Battery exchange station and battery charging method using the same

Abstract

The present application relates to a battery exchange station and a battery charging method using the same, and according to the battery exchange station and the battery charging method using the same, at least one battery accommodated in a battery charging unit is charged in a normal mode, a fast mode, and a discharge mode, so that a target battery can be fast charged even without a separate power enhancement work by using distribution power provided from a power grid and charging power of the charged battery, and a consumption current of the fully charged battery is adjusted according to the discharge mode, so that a battery life span can be prevented from being reduced due to a continuous long time of a fully charged state, thereby providing a high-efficiency and low-cost battery exchange station and a battery charging method using the same.

Description

[0001] This application claims priority and benefit to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0143778, filed with the Korean Intellectual Property Office on October 26, 2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This invention relates to a battery swapping station and a method for charging batteries using the battery swapping station, and more specifically, to a battery swapping station capable of fast charging and a method for charging batteries using the battery swapping station. Background Technology

[0003] Because environmental pollution has become a global social problem, various regulations restricting the use of fuel vehicles are being implemented in every country, such as exhaust emission regulations.

[0004] Therefore, the automotive industry is focusing on the development of electric vehicle technology, which refers to eco-friendly vehicles that are highly energy efficient and can utilize existing electrical infrastructure.

[0005] In the development of technologies for the commercialization of electric vehicles, it is essential not only to develop devices, but also to build battery charging infrastructure.

[0006] Conventional battery swapping stations (BSS) for battery charging are typically installed as an add-on to existing buildings and power facilities such as convenience stores and public institutions.

[0007] Therefore, a portion of the basic electricity supplied to existing buildings is typically allocated to conventional battery swapping stations.

[0008] Therefore, the disadvantages of conventional battery swapping stations are that they are difficult to implement fast charging that requires a large amount of instantaneous power, and that additional power enhancement work is required for fast charging. Summary of the Invention

[0009] [Technical Issues]

[0010] To address this problem, one objective of the present invention is to provide a highly efficient and low-cost battery swapping station.

[0011] To address this problem, another objective of the present invention is to provide a highly efficient and low-cost method for charging batteries using a battery exchange station.

[0012] [Technical Solution]

[0013] To achieve the objectives of this disclosure, a battery exchange station (BSS) configured to charge at least one battery individually housed in at least one battery charger may include: an AC / DC converter configured to convert external power supplied in AC form to DC form; a DC / DC converter including one end connected to the AC / DC converter and another end separately connected to at least one battery housing unit to separately supply a portion of the external power input from the AC / DC converter to at least one battery housing unit; and a controller connected to the DC / DC converter and configured to control the operation of the DC / DC converter according to operation in a standard charging mode or a fast charging mode, wherein the controller is further configured to select a target battery from the at least one battery and fast charge the target battery in the fast charging mode.

[0014] The controller can also be configured to control the DC / DC converter to perform buck mode when operating in standard charging mode, so as to output a portion of the external power as is.

[0015] A DC / DC converter can be configured as a bidirectional DC / DC converter.

[0016] The controller can also be configured to, when operating in fast charging mode, set the input voltage of other DC / DC converters besides the specific DC / DC converter connected to the target battery to be higher than the output voltage of the specific DC / DC converter, in order to switch the direction of power transmission and thus direct the charging current toward the target battery.

[0017] The controller can also be configured to operate in discharge mode if the user does not use the battery swapping station during a preset idle period.

[0018] The battery swapping station may also include a switch that is separately connected between the battery charger and the DC / DC converter and is configured to ground the battery by switching to the ON state when the controller is in discharge mode.

[0019] According to another embodiment of this disclosure, a method for charging at least one battery individually housed in a battery charger via a battery exchange station may include: charging at least one battery housed in the battery charger; checking whether a battery replacement request message transmitted from a user via an external server has been received; if no battery replacement request message has been received, operating in a standard charging mode and charging at least one battery housed in the battery charger; if a battery replacement request message has been received, checking whether a fully charged battery exists among the at least one battery; and if no fully charged battery exists, selecting the battery with the highest charging rate among the at least one batteries at the time the battery replacement request message was received as the target battery, and operating in a fast charging mode to fast charge the target battery.

