Vehicle charging system

• US 10,596,920 B2
• Filed: 01/15/2018
• Issued: 03/24/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Arregui Torres, Andrea Viviana, Hernandez, Gustavo Tovar
• Primary Examiner(s): Diao, M Baye
• Application Number:
  US15/871,182
• Publication Number:
  US 20190217718A1
• Time in Patent Office: 799 Days
• Field of Search: 320109
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/11 DC charging controlled by the charging station, e.g. mode 4
• 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 53/14 Conductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/305 Communication interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/35 Means for automatic or assisted adjustment of the relative position of charging devices and vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/65 involving identification of vehicles or their battery types
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/67 Controlling two or more charging stations
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/167 Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for supporting the interoperability of electric or hybrid vehicles, i.e. smartgrids as interface for battery charging of electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV]
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 30/14 Details associated with the interoperability, e.g. vehicle recognition, authentication, identification or billing

Abstract

Parking infrastructure includes a charger disposed beneath parking spaces that provides charge to batteries for each of a plurality of vehicles, and a control module. The control module is configured to, in response to vehicle charge requests that includes routine data from each vehicle controller associated with each vehicle, connect the charger to each vehicle associated with each request based on a queue organized by a threshold sufficient to complete a routine from the routine data for each vehicle, and, in response to exceeding the threshold for each vehicle, check the queue for additional charge requests.

Claims

1. A charging system comprising:

a charging station disposed beneath a surface that includes indicia to separate spaces for parking; and

a control module configured to,

receive from each of a plurality of vehicles parked in the spaces a desired charge level and data defining a driving routine to be completed by the vehicle,

determine for each of the plurality a threshold charge level to complete the driving routine,

determine for each of the plurality whether a current charge level is less than the threshold charge level,

order the plurality in a queue according to whether the respective current charge levels are greater than the respective threshold charge levels such that vehicles of the plurality having the current charge level less than the threshold charge level are higher in order than vehicles of the plurality having the current charge level greater than the threshold charge level, and

charge via the charging station each of the plurality having the current charge level less than the threshold charge level in the order defined by the queue to the desired charge level such that vehicles of the plurality having the current charge level greater than the threshold charge level are not charged via the charging station.

2. The charging system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control module is further configured to, in response to completion of the queue, move the charging station to a home.

3. The charging system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control module is configured to, in response to detecting a parked vehicle via a proximity sensor, initiate communication with the vehicle controller to determine a charge request.

4. The charging system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the charge request is sent via a smartphone.

5. A control method comprising:

by a controller,

receiving from each of a plurality of vehicles a desired charge level and data defining a driving routine to be completed by the vehicle,

determining for each of the plurality a threshold charge level to complete the driving routine,

determining for each of the plurality whether a current charge level is less than the threshold charge level,

ordering the plurality in a queue according to whether the respective current charge levels are greater than the respective threshold charge levels such that vehicles of the plurality having the current charge level less than the threshold charge level are higher in order than vehicles of the plurality having the current charge level greater than the threshold charge level, and

charging via a charging station each of the plurality according to the queue such that vehicles of the plurality having the current charge level less than the threshold charge level are charged to the corresponding respective desired charge levels before vehicles of the plurality having the current charge level greater than the threshold charge level are charged to the corresponding respective charge levels.

6. The control method as claimed in claim 5 further comprising, in response to completion of the queue, move the charging station to a home.

7. The control method as claimed in claim 5 further comprising, in response to detecting a parked vehicle via a proximity sensor, initiate communication with a controller of the parked vehicle.