JP5573125B2 - Charging stand and vehicle charging method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a charging stand used for charging a vehicle and a charging method thereof.

Plug-in hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles have been put into practical use, and accordingly, charging stations for charging these vehicles have been installed in convenience stores, parking lots, and the like.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a vehicle charging system. On the vehicle side, a battery pack 11 and an ECU (electronic control unit) 12 that controls charging of the battery bag 11 and other electronic devices are provided.

  When the charging plug is inserted into the outlet of the vehicle, the power line 14 of the vehicle and the power line 15 of the charging stand 13 are connected, and the charging current is supplied from the charging stand 13 to the battery pack 11 of the vehicle.

  Charge state information SOC (State of Charge) indicating the state of charge of the battery pack 11 is output from the ECU 12 of the vehicle. The charging stand 13 controls the charging current supplied to the battery pack 11 based on the charging state information.

  However, in the conventional charging system, the user needs to be near the charging stand until the charging is completed, or when the user leaves the charging stand in a state where charging is started, the user uses the next charging system. Since the person cannot use the charging stand, there are problems such as inability to use the charging facility efficiently.

Patent Document 1 describes a charging stand that provides various information to an electric vehicle or the like having a narrow-band antenna during charging.
Patent Document 2 describes a technique that allows a charge management device arranged at a position away from a vehicle station to monitor a state of a charger and a state of charge of a vehicle.

Patent Document 3 describes a charge control system having a function of transmitting information related to vehicle charging from a vehicle to a person at a remote location.
These documents eliminate the need for users to be near the charging station until charging is complete, and also provide benefits such as availability of life information and car information even while charging. Is described.

  However, in these documents, there is a problem that the charging facility cannot be used efficiently because the charging state of the car cannot be grasped on the charging stand side and notified to the next user according to the charging state.

Utility Model Registration No. 3148265 JP 2002-123888 A JP 2004-48900 A

  An object of the present invention is to enable a charging station that charges a vehicle to notify a user and a service center that manages the charging station when charging is nearing completion.

Charging station of the present invention, the charging state information indicating the state of charge of a battery of the vehicle, or acquires the charging current value of the charging current supplied to the battery, the acquired state of charge information or on the basis of the charging current value A determination means for determining whether or not the charging completion state has been approached, and when the determination means determines that the charging completion state has been approached, the charging completion state has approached the service center that manages the user and the charging station. Transmitting means for transmitting a message to inform.

  According to this charging stand, the user does not have to wait near the charging stand until charging is completed. Furthermore, by notifying the service center that the charging is almost complete, the service center can notify other users that the charging station can be used. Thereby, the utilization efficiency of charging equipment can be improved.

In the charging station according to the above invention, the determination unit is configured to determine whether the charging state information is equal to or more than a first reference value that is a certain amount smaller than a value in the charging completion state, or the charging current value is in the charging completion state. determines that approached charge state when it becomes less than a first reference value predetermined amount greater than the current value when.

With this configuration, it is possible to notify the user with a message before charging is completed.
In the charging station according to the above invention, the determination unit determines whether or not the charging state information or the charging current value output from the vehicle has approached a completed state depending on whether or not the first reference value is greater than or less than a first reference value. Determining whether the charging state information or the charging current value is greater than or less than a second reference value, and determining whether or not the charging is completed, and the transmitting unit is approaching the charging completed state by the determining unit If it is determined, a message is sent to the user and the service center that informs that the charging completion state is approached. If it is determined that the charging is complete, a message that informs that the charging is complete is used. And to the service center.

  By comprising in this way, a user and a service center can be notified of a charge condition exactly.

  According to the present invention, since it is possible to notify the user and the service center that manages the charging stand that the charging completion state has been approached, it is necessary for the user to wait near the charging stand until charging is completed. In addition, the service center notifies other users that the charging is almost complete, so that the next user can immediately use the charging stand, and the usage efficiency of the charging equipment can be improved. .

It is a figure which shows the structure of a charging system. It is a figure which shows the structure of the charging system and charging stand of embodiment. It is a figure which shows the charge characteristic of a battery pack. It is a flowchart of a charging process.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described. FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the charging system according to the embodiment, and FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the charging stand 23.
On the vehicle side, a battery pack 21 serving as a power source for driving the traveling motor and an ECU 22 for controlling charging of the battery pack 21 and the like are provided. During charging, a charging current is supplied from the power supply line 25 of the charging stand 23 to the power supply line 24 of the vehicle by inserting the charging plug of the charging stand 23 into the charging socket of the vehicle.

  The vehicle-side ECU 22 outputs charge state information (SOC: State Of Charge) indicating the state of charge of the battery pack 21 and a current control signal that gives an instruction of charge current to the charge stand 23 from the ECU 22 side. . Note that the ECU 22 may output only the charging state information to the charging stand 23. The charging state information and the current control signal are transmitted, for example, through a dedicated communication line or a power line 24 to which a charging current is supplied.