[0020] Selecting a battery and operating in fast charging mode to fast charge a target battery may include: selecting the battery with the highest charging rate among at least one batteries when a battery replacement request message is received as the target battery if no fully charged battery is available; checking information about the user's expected arrival time and checking whether the target battery can be fully charged within the user's expected arrival time; and fast charging the target battery by operating in fast charging mode when it is determined that charging the target battery can be completed within the expected arrival time.

[0021] The method may further include: maintaining operation in a standard charging mode to charge at least one uncharged battery when it is determined that charging of the target battery cannot be completed within the expected arrival time.

[0022] Operation in fast charging mode may include: changing the operating mode of other DC / DC converters in the battery exchange station, except for the specific DC / DC converter connected to the target battery, to boost mode; and setting the input voltage of other DC / DC converters to be higher than the output voltage of the specific DC / DC converter, in order to switch the direction of power transmission and thus direct the charging current toward the target battery.

[0023] Operation in standard charging mode may include: performing at least one DC / DC converter in the battery exchange station in buck mode to distribute and output external power equally.

[0024] The method may also include: charging at least one battery that is not yet fully charged by maintaining operation in a standard charging mode, in the presence of a fully charged battery.

[0025] The method may also include operating in discharge mode when the battery exchange station reaches a preset idle time.

[0026] Operations in discharge mode may include: checking if a fully charged battery is present; if a fully charged battery is present, checking if at least one of the batteries other than the fully charged battery is being charged; and if no battery is being charged, discharging the fully charged battery to the amount of battery depletion.

[0027] Battery consumption can be defined as the maximum current a battery can discharge in a single cycle.

[0028] The method may further include: switching the direction of output power of the DC / DC converter connected to the fully charged battery in the battery exchange station while at least one battery other than the fully charged battery is being charged; and charging the at least one battery being charged in a standard charging mode.

[0029] The method may also include charging at least one battery that is not fully charged by operating in a standard charging mode when a fully charged battery is not available.

[0030] The method may also include: switching to a standard charging mode and operating in the standard charging mode when the user replaces a fully charged battery.

[0031] [Beneficial Effects]

[0032] According to embodiments of the present invention, a battery swapping station and a battery charging method using the battery swapping station can charge at least one battery housed in a battery charger according to a standard charging mode, a fast charging mode, and a discharging mode, thereby using distributed power supplied from the power grid and the charged battery to quickly charge the target battery without any additional power enhancement work. Furthermore, by using the discharging mode to regulate the current consumption of the already charged battery, battery life degradation caused by prolonged continuous full charge is prevented. Therefore, a highly efficient and low-cost battery swapping station and a battery charging method using the battery swapping station are provided. Attached Figure Description

[0033] Figure 1 This is a block diagram of a battery swapping station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] Figure 2 This is a hardware block diagram of the controller of a battery swapping station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0035] Figure 3 This is a flowchart of a battery charging method using a battery swapping station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0036] Figure 4 This is a flowchart of a battery charging method based on the discharge mode of a battery exchange station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] D: Battery exchange station R: Grounding resistor

[0038] 1000: AC / DC converter; 3000: DC / DC converter

[0039] 5000: Switch; 7000: Controller

[0040] 100: Memory

[0041] 200: Processor

[0042] 300: Transceiver; 400: Input interface

[0043] 500: Output interface; 600: Storage device

[0044] 700: Bus Detailed Implementation

[0045] This invention can be modified in various forms and has various embodiments, and specific embodiments of the invention are shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings and will be described in detail below. However, it should be understood that this is not intended to limit the invention to these specific embodiments, but rather, the invention is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention. Throughout the description of the drawings, similar reference numerals refer to similar elements.

[0046] It will be understood that although terms such as first, second, A, B, etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element may be referred to as a second element without departing from the scope of the invention, and similarly, a second element may be referred to as a first element. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes a combination of or any one of the related listed items.

[0047] What will be understood is that when a component is referred to as "coupled" or "connected" to another component, the component can be directly coupled or connected to the other component, or there may be intermediate components. In contrast, when a component is referred to as "directly coupled" or "directly connected" to another component, there are no intermediate components.

