Vehicle battery charger

• US 9,481,324 B2
• Filed: 11/23/2012
• Issued: 11/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Proterial Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi Metals (Thailand) Ltd.
• Inventors: Kaneyasu, Masayoshi, Kai, Takafumi, Yanagisawa, Hiroyuki, Ito, Hiroyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Dunn, Drew A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Zhou, Zixuan
• Application Number:
  US13/684,332
• Publication Number:
  US 20130134936A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,439 Days
• Field of Search: 320/109, 320/107
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/00 Electric devices on electrically-propelled vehicles for safety purposes; Monitoring operating variables, e.g. speed, deceleration or energy consumption methods or circuit arrangements for monitoring or controlling batteries or fuel cells B60L58/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/12 Recording operating variables ; Monitoring of operating variables
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/14 Conductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/18 Cables specially adapted for charging electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/00 Electric or fluid circuits specially adapted for vehicles and not otherwise provided for; Arrangement of elements of electric or fluid circuits specially adapted for vehicles and not otherwise provided for devices for protecting vehicle occupants in case of accidents B60R21/00; safety belts B60R22/00; central door locking E05B49/00, E05B77/50
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles

Abstract

A vehicle battery charger for charging a vehicle that is operable to detect a disengagement of a connecter or a preparing operation of the disengagement of the connector by a change in an electric current value of an electric current output from a terminal of the connecter and to stop charging a storage battery of the vehicle upon the detection includes a charging device configured to charge the vehicle, and a simulation operation device configured to change the electric current value by switching a pathway of the electric current output from the terminal of the connecter in a state that the connecter is in engagement and the preparing operation of the disengagement of the connecter is not carried out so as to cause the vehicle to stop charging the storage battery.

Claims

1. A vehicle battery charger including a connector for charging a vehicle, the vehicle comprising a storage battery and a relay circuit configured to start or stop charging to the storage battery by becoming a closed state or an opened state, the connector having a proximity detection terminal, the vehicle being operable to detect a disengagement of the connecter or a preparing operation of the disengagement of the connector by a change in an electric current value of a sensing electric current output from the proximity detection terminal of the connecter and to stop the charging of the storage battery of the vehicle upon the detection, the vehicle battery charger comprising:

a charging device connected to the connector and configured to charge the vehicle, comprising

a simulation operation device comprising a switching device, the simulation operation device configured to change the electric current value by switching a pathway of the sensing electric current output from the proximity detection terminal of the connecter while the connecter is still in engagement and the preparing operation of the disengagement of the connecter is not yet carried out, thereby setting the relay circuit of the vehicle at the opened state to cause the vehicle to stop charging the storage battery, wherein said switching device changes said value of the sensing electric current output from said proximity detection terminal of the connector in response to a control signal;

a switching circuit comprising at least a first switching section and a second switching section,

the first switching section comprising a first contact connected to the proximity detection terminal via a parallel circuit in which a switch disposed in a charging gun and a first resistor are connected in parallel, and

the second switching section comprising a fourth contact configured to be connected to the first contact depending on a switching state of the first switching section;

wherein when a switching state of the first switching section is changed from a first connection state to a second connection state in which the first contact is connected to the fourth contact, a control device on the side of the vehicle can detect that a release button of the charging gun has been pushed, and

when the switching state of the second switching section from the second connection state to a third connection state in which a fifth contact is connected to no other circuit element in the switching circuit, the control device judges that the connector is disengaged from a vehicle inlet even when the connector is actually not disengaged from the vehicle inlet.

2. The vehicle battery charger according to claim 1, wherein the simulation operation device is configured to cause the vehicle to detect the disengagement of the connecter by blocking the pathway of the electric current output from the proximity detection terminal of the connecter.

3. The vehicle battery charger according to claim 1, wherein the simulation operation device is configured to cause the vehicle to detect the preparing operation of the disengagement of the connecter by switching the pathway of the electric current output from the proximity detection terminal of the connecter such that the electric current value of the electric current is equal to the electric current value obtained when the preparing operation has been carried out.

4. The vehicle battery charger according to claim 1, wherein the simulation operation device is capable of selecting blocking the pathway of the electric current output from the proximity detection terminal of the connecter, or switching the pathway of the electric current output from the proximity detection terminal of the connecter such that the electric current value of the electric current is equal to the electric current value obtained when the preparing operation has been carried out.

5. The vehicle battery charger according to claim 1, wherein the simulation operation device is configured to cause the vehicle to detect the disengagement of the connecter by blocking the pathway of an electric proximity signal that indicates that the connector is electrically connected to the relay circuit of the vehicle.

6. A vehicle battery charger including a connector for charging a vehicle, the vehicle comprising a storage battery and a relay circuit configured to start or stop charging to the storage battery by becoming a closed state or an opened state, the connector having a proximity detection terminal, the vehicle being operable to detect a disengagement of the connecter or a preparing operation of the disengagement of the connector by a change in an electric current value of a sensing electric current output from the proximity detection terminal of the connecter and to stop the charging of the storage battery of the vehicle upon the detection, the vehicle battery charger comprising:

a charging device connected to the connector and configured to charge the vehicle, comprising

a simulation operation device comprising a switching device, the simulation operation device configured to change the electric current value by switching a pathway of the sensing electric current output from the proximity detection terminal of the connecter while the connecter is still in engagement and the preparing operation of the disengagement of the connecter is not yet carried out, thereby setting the relay circuit of the vehicle at the opened state to cause the vehicle to stop charging the storage battery, wherein said switching device changes said value of the sensing electric current output from said proximity detection terminal of the connector in response to a control signal;

a switching circuit comprising at least

a first switching section comprising a first contact connected to the proximity detection terminal via a parallel circuit in which a switch disposed in a charging gun and a first resistor are connected in parallel, and

a second switching section comprising a fourth contact configured to be connected to the first contact depending on a switching state of the first switching section;

wherein when a switching state of the first switching section is changed from a first connection state to a second connection state in which the first contact is connected to the fourth contact, a control device on the side of the vehicle can detect that a release button of the charging gun has been pushed, and

when the switching state of the second switching section from the second connection state to a third connection state in which a fourth contact is connected to a second resistor, the control device judges that the release button is pushed even when the release button is not actually pushed.