JP7702852B2 - Vehicle Charging System - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle charging system equipped with multiple chargers for charging storage batteries mounted on a vehicle.

Charging stations installed in service areas and the like for charging vehicles are widely available that are equipped with a high-output charging function that enables charging in a short period of time.
For example, in Patent Document 1, a system is provided with multiple chargers and a centralized battery panel that supplies charging current to the chargers, and batteries for performing high-speed charging are arranged on the centralized battery panel, making it possible to perform rapid charging.

JP 2021-78235 A

The chargers with the high-power charging function described above were able to be used effectively during busy periods because they were capable of high-power charging. However, when high-power charging was required, the manager had to operate a switch to switch between low-power charging and high-power charging, which placed a heavy burden on the manager.

In view of these problems, the present invention aims to provide a vehicle charging system that switches the charger to a high output mode during busy periods to perform short-term charging.

In order to solve the above problem, the invention of claim 1 is a vehicle charging system having a plurality of chargers that supply charging power to connected vehicles, a battery panel that supplies the chargers with battery power in addition to commercial power, and a management server that manages the battery panel via a communication network, wherein the battery panel has an AC/DC conversion unit that converts commercial power to direct current, a DC/AC conversion unit for supplying the output of the AC/DC conversion unit and the output of the battery to the charger, and an external communication unit that communicates with the management server, while the chargers have two charging modes: a low output mode and a high output mode in which vehicle charging is performed with a current greater than that in the low output mode, and the management server has a calendar information storage unit that stores busy periods when the chargers are frequently used, and a switching control unit that switches the charging mode of each charger via the battery panel, and the switching control unit changes the charging mode to the high output mode during busy periods based on information from the calendar information storage unit.
With this configuration, the system automatically switches to high-output mode during busy periods, allowing vehicle charging to be tailored to the congestion situation, which is convenient for users. In addition, there is no need to switch between low and high output, reducing the burden on administrators.

The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that, in the configuration described in claim 1, it has a camera for detecting whether or not there are vehicles waiting to be charged, and transmits the image captured by the camera to a management server, and the management server has a situation determination unit for determining the charger usage status based on the camera image information transmitted from the battery panel, and the switching control unit changes the charging mode of the charger to the high output mode when the situation determination unit determines that there are vehicles waiting to be charged, even if it is not a busy period.
According to this configuration, even when it is not a busy season, the mode is switched to the high output mode depending on how crowded the charger is, which is convenient for users.

The invention of claim 3 is characterized in that, in the configuration described in claim 1 or 2, the management server obtains information on the remaining charge of the battery from the battery panel, and if the remaining charge is below a predetermined amount, does not switch to the high-output mode.
According to this configuration, even if the conditions for switching to the high output mode are met, if the charge level of the storage battery is below a predetermined level, the mode will not switch. This prevents the high output mode from being changed to the low output mode midway, and makes it easier for the user to grasp the time remaining until charging is completed.

The invention of claim 4 is characterized in that in the charger according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the charger has a mode display section for displaying a charging mode, and a current charging mode is displayed.
According to this configuration, the current charging mode, whether it is the low output mode or the high output mode, is displayed on the charger, making it easy for the user to understand the charging mode.

According to the present invention, the system automatically switches to high output mode during busy periods, allowing vehicle charging to be carried out according to the congestion situation, which is convenient for users. In addition, there is no need to switch between low and high output, which reduces the burden on administrators.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a vehicle charging system according to the present invention, illustrating a configuration of a battery panel. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a management server. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of charge mode switching control of the charger.

Below, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a vehicle charging system according to the present invention, with a battery panel shown as a block. The vehicle charging system 1 is composed of a charger 2 to which a vehicle 5 to be charged is connected, a battery panel 3 that has a battery 31 and controls the charger 2, and a management server 4 that manages the battery panel 3. A vehicle detection sensor 7 that recognizes the vehicle 5 connected to the charger 2, and a camera 8 for grasping the charging waiting status are also connected to the battery panel 3.