[0048] The terminology used in this application is for describing specific embodiments only and is not intended to limit the invention. The singular form includes the plural form unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should be understood in this application that the terms "comprising" or "having" indicate the presence of the features, numbers, steps, operations, components, portions, or combinations thereof described in the specification, without precluding the possibility of the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, components, portions, or combinations thereof.

[0049] Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein—including technical and scientific terms—have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains. It will also be understood that terms defined, for example, in common dictionaries, should be interpreted as having the meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant field and should not be interpreted as having an idealized or overly formal meaning unless expressly defined herein.

[0050] In the following, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0051] Figure 1 This is a block diagram of a battery swapping station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0052] Reference Figure 1 Battery exchange station D can charge at least one battery obtained from a user and provide the charged battery to the user.

[0053] More specifically, the battery exchange station D can be located within at least one power-providing facility. Therefore, the battery exchange station D can receive power distributed from the corresponding facility via the power grid. Here, the distributed power can be power allocated from the corresponding facility to charge at least one battery housed in the battery exchange station D.

[0054] In the following, the battery swapping station D according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail for each configuration.

[0055] The battery exchange station D may include a battery charger (not shown), an AC / DC converter 1000, a DC / DC converter 3000, a switch 5000, and a controller 7000.

[0056] In addition, battery exchange station D can interact with an external server. Therefore, battery exchange station D can receive battery replacement request messages from users through an external server.

[0057] Multiple battery chargers (not shown) are provided, and each can accommodate at least one battery inserted externally by a user. Therefore, battery exchange station D can charge at least one battery housed in the battery chargers (not shown). For example, the battery housed in the battery chargers (not shown) may have a voltage of 100V, a charging current capacity of 30000mAh, and a power capacity of 3000Wh.

[0058] In addition, battery exchange station D can provide users with fully charged batteries housed in at least one battery charger (not shown).

[0059] The maximum charging current can be set for the battery charger (not shown). Therefore, the controller 7000, which will be described later, can prevent the battery from being fully charged and degraded before the user arrives at the battery exchange station D during operation in fast charging mode.

[0060] Multiple AC / DC converters 1000 can be configured, and they can be individually connected to a battery charger (not shown) via a DC / DC converter 3000, which will be described later.

[0061] In other words, one end of the AC / DC converter 1000 can be connected to the power grid, while the other end can be connected separately to the DC / DC converter 3000. Therefore, the AC / DC converter 1000 can transmit the distributed power provided by the power grid through the appropriate facilities to the battery charger (not shown) separately via the DC / DC converter 3000.

[0062] According to an embodiment, the AC / DC converter 1000 can divide the power supplied from the grid into power allocated by the controller 7000, and provide each allocated power to the DC / DC converter 3000. Therefore, the DC / DC converter 3000 can transfer the allocated power to each battery charger (not shown).

[0063] Here, the AC / DC converter 1000 can convert the form of distributed power supplied through the power grid. For example, the AC / DC converter 1000 can convert distributed power supplied through the power grid in the form of alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) and supply it separately to a battery charger (not shown). Therefore, a battery housed in the battery charger (not shown) and using DC power can be charged.

[0064] As described above, the DC / DC converter 3000 may have one end separately connected to the AC / DC converter 1000 and the other end separately connected to a battery charger (not shown). Therefore, the DC / DC converter 3000 can stably supply DC power received from the AC / DC converter 1000 to a battery housed in the battery charger (not shown). For example, the DC / DC converter 3000 may be configured as a bidirectional DC / DC converter.

[0065] Additionally, the DC / DC converter 3000 can be connected to the controller 7000, which will be described later. Therefore, depending on the charging mode of the controller 7000, the DC / DC converter 3000 can operate in buck mode or boost mode.

[0066] More specifically, according to an embodiment, when the controller 7000 operates in standard charging mode, the DC / DC converter 3000 can operate in buck mode. In buck mode, the DC / DC converter 3000 can output power as input from the AC / DC converter 1000, which is connected solely to the DC / DC converter 3000.

[0067] More specifically, according to another embodiment, when the controller 7000 operates in fast charging mode, for some DC / DC converters 3000, the direction of the charging power can be switched by the controller 7000 from the battery charger (not shown) to the grid direction, and these DC / DC converters 3000 can operate in boost mode. The inputs and outputs in boost mode can be reversed compared to those in buck mode.

[0068] More specifically, the fast charging mode can be an operating mode executed by the controller 7000 when it receives a battery replacement request message from the user via an external server. In fast charging mode, the target battery to be replaced can be selected, and the target battery can be fast charged.

[0069] For rapid charging of the target battery, the controller 7000 controls at least one other DC / DC converter 3000 (excluding the DC / DC converter 3000 connected to the target battery) to switch the power transmission direction from the battery charger (not shown) to the grid direction. Therefore, the at least one other DC / DC converter 3000 can transfer charging power from at least one battery connected to it to the DC / DC converter to which the target battery is connected.

[0070] In other words, when the controller 7000 is operating in fast charging mode, at least one other DC / DC converter 3000 besides the specific DC / DC converter 3000 connected to the target battery can operate in boost mode.

[0071] According to an embodiment, at least one other DC / DC converter 3000 operating in boost mode can change its output voltage by adjusting the on / off time ratio of the DC / DC converter.

[0072] For example, when the output voltage of AC / DC converter 1000 is 400Vdc, the output voltage of the output terminal of DC / DC converter 3000 connected to the target battery can be changed to 399Vdc by the controller (7000), wherein the output terminal of DC / DC converter 3000 is connected to AC / DC converter 1000.

[0073] In addition to the DC / DC converter connected to the target battery, the input voltage of at least one other DC / DC converter 3000 operating in buck mode can be regulated to 400Vdc, wherein the input of this at least one other DC / DC converter 3000 is connected to the AD / DC converter 1000. Therefore, when the controller 7000 operates in fast charging mode, the target battery can be fast charged via the DC / DC converter 3000 operating in boost mode.

[0074] The standard charging mode and fast charging mode will be described in more detail later when the controller 7000 is described.

[0075] The switch 5000 can be connected separately between the battery charger (not shown) and the DC / DC converter 3000.

[0076] In addition, in the discharge mode of the controller 7000, the switch 5000 is switched to the on state, and the battery can be discharged by grounding the battery.

[0077] More specifically, when all the batteries in the battery exchange station D are fully charged or charged to a predetermined reference, the switch 5000 connected to the fully charged battery can be turned on by the controller 7000 to discharge the battery according to the amount of battery consumption.

[0078] Here, battery drain can be defined as the maximum current that the battery can discharge at one time. The amount of battery drain can be adjusted individually using a resistor (R) connected to ground.

[0079] The controller 7000 can control the battery charging operation of battery exchange station D.

[0080] More specifically, the controller 7000 can operate in standard charging mode, fast charging mode, and discharge mode.

[0081] A standard charging mode can be a basic charging mode performed when at least one battery is installed in a battery charger (not shown).

[0082] According to an embodiment, the controller 7000 can equally distribute and supply distributed power transmitted from the grid to at least one battery charger (not shown) in a standard charging mode.

[0083] For example, with a power allocation of 10 kWh and four battery chargers (not shown) set up, the controller 7000 can supply 2.5 kWh of charging power to each battery charger (not shown) when operating in standard charging mode.

[0084] In addition, in standard charging mode, the battery charger (not shown) can charge the battery housed in the battery charger (not shown) at a rate of 0.5C via the controller 7000, and can supply a charging current of 15A.

[0085] Here, C-rate can be the amount of charge that can be generated within a given time when the battery is charged with a specific constant current. For example, when using a battery with a charging capacity of 30,000 mAh, the battery charger (not shown) can output a maximum charging current of 300 mA at a 0.5C rate.

[0086] Fast charging mode can be a mode that is executed when the user receives a battery replacement message through an external server.

[0087] As described above, when operating in fast charging mode, the controller 7000 can select a target battery for fast charging. Here, the target battery is the battery to be replaced according to the user's request, and upon receiving a battery replacement request message, the battery with the highest charging rate among at least one battery housed in the battery exchange station D can be selected as the target battery.

[0088] Subsequently, the controller 7000 can change the operating mode of other DC / DC converters 3000 besides the DC / DC converter 3000 connected to the target battery to boost mode. Here, the controller 7000 can set the input voltage of at least one other battery besides the target battery to be higher than the output voltage of the target battery, so that the target battery can be quickly charged using the distributed power supplied from the grid and the charging power of the batteries connected to the other DC / DC converters 3000.

[0089] Here, the controller 7000 can calculate the allowable current value by setting a threshold for the current delivered to the target battery, so that the target battery can be charged when the user arrives.

[0090] More specifically, regarding the method for calculating the allowable current value, the controller 7000 can check the state current of the selected target battery. According to an embodiment, the state current of the battery can be provided in mA.

[0091] After that, the controller 7000 can calculate the battery charging capacity (state of charge) required to complete the target battery charging.

[0092] According to an embodiment, the charging capacity of the target battery can be obtained by subtracting the state current of the target battery at the time the battery replacement request message is received from the maximum current capacity of the target battery.

[0093] The controller 7000 can check the information included in the battery replacement request message regarding the expected time of the user's arrival at the battery exchange station D.

[0094] Subsequently, the controller 7000 can calculate the allowable current I of the target battery. P This allows the target battery to be charged according to the user's expected arrival time.

[0095] According to the embodiment, the allowable current value of the battery (I) P It can be calculated according to Formula 1 below.

[0096] [Formula 1]

[0097] I P =((A total -A current ) / T min ) / 60) / 1000

[0098] I P Allowable current per hour (Ah) for the target battery.

[0099] A total Target battery's maximum current capacity (mA)

[0100] A current The target battery's state current (mA)

[0101] T min Estimated arrival time for the user (in minutes)

[0102] For example, the controller 7000 can supply a permissible current of 60A to the target battery in fast charging mode, and for this purpose, the controller 7000 can discharge at least one other battery besides the target battery at a 2C rate.

[0103] Here, the C-rate can be the amount of charge that can be discharged within a given time when the battery is discharged at a specific constant current. For example, if a battery with a charging capacity of 30,000 mAh is used, the battery can output a maximum charging current of 1200 mA at a 2C rate.

[0104] Conventional battery charging devices do not consider the allowable current for charging the battery, but instead set the charging current to its maximum value. Therefore, in conventional battery charging devices, the battery is fully charged before the user arrives, and charging continues even after the battery is fully charged, which accelerates battery degradation.

[0105] Meanwhile, the controller 7000 in the battery exchange station D according to an embodiment of the present invention can be set with an allowable current value for real-time adjustment of the battery charging time, so that the target battery can be charged according to the user's expected arrival time, thereby preventing battery degradation.

[0106] The discharge mode can be a control mode that operates after a predetermined time has elapsed since the battery has been fully charged.

[0107] For example, if a specific battery that is already fully charged is present among at least one battery housed in a battery charger (not shown), the controller 7000 can control the switch operation to be in the ON state based on whether there is a battery being charged among other batteries besides that specific battery.

[0108] According to an embodiment, when a battery is being charged among other batteries, the controller 7000 can switch the charging direction of the DC / DC converter 3000 connected to a specific fully charged battery. Therefore, the controller 7000 can increase the charging power of the battery being charged and prevent the state of health (SoH) of the fully charged battery from deteriorating.

[0109] According to another embodiment, when all batteries are fully charged or charged to a predetermined standard, the controller 7000 can turn on at least one switch 5000 connected to the fully charged batteries, thereby discharging the batteries at a dissipation level. For example, the controller 7000 can discharge the batteries at a dissipation level until the battery's state of charge (SOC) becomes 90%.

[0110] The operation according to the control mode of the controller 7000 will be described in more detail later when the battery charging method is described.

[0111] Furthermore, the controller 7000 can be operated using at least one hardware configuration. See below for details. Figure 2 The hardware configuration of the controller 7000 is described in detail.

[0112] Figure 2 This is a hardware block diagram of the controller of a battery swapping station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0113] Reference Figure 2 The controller 7000 may include a memory 100, a processor 200, a transceiver 300, an input interface 400, an output interface 500, and a storage device 600.

[0114] According to an embodiment, each of the components 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 included in the controller 7000 can be connected via bus 700 to communicate with each other.

[0115] In the components 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, and 600 of the controller 7000, the memory 100 and the storage device 600 may be configured using at least one of volatile storage media and non-volatile storage media. For example, the memory 100 and the storage device 600 may include at least one of read-only memory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM).

[0116] The memory 100 may include at least one command executed by the processor 200.

