A charging system and method

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of charging, and provides a charging system and method. The charging system includes: N charging module groups and N charging units, each of which is connected to one of the charging units, and the charging module group is used to provide electric energy to the charging unit, and the charging unit is used to charge the device to be charged connected thereto; the charging module groups are connected through relays, and each of the charging module groups is connected to P charging module groups; wherein N and P are both positive integers, P is greater than or equal to 3, and P is less than N. In the present application, each charging module group is connected to P charging module groups, which can not only realize flexible power distribution, but also form a honeycomb topology structure, reduce the number of relays required, and improve the stability of the system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of charging, and in particular to a charging system and method. Background Art

[0002] At present, the internal topology hardware structure of the charging stack is commonly a matrix or semi-matrix topology.

[0003] These matrix or semi-matrix solutions have a common disadvantage, which is that they require a large number of matrix relays, which not only increases the cost, but also causes a decrease in overall system stability. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of the shortcomings of the prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide a charging system with a low relay requirement and high system stability.

[0005] To solve the above problems, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:

[0006] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a charging system, the system comprising:

[0007] N charging module groups and N charging units, each of the charging module groups is connected to one of the charging units, the charging module groups are used to provide electrical energy to the charging units, and the charging units are used to charge the devices to be charged connected thereto;

[0008] The charging module groups are connected via relays, and each charging module group is connected to P charging module groups; wherein,

[0009] Both N and P are positive integers, and P is greater than or equal to 3.

[0010] In some embodiments, the charging module group includes a standard charging module group and a non-standard charging module group, each of the standard charging module groups is connected to P standard charging module groups, and each of the non-standard charging module groups is connected to at least one standard charging module group.

[0011] In some embodiments, P=3 or P=4.

[0012] In some embodiments, N=20 and P=3.

[0013] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a charging method, which is applied to the charging system as described in the first aspect, and the method includes:

[0014] Acquiring charging information, and determining a charging unit for charging and a required charging power according to the charging information;

[0015] determining a first charging module group connected to the charging unit for charging;

[0016] When the required charging power is greater than the module power of the first charging module group, the control relay connects the first charging module group with the remaining charging module groups to provide power to the charging unit through the multiple charging module groups.

[0017] In some embodiments, it is defined that the first charging module group and the Q-th charging module group are connected by at least Q relays, and when the required charging power is greater than the module power of the first charging module group, the relay is controlled to connect the first charging module group with the remaining charging module groups; wherein Q is a positive integer, including:

[0018] Identify the first charging module group as a first type charging module group;

[0019] Obtaining the usage status of the Wth level charging module group of the first charging module group, and identifying the charging module group whose usage status is unused as the first type of charging module group; wherein W is a positive integer, and the initial state of W is 1, and W is less than or equal to Q;

[0020] Determining the sum of module powers of charging module groups in the first type of charging module groups;

[0021] When the sum of the module powers is greater than or equal to the required charging power, the first type charging module group is controlled to provide electrical energy to the charging unit.

[0022] In some implementations, identifying the charging module group whose usage status is unused as the first type of charging module group includes:

[0023] The charging module groups whose usage status is unused are sequentially identified as first-category charging module groups;

[0024] The determining the sum of the module powers of the charging module groups in the first type of charging module groups includes:

[0025] Each time a charging module group whose usage status is unused is identified as a first-type charging module group, the sum of the module powers is calculated once;

[0026] When not all charging module groups in the unused state are identified, if the sum of the module powers is less than the required charging power, the next charging module group in the unused state is identified as a first-category charging module group;

[0027] When not all charging module groups whose usage status is unused are marked, if the sum of the module powers is greater than or equal to the required charging power, the marking is stopped.

[0028] In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

[0029] When the sum of the module powers is less than the required charging power, W=W+1, and the execution step is returned to obtain the usage status of the Wth-level charging module group of the first charging module group, and the charging module group whose usage status is unused is identified as a first-type charging module group.