In addition, multiple chargers 2 are connected to the storage battery panel 3, and the management server 4 manages multiple storage battery panels 3. The chargers 2, vehicle detection sensors 7, and cameras 8 are connected to the storage battery panel 3, and the management server 4 is connected to the storage battery panel 3 via the communication network N.

In addition to the storage battery 31, the battery panel 3 includes a converter unit 32 that converts AC to DC, an inverter unit 33 for supplying charging power to the charger 2, a control controller 34 that controls the battery panel 3, and an external communication unit 35 that communicates with the management server 4.
The converter unit 32 has an AC/DC conversion circuit, is supplied with commercial power from a high-voltage power receiving facility (not shown), and the converted DC output is supplied to the storage battery 31 and the inverter unit 33. The inverter unit 33 has a DC/AC conversion circuit, and converts the combined power of the DC power output by the converter unit 32 and the discharge power of the storage battery 31 into AC power, which is supplied to the charger 2 as vehicle charging power.

The controller 34 controls the battery panel 3, as well as the charger 2 and the storage battery 31. Specifically, in response to an instruction from the management server 4, the controller 34 switches the charging mode of the charger 2, notifies the management server 4 of the images captured by the vehicle detection sensor 7 and the camera 8, and information on the remaining amount of power stored in the storage battery 31, and controls the charging and discharging of the storage battery 31.
The storage battery 31 is provided with a BMS (Battery Management System) that manages charging and discharging, and the controller 34 controls the storage battery 31 by communicating with this BMS.

The charger 2 internally converts the supplied AC current to DC and supplies it to the vehicle 5. It also has a mode display unit 2a, which displays whether the current charging mode is a low output mode in which charging is performed at, for example, 50 kW, or a high output mode in which charging is performed at, for example, 100 kW.

The vehicle detection sensor 7 detects the vehicle 5 to which the charger 2 is connected. For example, when the vehicle 5 is parked in a parking area for charging, the vehicle detection sensor 7 detects this and notifies the controller 34.

The camera 8 detects vehicles 5 waiting to be charged, and captures images of the set charging waiting area and the vehicles 5 waiting to be charged. The controller 34 determines the congestion status of the vehicles 5 waiting to be charged based on this image information.

2 shows a block diagram of the management server 4. The management server 4 includes a calendar information storage unit 41 that stores the periods, days of the week, time periods, etc. when the chargers are crowded, a management server CPU 42 that controls the management server 4, an image analysis unit 43 that identifies vehicles from images captured by the camera 8, a management server communication IF 44 that communicates with the storage battery panel 3, etc.
The management server CPU 42 controls the switching of the output mode of the charger 2 by taking into account, in addition to the information from the calendar information memory unit 41, usage information of the charger 2 sent from the battery panel 3, image information from the camera 8, and information on the amount of stored power in the storage battery 31.
The output modes of the charger 2 include a low output mode in which the vehicle is charged mainly using commercial power, and a high output mode in which charging is performed at a higher current than in the low output mode, using the discharge power of the storage battery 31 in addition to the commercial power source.
In this way, the management server CPU 42 has the functions of a switching control unit that switches the charging mode of the charger 2 and a status determination unit that determines the usage status of the charger 2.
Reference numeral 9 denotes a management personal computer for inputting calendar information and the like to the management server 4 .

The control of switching between the low output mode and the high output mode of the charger 2 of the vehicle charging system 1 configured as described above is carried out as follows. This control starts when the vehicle 5 is connected to the charger 2.
3 is a flow chart showing the flow of the switching control, and will be described with reference to this figure. First, it is determined whether it is a busy season in which the charger 2 is frequently used (S1). If it is a busy season, the time period is determined (S2), and if it is a time period in which charging congestion occurs (YES in S2), the remaining charge of the storage battery 31 in the storage battery panel 3 is confirmed (S3), and if it is 10% or more, the charger 2 is switched to high output mode (S4). However, if the remaining charge is less than 10%, the charger 2 is switched to low output mode (S5).
If it is not a time period during which charging congestion will occur in S2, the low output mode is selected (S5).