[0117] According to an embodiment, at least one command includes: a command for charging at least one battery housed in a battery charger; a command for checking whether a battery replacement request message sent from a user via an external server has been received; a command for operating in standard charging mode and charging at least one battery housed in the battery charger if a battery replacement request message has not been received; a command for checking whether a fully charged battery exists among the at least one battery if a battery replacement request message has been received; and a command for selecting the battery with the highest charging rate among the at least one batteries at the time the battery replacement request message was received as the target battery and operating in fast charging mode to fast charge the target battery if a fully charged battery does not exist.

[0118] Processor 200 may refer to a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or a dedicated processor on which methods according to embodiments of the present invention are executed.

[0119] As described above, the processor 200 can execute at least one program command stored in the memory 100.

[0120] The battery swapping station according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described above. Hereinafter, a battery charging method based on the operation of the controller of the battery swapping station will be described in detail.

[0121] Figure 3This is a flowchart of a battery charging method using a battery swapping station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0122] Reference Figure 3 The controller 7000 in the battery exchange station can charge at least one battery housed in a battery charger (not shown) (S1000). Here, the controller 7000 can charge at least one battery in a standard charging mode.

[0123] According to an embodiment, the controller 7000 can equally distribute and supply distributed power transmitted from the grid to at least one battery charger (not shown) in a standard charging mode.

[0124] For example, when the allocated power is 10 kWh and four battery chargers (not shown) are set up, 2.5 kWh of charging power can be supplied to each battery charger (not shown).

[0125] When the battery exchange station D reaches a preset idle time (S2000), the controller 7000 can operate in discharge mode (S3000). Here, the idle time can be the time T elapsed after at least one battery in the battery charger (not shown) is fully charged.

[0126] Typically, if the battery remains fully charged for an extended period, battery degradation may be accelerated. Therefore, when at least one fully charged battery reaches a preset idle time, the controller 7000 can operate in discharge mode (S2000). The following will refer to... Figure 4 The operation of the controller 7000 according to the discharge mode is described in more detail.

[0127] Figure 4 This is a flowchart of a battery charging method based on the discharge mode of a battery exchange station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0128] Reference Figure 4 When operating in discharge mode, the controller 7000 can check whether a fully charged battery is present (S3100).

[0129] Here, in the absence of a fully charged battery, the controller 7000 can charge at least one uncharged battery by maintaining its operation in the standard charging mode (S3300).

[0130] Meanwhile, when a fully charged battery is present, the controller 7000 can check whether a battery is being charged (S3500).

[0131] According to an embodiment, when a battery other than a fully charged specific battery is being charged, the controller 7000 can change the charging direction of the DC / DC converter 3000 connected to the specific battery. Thereafter, the controller 7000 can maintain operation in the standard charging mode (S3300). Therefore, the controller 7000 can increase the charging power of the battery being charged by allocating power to a battery charger (not shown) other than the charger for the fully charged battery (not shown), thereby preventing degradation of the lifespan (state of health: SoH) of the fully charged battery.

[0132] According to another embodiment, when there is no battery being charged, the controller 7000 turns on at least one switch 5000 connected to a fully charged battery. In other words, when charging of all batteries is complete, the controller 7000 discharges the batteries at a rate of consumption (S3700).

[0133] Here, battery drain can be defined as the maximum current that the battery can discharge at one time. The amount of drain can be adjusted individually using a resistor (R) connected in the ground direction.

[0134] According to an embodiment, the controller 7000 can discharge the battery at a dissipation level until the battery's state of charge (SOC) reaches a stable state. For example, the controller 7000 can discharge the battery at a dissipation level until the battery's SOC becomes 90%.

[0135] Meanwhile, the battery that discharges according to the embodiment of the present invention with the amount of battery consumption is not limited to this description, and a fully charged battery or a battery that has been charged beyond a predetermined benchmark set by the user can also be used.

[0136] Return to reference Figure 3 When the idle time has not yet been reached (S2000), the controller 7000 can check whether a battery replacement request message sent from the user via an external server has been received (S4000). For example, the battery replacement request message may include information about the expected arrival time of the user moving toward the battery exchange station. For example, the estimated arrival time information may be described and provided in minutes.

[0137] According to an embodiment, when no battery replacement request message is received, the controller 7000 may maintain its operation in standard charging mode (S5000) to charge at least one battery housed in a battery charger (not shown).

