one or more energy storage devices currently connected to the power supply line and the voltage of the respective energy storage device in the remainder are within a specified maximum difference of each other; and discontinuing supply of the charging current on the power supply line when it is determined that the plurality of energy storage devices are charged to a specified full charge voltage. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of drawing power from a plurality of energy storage devices, comprising:
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powering one or more loads with a load current drawn from a first grouping of a plurality of energy storage devices connected to a power supply line; selecting an energy storage device, from a second grouping of the energy storage devices comprising one or more energy storage devices not currently connected to the power supply line, for connection to the power supply line, the selected energy storage device having a voltage that is more than a specified maximum difference less than a group voltage of the one or more energy storage devices in the first grouping; monitoring the group voltage of the one or more energy storage devices in the first grouping while the one or more loads are powered with the load current; and connecting the selected energy storage device to the power supply line when it is determined that the group voltage of the one or more energy storage devices in the first grouping and the voltage of the energy storage device selected from the second grouping are within the specified maximum difference of each other. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of drawing power from a plurality of energy storage devices, the method including:
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connecting an initial grouping of the energy storage devices to a power supply line, the initial grouping comprising one or more energy storage devices determined to have respective voltages within a specified maximum difference of each other; powering one or more loads with a load current drawn from the initial grouping of energy storage devices on the power supply line; connecting a remainder of the energy storage devices not included in the initial grouping to the power supply line by monitoring a group voltage of the one or more energy storage devices currently connected to the power supply line while the one or more loads are powered with the load current and, for each respective energy storage device in the remainder, connecting the respective energy storage device to the power supply line when it is determined that the monitored group voltage of the one or more energy storage devices currently connected to the power supply line and the voltage of the respective energy storage device in the remainder are within a specified maximum difference of each other; and discontinuing powering of the one or more loads with the load current on the power supply line when it is determined that the plurality of energy storage devices is depleted to a specified charge state. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification