Charging pile use monitoring method and device and charging pile

Abstract

The invention discloses a charging pile use monitoring method and device and a charging pile. Comprising the steps that under the condition that it is determined that a charging gun of a charging pile and a charging gun of at least one other charging pile are connected into the same automobile, the current electric quantity of the automobile is obtained; under the condition that the electric quantity reaches the target electric quantity, at least one of a charging gun of the charging pile and charging guns, connected to the unified automobile, of other charging piles is set as a target charging gun; and under the condition that the charging gun of the charging pile is the target charging gun, the charging pile body is controlled to be switched to stop outputting the charging voltage to the charging interface of the automobile through the charging gun of the charging pile body, the locking mechanism is controlled to be switched from the locking state to the unlocking state, and the current pluggable state is prompted. The application aims to improve the use efficiency of the charging pile in the parking lot.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of charging pile technology, and in particular to a charging pile usage monitoring method, device, and charging pile. Background Technology

[0002] In current parking lots, especially commercial parking lots in office buildings and urban complexes, a number of charging stations are set up to charge vehicles in some parking spaces, with each charging station corresponding to one parking space.

[0003] However, some existing electric vehicles, due to their large-capacity batteries or the need for fast charging, are equipped with multiple charging ports to enable multi-gun fast charging through multiple charging stations. For example, some family cars have two charging ports to meet users' needs for quick energy replenishment.

[0004] Therefore, when a car with a need for multi-gun charging is parked in a parking space, it needs to occupy the charging guns of multiple charging stations. However, each charging station is generally equipped with only one charging gun. If the car being charged by multiple guns is almost fully charged to meet basic driving needs, but the driver leaves the vehicle, for example, if the driver parks the car here in the morning and goes to work or shopping, then at least two charging guns will be occupied by one car for a long time. This will cause further waste of charging resources in parking lots that already have limited charging resources. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The main purpose of this application is to provide a method for monitoring the use of charging piles, which aims to improve the utilization efficiency of charging piles in parking lots, reduce the waste of charging resources in parking lots, and improve the user experience of charging pile users.

[0006] Therefore, this application proposes a method for monitoring the use of charging piles, applied to a parking lot. The parking lot includes multiple charging piles, and each charging pile is provided with a charging parking space. Each charging pile has a charging pile body and a unique charging gun connected to the charging pile body. The charging gun has a locking mechanism. When the charging gun is inserted into the charging interface of a car and the locking mechanism is in the locked state, the charging gun and the charging interface are in a fixed state. When the charging gun is inserted into the charging interface of a car and the locking mechanism is in the unlocked state, the charging gun and the charging interface are pluggable and detachable. The method for monitoring the use of the charging piles includes: Step S100: If it is determined that the charging gun of the charging pile itself is connected to the same vehicle as the charging gun of at least one other charging pile, obtain the current battery level of the vehicle. Step S200: When the power reaches the target power, set at least one of the charging guns of the charging pile itself and the charging guns of other charging piles connected to the same vehicle as the target charging gun. Step S300: When the charging gun of the charging pile itself is the target charging gun, control the charging pile body to switch to stop outputting charging voltage to the car's charging interface through its own charging gun and control the locking mechanism to switch from the locked state to the unlocked state, and indicate that it is currently in the pluggable state. Step S400: When the charging gun of the charging pile itself is not the target charging gun, control the charging pile body to maintain the output charging voltage to the charging interface of the car through its own charging gun and control the locking mechanism to maintain the locked state.

[0007] Optionally, before step S200, when the battery level reaches the target level, and before setting at least one of the charging guns of the charging pile itself and other charging piles connected to the same vehicle as the target charging gun, the charging pile usage monitoring method further includes: Step S500: The charging pile communicates with the parking lot to obtain the hourly vehicle entry volume corresponding to the current time period of the parking lot; Step S600: The charging pile determines the power level corresponding to the hourly vehicle entry volume based on the hourly vehicle entry volume and the hourly vehicle entry volume-power level mapping table, and sets the target power level based on the power level corresponding to the power level. In the hourly vehicle entry volume-battery level mapping table, the hourly vehicle entry volume and the corresponding battery level are inversely proportional, and the minimum battery level corresponding to the battery level in the hourly vehicle entry volume-battery level mapping table is greater than or equal to 80%.