[0138] According to another embodiment, when a battery replacement request message is received, the controller 7000 can check whether a fully charged battery exists among at least one battery housed in a battery charger (not shown) (S6000). According to the embodiment, the controller 7000 can determine whether a fully charged battery exists by checking the charging current capacity (mAh) of at least one battery when the battery replacement request message is received.

[0139] Here, if a fully charged battery is present, the controller 7000 can maintain its operation in the standard charging mode (S5000) to charge at least one battery that is not yet fully charged.

[0140] At the same time, when there is no fully charged battery, the controller 7000 can select the battery with the highest charging rate when the battery replacement request message is received as the target battery.

[0141] Subsequently, the controller 7000 can check information about the user's expected arrival time to determine whether the target battery can be fully charged within the user's expected arrival time (S7000).

[0142] More specifically, the controller 7000 can calculate the sum of the allocated power transmitted from the grid and the allowable power obtained from at least one battery other than the target battery (see Equation 1), and check whether the target battery can be fully charged within the user's expected arrival time.

[0143] According to an embodiment, when the target battery cannot be fully charged within the expected arrival time, the controller 7000 can maintain its operation in the standard charging mode (S5000).

[0144] According to another embodiment, when the target battery can be fully charged within the expected arrival time, the controller 7000 can switch its operating mode to fast charging mode (S8000).

[0145] More specifically, as described above, in fast charging mode, the controller 7000 can change the operating mode of other DC / DC converters 3000 besides the DC / DC converter 3000 connected to the target battery to boost mode.

[0146] The controller 7000 can set the input voltage of at least one other battery besides the target battery to be higher than the target battery voltage, so that the controller 7000 can use the charging current input from at least one other battery together with the distributed power provided from the grid to quickly charge the target battery.

[0147] Subsequently, when the user replaces the fully charged battery (S9000), the controller 7000 can change the charging mode to the standard charging mode and restart the charging of the replaced discharged battery.

[0148] The battery swapping station and the battery charging method using the battery swapping station according to embodiments of the present invention have been described above.

[0149] According to embodiments of the present invention, a battery swapping station and a battery charging method using the battery swapping station can charge at least one battery housed in a battery charger according to a standard charging mode, a fast charging mode, and a discharging mode, thereby using distributed power supplied from the power grid and the charged battery to quickly charge the target battery without any additional power enhancement work. Furthermore, by using the discharging mode to regulate the current consumption of the already charged battery, battery life degradation caused by prolonged continuous full charge is prevented. Therefore, a highly efficient and low-cost battery swapping station and a battery charging method using the battery swapping station are provided.

[0150] The operation of the method according to embodiments of the present invention can be implemented as a computer-readable program or code on a computer-readable recording medium. A computer-readable recording medium includes all types of recording means for storing data readable by a computer system. Furthermore, the computer-readable recording medium can be distributed across a network-connected computer system to store and execute the computer-readable program or code in a distributed manner.

[0151] Additionally, computer-readable recording media may include hardware devices, such as ROM, RAM, and flash memory, specifically configured to store and execute program instructions. These program instructions may include not only machine language code generated by a compiler, but also high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or similar means.

[0152] Although some aspects of the invention have been described in the context of a device, they may also refer to the description of a corresponding method, wherein a block or device corresponds to a method step or feature of a method step. Similarly, aspects described in the context of a method may also refer to corresponding blocks or items or features of a corresponding device. Some or all of the method steps may be performed by (or using) hardware devices such as, for example, a microprocessor, a programmable computer, or electronic circuitry. In some embodiments, one or more of the most important method steps may be performed by such a device.

[0153] In the foregoing, the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications and alterations may be made to the present invention within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described therein.