On the other hand, if it is not the busy season (NO in S1) and it is determined from the image captured by the camera 8 that there are no vehicles 5 waiting to be charged (NO in S6), the mode will be set to low output mode. However, if it is not the busy season but it is determined that there are vehicles 5 waiting to be charged (YES in S6), it will confirm that the remaining battery charge is 10% or more (YES in S7) and switch to high output mode (S8). However, even if there are vehicles 5 waiting to be charged, if the remaining battery charge is less than 10% (NO in S7), the mode will be set to low output mode (S5).

In addition, information from the vehicle detection sensor 7 is used to detect vehicles that remain parked even though charging has been completed, and when the management server CPU 42 recognizes such a vehicle 5, it notifies the administrator, etc., to encourage efficient use of the charger 2.

In this way, the system automatically switches to the high output mode during busy periods, allowing charging of the vehicle 5 to be carried out according to the congestion situation, which is convenient for users. In addition, since there is no need to switch between low output and high output, the burden on the administrator can be reduced.
In addition, even if it is not a busy season, the charger 2 determines whether to switch to the high output mode depending on whether there are vehicles 5 waiting to be charged, which is convenient for users.
Furthermore, even if the conditions for switching to the high output mode are met, if the charge level of the storage battery 31 is below a predetermined level, the mode will not switch to the high output mode. This prevents the high output mode from being changed to the low output mode midway, and allows the user to easily grasp the time remaining until charging is completed.
In addition, the current charging mode, whether low output mode or high output mode, is displayed on the charger 2, making it easy for the user to understand.

In the above embodiment, the basis for determining whether to switch to the high output mode is whether the remaining capacity of the storage battery 31 is 10% or more. However, this value is arbitrary and can be changed depending on the storage capacity of the storage battery, etc.
In the low output mode, the vehicle is basically charged by commercial power, but if the storage battery 31 is fully charged or nearly fully charged, the discharged power of the storage battery 31 may be used.
Furthermore, if the system contains chargers 2 that do not have the high output mode function, transition control is performed only on the chargers 2 that are capable of transitioning to the high output mode.

1: Vehicle charging system, 2: Charger, 2a: Mode display unit, 3: Battery panel, 4: Management server, 5: Vehicle, 7: Vehicle detection sensor, 8: Camera, 31: Battery, 32: Converter unit (AC/DC conversion unit), 33: Inverter unit (DC/AC conversion unit), 34: Controller, 35: External communication unit, 41: Calendar information storage unit, 42: Management server CPU (switching control unit, situation determination unit), N: Communication network.

Claims (4)

A vehicle charging system including a plurality of chargers that supply charging power to a connected vehicle, a battery panel that supplies commercial power as well as power from a battery to the chargers, and a management server that manages the battery panel via a communication network,
The battery panel includes an AC/DC converter that converts the commercial power into DC,
a DC/AC conversion unit for supplying an output of the AC/DC conversion unit and an output of the storage battery to the charger;
An external communication unit that communicates with the management server,
The charger has a two-stage charging mode including a low-power mode and a high-power mode for charging the vehicle with a current larger than that in the low-power mode;
the management server has a calendar information storage unit that stores a busy period during which the chargers are frequently used, and a switching control unit that switches the charging mode of each of the chargers via the battery panel;
The vehicle charging system according to claim 1, wherein the switching control unit switches the charging mode to a high output mode during the busy period based on information from the calendar information storage unit. the battery panel has a camera for detecting whether or not there is a vehicle waiting to be charged, and transmits an image captured by the camera to the management server;
The management server has a situation determination unit that determines a charger usage situation based on the captured image information of the camera transmitted from the storage battery panel,
2. The vehicle charging system according to claim 1, wherein the switching control unit changes the charging mode of the charger to the high output mode when the situation determination unit determines that there are vehicles waiting to be charged even if it is not the busy period. The vehicle charging system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the management server obtains information on the remaining amount of charge of the storage battery from the storage battery panel, and if the remaining amount of charge is equal to or less than a predetermined amount, does not switch to the high output mode. The vehicle charging system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the charger has a mode display unit that displays the charging mode, and the current charging mode is displayed.

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