[0030] In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

[0031] When a charging module group other than the first charging module group in the first type of charging module group changes from an unused state to a used state;

[0032] Return to the step of identifying the first charging module group as a first-type charging module group.

[0033] In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

[0034] When the first type of charging module group releases the charging module group, determining whether there is a charging unit whose output power is less than the required charging power;

[0035] When there is a charging unit whose output power is less than the required charging power, the connection state between the charging module group corresponding to the charging unit whose output power is less than the required charging power and the remaining charging module groups is re-determined.

[0036] The beneficial effect of the present invention is that each charging module group in the present application is connected to P charging module groups to form a honeycomb topology structure. Compared with a matrix or semi-matrix topology structure, the same number of charging module groups can be equipped with fewer relays, thereby reducing the number of relays. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] Figure 1 It is a first structural schematic diagram of a charging system provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0038] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of electrical connections of a charging system provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0039] Figure 3 This is a second structural schematic diagram of a charging system provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0040] Figure 4 This is a third structural schematic diagram of a charging system provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0041] Figure 5 It is a flow chart of a charging method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0042] Figure 6 yes Figure 5 A detailed flowchart of step 130 in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0044] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "plurality" is two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0045] For the convenience of describing the first direction and the second direction in the embodiment of the present application, the first direction is the up-down direction in the drawings, the second direction is the front-back direction in the drawings, and the third direction is the left-right direction in the drawings. The x-axis arrow direction is referred to as the "up" direction in the following text, the y-axis arrow direction is referred to as the "back" direction in the following text, and the z-axis arrow direction is referred to as the "right" direction in the following text, which is not limited to the actual application of the present application.

[0046] In some embodiments, the charging system provided in the embodiments of the present application includes: N charging module groups and N charging units, each of the charging module groups is connected to one of the charging units, the charging module groups are used to provide electrical energy to the charging units, and the charging units are used to charge the devices to be charged connected thereto; the charging module groups are connected to each other through relays, and each of the charging module groups is connected to P of the charging module groups; wherein N and P are both positive integers, and P is greater than or equal to 3.

[0047] Specifically, in the embodiment of the present application, P is greater than or equal to 3, that is, one charging module group is connected to at least three charging module groups, which not only realizes flexible power distribution, that is, multiple charging module groups can be connected in series to charge the same charging gun, thereby increasing the charging power, but also forms a honeycomb topology structure, reduces the number of relays required, and improves the stability of the system.

[0048] In some embodiments, the charging module group includes a standard charging module group and a non-standard charging module group, each of the standard charging module groups is connected to P standard charging module groups, and each of the non-standard charging module groups is connected to at least one standard charging module group.

[0049] Specifically, if each charging module group is to be connected to P charging module groups, then N and P must have a specific quantitative relationship. When N and P do not satisfy the specific quantitative relationship, non-standard charging module groups that are independent of the standard charging module groups will inevitably appear.

[0050] In some embodiments, P=3 or P=4.

[0051] Specifically, when P=1 or P=2, the number of required relays decreases, but the flexible distribution effect of power is poor. When P is greater than 4, the flexible distribution effect of power is good, but the number of required relays increases. When P=3 or P=4, the flexible distribution effect of power and the number of required relays are both ideal. Not only is the flexible distribution effect of power good, but the required number of relays is small and the system stability is high.

[0052] In some embodiments, P=3 and N=20.

[0053] Specifically, when P=3 and N=20, each charging module group can be connected to three charging module groups. At this time, all charging module groups are standard charging module groups. When N=19 or N=21, non-standard charging module groups will appear in the charging module groups.

[0054] See also Figure 1 , Figure 1 is a first structural diagram of a charging system provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 As shown, Figure 1 There are 20 charging module groups, numbered 1-20. Figure 1 Each charging module group is connected to three charging module groups.

[0055] See also Figure 2 , Figure 2 Schematic diagram of electrical connection of a charging system provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 2 As shown, Figure 2 The middle charging unit is a charging gun, including 20 charging module groups and 20 charging guns, and each of the charging module groups is connected to one of the charging guns.

[0056] The charging module groups are connected via relays. Figure 2 Each switch shown in the figure can represent a relay, and each of the charging module groups is connected to three of the charging module groups.

[0057] For further information, see Figure 3 , Figure 3 is a second structural diagram of a charging system provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 3As shown, Figure 3 The battery pack includes 21 charging module groups, which are numbered 1-21.

[0058] In some embodiments, when P=3, N=20 is defined as the standard number, and Figure 1 The structure in is a standard structure when P=3.

[0059] In some implementations, when N is greater than a standard number, a charging module group that does not form a standard structure is defined as a non-standard charging module group.

[0060] For example, Figure 3 The charging module groups 1 to 20 are standard charging module groups, and the charging module group 21 is a non-standard charging module group.

[0061] For further information, see Figure 4 , Figure 4 is a third structural diagram of a charging system provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 4 As shown, Figure 4 The system includes 19 charging module groups, which are numbered 1-19.

[0062] In some implementations, when N is less than a standard number, the charging module group to which the missing charging module group should be connected is defined as a non-standard charging module group.

[0063] For example, Figure 4 The missing charging module group is charging module group 1, so the charging module groups 2, 20, and 10 to which the missing charging module group 1 should be connected are defined as non-standard charging module groups.

[0064] In some embodiments, the non-standard charging module groups may be connected to each other via relays. For example, the non-standard charging module group 2 is connected to the non-standard charging module group 20 and the non-standard charging module group 10 via relays.

[0065] It can be understood that non-standard charging module groups can be defined in different ways. The embodiments of the present application are only used as examples. When the number N of charging module groups and the number P of charging module groups connected to each charging module group do not satisfy a specific quantitative relationship, the definition methods of charging module groups that are classified differently from standard charging module groups all fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0066] Furthermore, the present application Figures 1 to 4 N=20 and P=3 are taken as examples, but on the basis that N and P are both positive integers, P is greater than or equal to 3, and P is less than N, this application does not limit the number of N and P.

[0067] See also Figure 5 , Figure 5 is a flow chart of a charging method provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 5 As shown, the method is applied to the above-mentioned charging system, and the method includes: steps 110 to 130.

[0068] Step 110: Acquire charging information, and determine a charging unit for charging and required charging power according to the charging information.

[0069] In some implementations, the user may generate charging information by operating a touch screen, buttons, etc. on a charging device such as a charging pile.

[0070] In some implementations, the user may send charging information via electronic devices such as a mobile terminal and a computer.

[0071] In some embodiments, the charging information includes required charging power and identification information of a charging unit used for charging.

[0072] In some embodiments, the charging information may only include the required charging power, and the charging system includes a processing unit. After receiving the charging information, the processing unit allocates the charging unit for charging by random allocation or preset allocation rules.

[0073] In some embodiments, the charging information includes a charging vehicle type, and a preset allocation rule is to allocate the charging vehicle type to a charging unit that can charge the charging vehicle type.

[0074] In some embodiments, the module powers of the charging module groups are different, and the preset allocation rule is to allocate the device to be charged to the charging unit corresponding to the charging module group whose module power is closest to the required charging power according to the required charging power.

[0075] In some embodiments, the charging unit is a charging gun.

[0076] Step 120: Determine a first charging module group connected to the charging unit for charging.

[0077] Step 130: When the required charging power is greater than the module power of the first charging module group, control the relay to connect the first charging module group with the remaining charging module groups, so as to provide power to the charging unit through the multiple charging module groups.

[0078] In some embodiments, each charging module group is connected to at least three charging module groups, so that power distribution can be achieved. For example, multiple charging module groups are connected through relays, and the charging power is the sum of the module powers of the multiple charging module groups.

[0079] In some embodiments, see Figure 6 , Figure 6yes Figure 5 The detailed flow chart of step 130 in FIG. 1 is a flow chart of step 130 in FIG. 1 . The first charging module group and the Q-th charging module group are defined to be connected via at least Q relays, such as Figure 6 As shown, step 130 includes: steps 131 to 136.

[0080] In some embodiments, Figure 1 As shown, Figure 1 If the first charging module group connected to the charging unit for charging is charging module group 1, then for the first charging module group 1, the first-level charging module group includes charging module groups 2, 20, and 10, the second-level charging module group includes charging module groups 3, 19, 11, and 9, the third-level charging module group includes 4, 12, 15, 16, and 8, the fourth-level charging module group includes 5, 18, 13, 14, and 7, and the fifth-level charging module group is 6 and 17.

[0081] Step 131: Identify the first charging module group as a first-type charging module group.

[0082] In some embodiments, the first type of charging module group is used to provide power to the charging unit.

[0083] Step 132: Obtain the usage status of the Wth level charging module group of the first charging module group, and identify the charging module group whose usage status is unused as a first type of charging module group; wherein W is a positive integer, and the initial state of W is 1.

[0084] In some embodiments, the charging module group enters the use state when the charging units connected to the charging module group need to be charged and the charging module group is providing power to the charging units connected to other charging module groups.

[0085] In some embodiments, step 132 includes the following steps.

[0086] (1) Obtaining the usage status of a W-th level charging module group of the first charging module group connected to a charging module group in a first type of charging module group, and identifying a charging module group whose usage status is unused as a first type of charging module group; wherein W is a positive integer, and an initial state of W is 1.

[0087] Exemplarily, when the first type of charging module group includes only the first charging module group 1, W=1, and the first-level charging module groups connected to the charging module groups in the first type of charging module group are charging module group 2, charging module group 20, and charging module group 10.

[0088] Exemplarily, when the first type of charging module group only includes the first module group 1, charging module group 2, and charging module group 20, W=2, and the second-level charging module group of the first module group 1 connected to the charging module groups in the first type of charging module group is charging module group 3, charging module group 19, and charging module group 11.

[0089] And so on, this application will not go into details.

[0090] Step 133: Determine the sum of the module powers of the charging module groups in the first type of charging module groups.

[0091] Step 134: Determine whether the sum of the module powers is greater than or equal to the required charging power.

[0092] Step 135: When the sum of the module powers is greater than or equal to the required charging power, control the first type charging module group to provide electrical energy to the charging unit.

[0093] For example, if the power of each charging module group is 25KW, when the required charging power of the device to be charged connected to the charging unit of charging module group 1 is 75KW, if charging module group 2 and charging module group 20 are not in use and charging module group 10 is in use, the relay switches of charging module group 1 and charging module group 2 and the relay switches of charging module group 1 and charging module group 20 are controlled to connect charging module group 1 and charging module group 2 as well as charging module group 20 to jointly charge the device to be charged connected to the charging unit of charging module group 1. At this time, the charging power is equal to the required charging power of 75KW.

[0094] Step 136: When the sum of the module powers is less than the required charging power, W=W+1, and the process returns to step 132.

[0095] For example, if the power of each charging module group is 25KW, when the required charging power of the device to be charged connected to the charging unit of charging module group 1 is 95KW, if charging module group 2 and charging module group 20 are not in use and charging module group 10 is in use, then charging module group 1, charging module group 2 and charging module group 20 can only provide 75KW of charging power, which is less than the required charging power. At this time, it is necessary to obtain the use status of the second-level charging module group to connect more charging module groups so that more charging module groups can provide power for the charging unit of charging module group 1.

[0096] In some implementations, the step of identifying a charging module group whose usage status is unused as a first-type charging module group includes the following steps.

[0097] (1) The charging module groups whose usage status is unused are sequentially identified as first-category charging module groups.

