Battery charging and handling system for electric vehicles

• US 6,094,028 A
• Filed: 07/01/1999
• Issued: 07/25/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Inventors: Wei, Tseng-Teh, Cheng, Li-Ru, Gu, Huan-Lung
• Primary Examiner(s): Tso, Edward H.
• Application Number:
  US09/346,577
• Time in Patent Office: 390 Days
• Field of Search: 320/104, 320/109, 320/FOR 101, 320/DIG. 34, 320/DIG. 35, 104/34, 414/281, 414/282, 414/285, 414/286
• US Class Current: 320/109
• CPC Class Codes: B60S 5/06 Supplying batteries to, or removing batteries from, vehicles exchanging batteries for electric propulsion of vehicles B60L53/80
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/441 for several batteries or cells simultaneously or sequentially
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

A selective-type battery charging and transferring system for electric vehicle uses a discretionary scheme rather than conventional continuous scheme and select the fully-charged battery to load on the transfer stage. The electric vehicle can be ensured to load with the most fully charged battery, thus eliminates the difficulty caused by the charging time difference.

Claims

1. A selective-type battery charging and transferring system for electric vehicle which comprising:

a transfer stage for clamping said electric vehicle and replacing a fully charged battery for the vehicle;

a buffer stage beside the transfer stage, the used battery unloaded from the electric vehicle X is arranged on one side thereof and a fully-charged battery is arranged on another side thereof;

an access means arranged between a storage chamber and the buffer stage, and used to place the non-fully charged battery into the storage chamber and place the fully-charged battery to the buffer stage from any battery room;

a storage chamber having a plurality of battery rooms and used to accommodate the battery unloaded from the vehicle for charging detection and management;

a control unit connected with the transfer stage for controlling the loading and unloading of the battery of the vehicle, and connected with the buffer stage for controlling the transfer of the loaded/unloaded battery, and also connected to the access means for controlling the charging of the battery, which is unloaded from the access means and charged within the storage chamber and for placing the fully-charged battery to the buffer storage.

2. The selective-type battery charging and transferring system as in claim 1, wherein said battery rooms are arranged in a matrix fashion.

3. The selective-type battery charging and transferring system as in claim 1, further comprises one or more battery sensor placed within the room and for detecting the condition of the battery and managing the charging operation.

4. The selective-type battery charging and transferring system as in claim 1, further comprises indicating lamp in each said room to display the condition of the battery room such as charging, most preferentially ready or empty.

5. The selective-type battery charging and transferring system as in claim 1, further comprises a defective region in said storage chamber to place the defective battery.

6. The selective-type battery charging and transferring system as in claim 1, wherein said access means comprises:

a railway for placing an automatically moving stage which moves laterally on the railway;

an escalator moving vertically between the top and bottom end of the chamber to select a specific room;

an access stage arranged on top of the escalator and selecting a room in conjunction with the movement of the automatically moving stage and the escalator, thus fetch the battery Y in the room;

wherein the access stage stores the unloaded battery from the buffer stage to the chamber for battery detection and charging operation, and takes the most preferential battery from the chamber to the buffer stage for placing it into the electric vehicle.

14. The selective-type battery charging and transferring system as in claim 1, further comprises a mobile carrier wherein the transfer stage is arranged on one side thereof and the automatic access means and the storage chamber are arranged therein such that the selective-type battery charging and transferring system has mobility.

7. A selective-type battery charging and transferring system for electric vehicle which comprising:

a transfer stage for clamping said electric vehicle and replacing a fully charged battery for the vehicle;

an automatic access means arranged between a storage chamber and the transfer stage, and used to place the non-fully charged battery into the storage chamber and place the fully-charged battery to the transfer stage from any battery room;

a storage chamber having a plurality of battery rooms and used to accommodate the battery unloaded from the vehicle for charging detection and management;

a control unit connected with the transfer stage for controlling the loading and unloading of the battery of the vehicle, and connected to the automatic access means for controlling the charging of the battery, which is unloaded from the access means and charged within the storage chamber and for placing the fully-charged battery to the buffer storage.

8. The selective-type battery charging and transferring system as in claim 7, wherein said battery rooms are arranged in a matrix fashion and having means in each said room to display the condition of the battery room such as charging, most preferentially ready or empty.

9. The selective-type battery charging and transferring system as in claim 7, further comprises one or more battery sensor placed within the room and for detecting the condition of the battery and managing the charging operation.

10. The selective-type battery charging and transferring system as in claim 7, further comprises indicating lamp in each said room to display the condition of the battery room such as charging, most preferentially ready or empty.

11. The selective-type battery charging and transferring system as in claim 7, further comprises a defective region in said storage chamber to place the defective battery.

12. The selective-type battery charging and transferring system as in claim 7, wherein said access means comprises:

an automatic moving stage moving laterally freely between the transfer stage and the storage chamber;

an escalator arranged on the automatic moving stage and moving vertically between the top and bottom end of the chamber to select a specific room;

a store stage arranged on one side of the escalator and moved with the automatic moving stage laterally and used to receive the battery unloaded from the vehicle of the transfer stage and place the battery into the chamber for battery detection and charging;

a access stage arranged on one side of the escalator and moved with the automatic moving stage laterally and used to choose the most preferential room of the chamber and take the battery from the battery room and transfer the battery to the transfer stage for loading on the vehicle.

13. The selective-type battery charging and transferring system as in claim 7, further comprises a mobile carrier wherein the transfer stage is arranged on one side thereof and the automatic access means and the storage chamber are arranged therein such that the selective-type battery charging and transferring system has mobility.