[0008] Optionally, the charging pile monitoring method further includes: when the power level does not reach the target power level, the charging pile maintains the state of outputting charging voltage to the vehicle's charging interface through its own charging gun and controls the locking mechanism to remain locked. When the battery level changes from reaching the target level to falling below the target level and the current charging station determines that its charging gun is not connected to the charging port of another vehicle, the charging station switches to a state where it outputs charging voltage to the charging port of the vehicle through its own charging gun and controls the locking mechanism to switch to the locked state and maintain it.

[0009] Optionally, step S200, setting at least one of the charging guns of the charging pile itself and other charging guns connected to the same vehicle in other charging piles as the target charging gun, specifically includes: Step S210: If there is no car parked in the charging parking space corresponding to the charging pile, the charging pile will set itself as the target charging gun. Step S220: If the charging pile determines that there are cars parked in the charging parking spaces corresponding to its own charging parking spaces and the charging parking spaces corresponding to other charging piles connected to the same car, it does not set itself as the target charging gun and does not execute steps S300-S400, and prompts that there are no remaining available charging piles.

[0010] Optionally, step S210, where the charging pile sets itself as the target charging gun when there is no car parked in its corresponding charging parking space, specifically includes: Step S211: If only one of the multiple charging piles that are simultaneously connected to the charging pile can be set as the target charging gun, then set itself as the target charging gun. Step S212: If, among the multiple charging piles that are simultaneously connected to the same vehicle, there are multiple charging piles, including the one itself, whose charging guns can be set as target charging guns, then the preset serial numbers of the multiple target charging guns are obtained and compared with the preset serial number corresponding to the one's own charging gun. If its own preset serial number is the smallest among multiple preset serial numbers, then its own charging gun is set as the target charging gun; if its own preset serial number is not the smallest, then its own charging gun is not set as the target charging gun.

[0011] Optionally, between step S100 and step S200, the charging pile usage monitoring method further includes: Step S700: The charging pile communicates with the parking lot and obtains the number of charging piles in the parking lot that are not currently occupied by a car. Step S800: If the number of charging stations not connected to the car is less than or equal to a preset number, execute steps S200 to S400. Step S900: If the number of charging stations without cars plugged in is greater than the preset number, steps S200-S400 are not executed, and the current working state is maintained. The preset quantity is a positive integer greater than 0.

[0012] Optionally, step S800, when the number of charging stations not connected to the car is less than or equal to a preset number, specifically includes the following steps: When the number of charging piles without cars plugged in is less than or equal to a preset number, the charging pile communicates with the parking lot and obtains the first image information of the current entrance and exit of the parking lot and the second image information of the parking lot; If, based on the first image information and the second image information, it is determined that there is a car in the current parking lot that has entered from the entrance / exit and is driving toward any of the charging parking spaces, then steps S200 to S400 are executed. If, based on the first image information, it is determined that there are no cars entering the parking lot from the entrance or exit, or based on the second image, it is determined that there are no cars driving towards any of the charging parking spaces, then steps S200 to S400 are not executed.

[0013] Optionally, the charging pile usage monitoring method further includes: The charging pile reports the status of its charging gun locking mechanism to the parking lot, so that when the parking lot determines that the locking mechanisms of all charging piles' charging guns are locked, it will display a message at the entrance and exit of the parking lot indicating that there are no remaining charging piles available.

[0014] This application also proposes an apparatus comprising a memory, a processor, and a charging pile usage monitoring method as described above, stored in the memory and operable on the processor.

[0015] This application also proposes a charging pile for use in a parking lot, the parking lot including multiple charging piles, each charging pile having a charging pile body and a single charging gun connected to the charging pile body, the charging gun having a locking mechanism; when the charging gun is inserted into the charging interface of a car and the locking mechanism is in a locked state, the charging gun and the charging interface are in a fixed state; when the charging gun is inserted into the charging interface of a car and the locking mechanism is in an unlocked state, the charging gun and the charging interface are pluggable and detachable; the charging pile also has the device described above.