[0098] At this time, the step of determining the sum of the module powers of the charging module groups in the first type of charging module groups includes the following steps.

[0099] (2) Each time a charging module group whose usage status is unused is identified as a first-type charging module group, the sum of the module powers is calculated once.

[0100] (3) When not all charging module groups whose usage status is unused are identified, if the sum of the module powers is less than the required charging power, the next charging module group whose usage status is unused is identified as the first type of charging module group.

[0101] (4) When not all charging module groups whose usage status is unused are marked, if the sum of the module powers is greater than or equal to the required charging power, stop marking.

[0102] For example, if the power of each charging module group is 25KW, when the required charging power of the device to be charged connected to the charging unit of charging module group 1 is 40KW, if charging module group 2 and charging module group 20 are in an unused state and charging module group 10 is in use, then charging module group 1, charging module group 2 and charging module group 20 can provide a charging power of 75KW, which is much greater than the required charging power. In fact, only charging module group 1 and charging module group 2, or charging module group 1 and charging module group 20 are needed to provide electrical energy. Therefore, the charging module groups whose use status is unused are sequentially identified as first-class charging module groups.

[0103] In some embodiments, the charging method provided in the embodiments of the present application further includes the following steps.

[0104] (1) When a charging module group other than the first charging module group in the first type of charging module group changes from an unused state to a used state.

[0105] (2) Return to step 1 and identify the first charging module group as a first-type charging module group.

[0106] Exemplarily, if the first category of charging module groups includes the first charging module group 1, charging module groups 2, 20, 10 in the first-level charging module group, and charging module groups 3, 19, 11, 9 in the second-level charging module group, if charging module group 2 is converted from an unused state to a used state, because charging module group 3 and charging module group 19 need to be connected to the first charging module group 1 through charging module group 2, charging module group 2, charging module group 3 and charging module group 19 all need to be released from the first category of charging module groups. At this time, the execution step is directly returned to identify the first charging module group as the first category of charging module group, and the first category of charging module group is re-determined.

[0107] It can be understood that before returning to the step of identifying the first charging module group as a first-type charging module group, a step of clearing the first-type charging module group may also be included.

[0108] In some embodiments, the charging method provided in the embodiments of the present application further includes the following steps.

[0109] (1) When the first type of charging module group releases the charging module group, it is determined whether there is a charging unit whose output power is less than the required charging power.

[0110] (2) When there is a charging unit whose output power is less than the required charging power, the connection status of the charging module group corresponding to the charging unit whose output power is less than the required charging power and the other charging module groups is re-determined.

[0111] In some embodiments, when the required charging power decreases, for example, when the charging device enters the trickle charging stage, the first type of charging module group will release the charging module group. It can be understood that the sum of the module powers of the first type of charging module group after releasing the charging module group will still be greater than or equal to the required charging power.

[0112] Optionally, when the first type of charging module group releases a charging module group, the advanced charging module group is released first, that is, the charging module group requiring a small number of relays when connected to the first charging module group is released first, for example, the second level charging module group is released first and then the first level charging module group.

[0113] It is understandable that releasing the low-level charging module groups first may cause some charging module groups in the high-level charging module groups to be unable to establish a connection with the first charging module group. Therefore, the above release sequence can ensure the stability of the charging process to the greatest extent.

[0114] In some implementations, when charging is complete, the first type of charging module group releases all charging module groups.

[0115] In some embodiments, the existence of a charging unit whose output power is less than the required charging power means that there are other charging units whose output power, ie, charging power, is less than the required charging power.

[0116] Exemplarily, the first type of charging module group of charging module group 1 occupies charging module groups 1, 2, 20, and 11, resulting in the first type of charging module group of charging module group 10 occupying only charging module groups 10 and 9. When charging module group 20 is released, if the output power of the charging unit of charging module group 10 is less than the required charging power, the connection status of charging module group 10 and the remaining charging module groups is redetermined. After redetermining the connection status of charging module group 10 and the remaining charging module groups, the first type of charging module group of charging module group 10 can include charging module group 20 in the occupancy range.