Claims

1. A battery swapping station configured to charge at least one battery individually housed in at least one battery charger, the battery swapping station comprising: At least two battery chargers, each configured to hold one battery; An AC / DC converter is configured to convert external power supplied in AC form to DC form. A DC / DC converter includes one end connected to an AC / DC converter and the other end separately connected to a corresponding battery charger, so as to separately supply a portion of the external power input from the AC / DC converter to the corresponding battery charger; as well as A controller, connected to the DC / DC converter, is configured to control the operation of the DC / DC converter based on either a standard charging mode or a fast charging mode. In the standard charging mode, the controller is configured to provide a lower maximum charging current compared to the fast charging mode. In the case where at least two batteries are respectively housed in at least two corresponding battery chargers. The controller is also configured to: in fast charging mode, select a target battery from at least two batteries and fast charge the target battery. The controller is also configured to: when at least one of the at least two batteries is fully charged for a preset idle time, operate in discharge mode for the fully charged battery such that when at least one of the at least two batteries other than the fully charged battery is being charged, switch the direction of the output power of the corresponding DC / DC converter of the fully charged battery, thereby charging the at least one battery being charged in standard charging mode.

2. The battery swapping station according to claim 1, wherein, The controller is also configured to control the corresponding DC / DC converter to perform buck mode to output a portion of the external power as is when operating in standard charging mode for at least one battery.

3. The battery swapping station according to claim 1, wherein, The DC / DC converter is configured as a bidirectional DC / DC converter.

4. The battery swapping station according to claim 1, wherein, The controller is also configured to, when operating in fast charging mode for the target battery, set the input voltage of other DC / DC converters besides the specific DC / DC converter connected to the target battery to be higher than the output voltage of the specific DC / DC converter, in order to switch the direction of power transmission and thus direct the charging current toward the target battery.

5. The battery swapping station according to claim 1, further comprising: A switch, which is separately connected between the battery charger containing the fully charged battery and the corresponding DC / DC converter, is configured to ground the fully charged battery by switching it to the ON state when the controller is operating in discharge mode for the fully charged battery.

6. A method for charging at least one battery individually housed in a battery charger via a battery exchange station, the method comprising: Charge at least one battery housed in the battery charger; Check if a battery replacement request message has been received from the user via an external server; In the absence of a battery replacement request message, it operates in standard charging mode and charges at least one battery housed in the battery charger. Upon receiving a battery replacement request message, check whether a fully charged battery exists in at least two of the at least two batteries housed in at least two battery chargers. In the absence of a fully charged battery, the battery with the highest charging rate among at least two batteries will be selected as the target battery when a battery replacement request message is received, and the system will operate in fast charging mode to fast charge the target battery, wherein the standard charging mode is configured to provide a lower maximum charging current compared to the fast charging mode. as well as When a fully charged battery is present and at least one battery is fully charged for a preset idle time, the system operates in discharge mode for the fully charged battery so that when at least one of the at least two batteries other than the fully charged battery is being charged, the direction of the output power of the DC / DC converter connected to the fully charged battery in the battery exchange station is switched, thereby charging the at least one battery being charged in standard charging mode.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein, Selecting a battery and operating in fast charging mode to quickly charge the target battery includes: If no fully charged battery is available, the battery with the highest charging rate among at least two batteries will be selected as the target battery when a battery replacement request message is received. Check information about the user's expected arrival time and check if the target battery can be fully charged within the user's expected arrival time; and When it is determined that the target battery can be charged within the expected time, the target battery is quickly charged by operating in fast charging mode.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising: When it is determined that the target battery cannot be charged within the expected arrival time, Maintain operation in standard charging mode to charge at least one battery that is not fully charged.

9. The method according to claim 6, wherein, Operations in fast charging mode include: Change the operating mode of all DC / DC converters in the battery exchange station, except for the specific DC / DC converter connected to the target battery, to boost mode; and By setting the input voltage of other DC / DC converters higher than the output voltage of a specific DC / DC converter, the direction of power transmission is switched, thereby directing charging current toward the target battery.

10. The method according to claim 6, wherein, Operating in standard charging mode and charging at least one battery housed in the battery charger in the absence of a battery replacement request message includes: For at least two batteries respectively housed in at least two battery chargers, the corresponding DC / DC converters in the battery exchange station are executed in buck mode to distribute and output external power equally.

11. The method according to claim 6, wherein, Operation of a fully charged battery in discharge mode includes: If, among at least two batteries, there is no battery being charged other than the fully charged battery, discharge the fully charged battery to the amount of battery depletion.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein, Battery consumption is the maximum current a fully charged battery can discharge in a single cycle.

13. The method of claim 6, further comprising: When the user replaces the fully charged battery, switch to standard charging mode and operate in standard charging mode.

Images