  When the charging stand 23 receives the charging state information and the current control signal from the ECU 22, the charging stand 23 controls the charging current supplied to the battery pack 21 based on one or both of the information. At the time of charging, the power line 24 on the vehicle side and the power line 25 on the charging stand side are connected, and a charging current is supplied to the battery pack 21 via the power lines 24 and 25.

  The charging station 23 has a communication circuit, and transmits a message informing that the charging is almost complete to the mobile phone 26 of the user who is charging, the service center 27 that manages the charging station 23, and the like. When the charging completion time approaches, the service center 27 notifies other users waiting for charging that the charging stand 23 can be used.

The charging stand 23 includes an antenna 31, a communication control circuit 32, a charging control circuit 33, a direct current generation circuit 34, and an ammeter 35.
The charge control circuit (corresponding to the determination means) 33 controls the output current of the DC generation circuit 34 based on the charge state information SOC received from the vehicle and the current control signal.

  The DC generation circuit 34 has a function of converting an AC voltage supplied from the AC power supply 36 into a DC voltage and variably controlling an output current. The ammeter 35 measures the output current of the direct current generation circuit 34 and outputs the measurement result to the charge control circuit 33.

  The charging control circuit 33 controls the output current of the DC generation circuit 34 so that the charging current measured by the ammeter 35 becomes a target current value. When the charging current is measured on the vehicle side and the measurement result is output to the charging stand 23, the ammeter 35 need not be provided on the charging stand 23 side.

  The communication control circuit (corresponding to the transmission means) 32 has a wired or wireless communication function, and when instructed to transmit a message from the charging control circuit 33, a message notifying that the charging is almost complete by voice or e-mail It is transmitted to the user's mobile phone 26 and service center 27. A mobile terminal may be lent to a user of the charging station 23 and a message may be transmitted to the mobile terminal.

  The service center 27 manages charging facilities such as a charging station. Upon receiving a message from the charging station 23 indicating that charging is almost complete, a vehicle (hybrid vehicle, electric vehicle) traveling in a certain area is received. ) The vacant information of the charging station 23 is transmitted to 28 by radio or the like. Thereby, the service center 27 can notify a user in a certain area that the charging station can be used by radio, electronic mail or the like. The service center 27 transmits detailed information such as “available”, “coming soon”, “what percentage charge”, etc., based on the charging characteristics of the battery and the charging state information of the vehicle acquired from the charging station 23. May be.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the charging characteristics of the battery pack 21. In FIG. 3, the horizontal axis indicates time, and the vertical axis indicates the value of the charging state information SOC and the charging current value.
The charging state information SOC indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 3 is a value indicating the charging state of the battery pack 21. The initial value is 0, and the value increases as charging progresses. Further, the charging current indicated by the solid line in FIG. 3 has a maximum value at the start of charging, and the value decreases as charging progresses.

  From FIG. 3, the charging current value I1 and SOC value S1 and time t1 when charging is approaching (for example, the slope of the charging current changes), charging current value I2 and SOC value S2 when charging is full. And time t2 can be obtained in advance from the charging characteristics of the battery. Therefore, the charging current values I1 and I2 and the values S1 and S2 of the charging state information SOC can be stored in the storage unit in advance as reference values for determining the charging state.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the charging process of the charging station 23. The following processing is realized by the charging control circuit 33 (or CPU) of the charging stand 23, and data in the middle of processing and processing result data are stored in a storage unit such as a memory (not shown).

The charging state information (SOC) received from the vehicle side or the charging current value detected by the ammeter 35 is monitored (S11).
Next, it is determined whether or not the value of the charging state information is equal to or greater than the first reference value S1, or whether the charging current is equal to or less than another first reference value I1 (S12). The first reference value S1 of the charging state information is a value that is a certain amount smaller than the value of the charging state information in the charging completion state. Further, the first reference value I1 of the charging current is a value larger by a certain amount than the charging current value in the charging completion state. For example, the first reference value S1 is the lower value S1 of the SOC shown in FIG. 3, and the other first reference value I1 is the higher value I1 of the charging current value shown in FIG. is there. These reference values S1 and I1 are stored in advance in the storage unit of the charging stand 23.

  When the value of the charging state information is less than the first reference value S1, or when the charging current is larger than the first reference value I1 (S12, NO), the process returns to step S11 and monitoring of the charging state information or the charging current is continued. .