[0117] It can be understood that the charging method provided in the embodiment of the present application also includes the following steps.

[0118] (1) When there is a charging unit whose output power is less than the required charging power, a charging module group that can establish a connection with the charging module group corresponding to the charging unit whose output power is less than the required charging power is released first.

[0119] In summary, the present application provides a charging system and method, the charging system comprising: N charging module groups and N charging units, each of the charging module groups is connected to one of the charging units, the charging module group is used to provide electrical energy to the charging unit, and the charging unit is used to charge the device to be charged connected thereto; the charging module groups are connected through relays, and each of the charging module groups is connected to P charging module groups; wherein N and P are both positive integers, P is greater than or equal to 3, and P is less than N. In the present application, each charging module group is connected to P charging module groups, which not only realizes flexible power distribution, but also forms a honeycomb topology, reduces the number of relays required, and improves the stability of the system.

[0120] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit it. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein. However, these modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A charging method, characterized in that: Applied to charging system, The charging system comprises: N charging module groups and N charging units, each of the charging module groups is connected to one of the charging units, the charging module groups are used to provide electrical energy to the charging units, and the charging units are used to charge the devices to be charged connected thereto; Each of the charging module groups is connected via a relay, and each of the charging module groups is connected to P charging module groups; wherein N=20 and P=3; The method comprises: Acquire charging information, and determine a charging unit for charging and a required charging power according to the charging information; determining a first charging module group connected to the charging unit for charging; When the required charging power is greater than the module power of the first charging module group, controlling the relay to connect the first charging module group with the remaining charging module groups, so as to provide power to the charging unit through the multiple charging module groups; It is defined that the first charging module group and the Q-th charging module group are connected by at least Q relays, and when the required charging power is greater than the module power of the first charging module group, the control relay connects the first charging module group with the remaining charging module groups; wherein Q is a positive integer, including: Identify the first charging module group as a first-type charging module group; Obtaining the usage status of the Wth level charging module group of the first charging module group, and identifying the charging module group whose usage status is unused as a first type of charging module group; wherein W is a positive integer, and the initial state of W is 1; Determining the sum of module powers of charging module groups in the first type of charging module groups; When the sum of the module powers is greater than or equal to the required charging power, controlling the first type of charging module group to provide power to the charging unit; When the sum of the module powers is less than the required charging power, W=W+1, and the execution step is returned to obtain the usage status of the Wth-level charging module group of the first charging module group, and the charging module group whose usage status is unused is identified as a first-type charging module group.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The charging module groups include a standard charging module group and a non-standard charging module group. Each of the standard charging module groups is connected to P standard charging module groups, and each of the non-standard charging module groups is connected to at least one standard charging module group.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The step of identifying the charging module group whose usage status is unused as a first-type charging module group includes: The charging module groups whose usage status is unused are sequentially identified as first-category charging module groups; The determining the sum of the module powers of the charging module groups in the first type of charging module groups includes: Each time a charging module group whose usage status is unused is identified as a first-type charging module group, the sum of the module powers is calculated once; When not all charging module groups in the unused state are identified, if the sum of the module powers is less than the required charging power, the next charging module group in the unused state is identified as a first-category charging module group; When not all charging module groups whose usage status is unused are marked, if the sum of the module powers is greater than or equal to the required charging power, the marking is stopped.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method further comprises: When a charging module group other than the first charging module group in the first type of charging module group changes from an unused state to a used state; Return to the step of identifying the first charging module group as a first-type charging module group.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method further comprises: When the first type of charging module group releases the charging module group, determining whether there is a charging unit whose output power is less than the required charging power; When there is a charging unit whose output power is less than the required charging power, the connection state between the charging module group corresponding to the charging unit whose output power is less than the required charging power and the remaining charging module groups is re-determined.

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