On the other hand, when the charge state information is equal to or greater than the reference value S1 or the charge current is equal to or less than the reference value I1 (S12, YES), the process proceeds to step S13 and message 1 is transmitted.
In the process of step S13, for example, the communication control circuit 32 notifies the user of a message (message 1) informing that “charging will be completed soon” (message 1) prepared in advance. Also, it is transmitted to the service center 27 by e-mail over the Internet. The user can return to the place where the charging stand 23 is installed before the charging is completed by receiving a message notifying that the charging is almost completed.

  Next, charge state information or charge current is monitored again (S14). Next, it is determined whether or not the value of the charge state information is equal to or greater than the second reference value S2, or the charge current is equal to or less than another second reference value I2 (S15). For example, the second reference value S2 is the value S2 having the larger SOC in FIG. 3, and the other second reference value I2 is the value I2 having the smaller charging current value. These reference values S2 and I2 are stored in advance in the storage unit of the charging stand 23.

  When the value of the charge state information is less than the second reference value S2 or when the charge current is greater than another second reference value I2 (S15, NO), the process returns to step S14, and the charge state information or the charge current is monitored. Continue.

  On the other hand, when the value of the charging state information is equal to or larger than the second reference value S2, or when the charging current is equal to or smaller than another second reference value I2 (S15, YES), the process proceeds to step S16, and charging is completed. A message 2 to inform is transmitted to the user.

  In the process of step S16, for example, the communication control circuit 32 informs the user of the message 2 “notifying that charging is completed” stored in advance by the mobile phone 26. Also, it is transmitted to the user and the service center 27 by e-mail or the like via the Internet.

  According to the above-described embodiment, the user who is charging the vehicle using the charging stand 23 can be notified that the charging is almost completed at an appropriate timing, so that the vehicle is fully charged. There is no need to wait near the charging stand 23 until In addition, by notifying the service center 27 that charging is near or near, or charging is completed, the service center 27 can notify other users that the charging station is available. Thereby, a charging facility can be utilized effectively.

  In the embodiment, the case where the value of the charging state information becomes a large value as the charging progresses has been described as an example, but the value of the charging state information can be arbitrarily set. For example, the initial value may be the maximum value, and the value may be reduced as charging progresses.

11, 21 Battery pack 12, 22 ECU
13, 23 Charging station 14, 15, 24, 25 Power line 32 Communication control circuit 33 Charging control circuit 34 DC generation circuit 35 Ammeter

Claims (7)

Whether it has approached the fully charged state based on acquired charging current value, on the acquired state of charge information or the charging current value of the charging status information, or charging current supplied to the battery shows the state of charge of a battery of the vehicle Determination means for determining whether or not
When it is determined by the determination means that the charging completion state is approached, the charging completion state is approached to the service center that manages the user and the charging stand and informs other users that the charging completion state is approaching. A charging station comprising: a transmitting means for transmitting a message for informing the user. The determination means has a certain amount larger than a current value when the charge state information is equal to or more than a first reference value smaller than a value when the charge is completed, or when the charge current value is a charge completed state. The charging stand according to claim 1, wherein the charging stand is determined to have approached a charging completion state when the first reference value or less is reached. The determination means determines whether the charging state information or the charging current value output from the vehicle has approached a charging completion state based on whether the charging state value is greater than or less than a first reference value, respectively, and the charging state information Or whether the charging current value is greater than or less than a second reference value, respectively, to determine whether or not charging is complete,
If the determination means determines that the charging completion state is approached, the transmission means transmits a message notifying that the charging completion state is approached to the user and the service center, and is determined to be the charging completion state. In this case, the charging station according to claim 1, wherein a message notifying that the charging is completed is transmitted to the user and the service center. Charge state information indicating a charge state of a battery of a vehicle to be charged, or a charge current value of a charge current supplied to the battery is acquired and stored in a storage unit
It is determined whether or not the charging completion state is approached based on the acquired charging state information or the charging current value,
When it is determined that the charging completion state is approaching, a message is sent to the service center that manages the user and the charging stand and notifies other users that the charging completion state is approaching. How to charge the vehicle to send. Whether the charging state information or the charging current value output from the vehicle is greater than or less than a first reference value is determined to determine whether or not the charging completion state is approached, and the charging state information or the charging current It is determined whether or not charging is complete depending on whether each value is greater than or less than the second reference value,
If the charging state information or the charging current value is greater than or less than the first reference value and it is determined that the charging completion state has been approached, a message notifying that the charging completion state has been approached is provided to the user and the service. When the charge state information or the charge current value is determined to be a charge completion state when the charge state information is greater than or less than the second reference value, a message that informs the user that the charge is complete is sent to the center. The vehicle charging method according to claim 4, wherein the vehicle charging method is transmitted to a service center.   2. The charging station according to claim 1, wherein when the message is received, the service center transmits vacancy information of the charging station to a vehicle traveling in a certain area.   2. The charging station according to claim 1, wherein when the message is received, the service center notifies a user in a certain area that the charging station is available.

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