[0016] The charging pile monitoring method of this application includes: when it is determined that the charging gun of the charging pile itself is connected to the same vehicle as the charging gun of at least one other charging pile; when the charging gun reaches the target charging level, setting at least one of the charging guns of the charging pile itself and the charging guns of the other charging piles connected to the same vehicle as the target charging gun; when the charging gun of the charging pile itself is the target charging gun, controlling the charging pile body to switch to stop outputting charging voltage to the vehicle's charging interface through its own charging gun and controlling the locking mechanism to switch from the locked state to the unlocked state, and indicating that it is currently in a pluggable state; when the charging gun of the charging pile itself is not the target charging gun, controlling the charging pile body to continue outputting charging voltage to the vehicle's charging interface through its own charging gun and controlling the locking mechanism to remain in the locked state. Thus, through the above settings, the charging station can monitor its own usage and, upon confirming that it and another charging station are simultaneously charging the same vehicle, determine whether to stop its own charging gun output and lock it based on the vehicle's current battery level. If it does so, it will provide a notification so that drivers with charging needs can see that the charging gun is available and are guided to safely remove it to charge their vehicles. This effectively improves the utilization efficiency of charging stations in parking lots, reduces waste of charging resources, and enhances the user experience. Furthermore, since at least one of the multi-gun charging stations will continue to supply power to the vehicle that was originally being charged, a certain level of charging demand can still be guaranteed. Attached Figure Description

[0017] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with this application and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this application.

[0018] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort. Figure 1 This is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of the charging pile usage monitoring method of this application. Figure 2 This is a flowchart illustrating another embodiment of the charging pile usage monitoring method of this application; Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating yet another embodiment of the charging pile usage monitoring method of this application; Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating another embodiment of the charging pile usage monitoring method of this application; Figure 5This is a flowchart illustrating another embodiment of the charging pile usage monitoring method of this application. The purpose, features, and advantages of this application will be further explained in conjunction with the embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings. Detailed Implementation

[0019] It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the technical solutions of this application and are not intended to limit this application.

[0020] To better understand the technical solutions of this application, the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of this application, and not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0021] It should be noted that all directional indicators (such as up, down, left, right, front, back, etc.) in the embodiments of this application are only used to explain the relative positional relationships and movement of the components in a specific posture (as shown in the attached figures). If the specific posture changes, the directional indicators will also change accordingly. It should be understood that although the steps in the flowcharts of the embodiments of this application are shown sequentially according to the arrows, these steps are not necessarily executed in the order indicated by the arrows. Unless explicitly stated herein, there is no strict order restriction on the execution of these steps, and they can be executed in other orders. It is important to understand that in current parking lots, especially commercial parking lots in office buildings and urban complexes, a portion of the charging stations are installed to charge vehicles in some of the parking spaces, with each charging station corresponding to one parking space.

[0022] However, some existing electric vehicles, due to their large-capacity batteries or the need for fast charging, are equipped with multiple charging ports to enable multi-gun fast charging through multiple charging stations. For example, some family cars have two charging ports to meet users' needs for quick energy replenishment.

[0023] Therefore, when a car with a need for multi-gun charging is parked in a parking space, it needs to occupy the charging guns of multiple charging stations. However, each charging station is generally equipped with only one charging gun. If the car being charged by multiple guns is almost fully charged to meet basic driving needs, but the driver leaves the vehicle, for example, if the driver parks the car here in the morning and goes to work or shopping, then at least two charging guns will be occupied by one car for a long time. This will cause further waste of charging resources in parking lots that already have limited charging resources.

[0024] Therefore, this application proposes a method for monitoring the use of charging piles, applied to a parking lot. The parking lot includes multiple charging piles, and each charging pile is provided with a charging parking space. Each charging pile has a charging pile body and a unique charging gun connected to the charging pile body. The charging gun has a locking mechanism. When the charging gun is inserted into the charging interface of a car and the locking mechanism is in the locked state, the charging gun and the charging interface are in a fixed state. When the charging gun is inserted into the charging interface of a car and the locking mechanism is in the unlocked state, the charging gun and the charging interface are pluggable and detachable.

[0025] In this application, a parking lot may have multiple parking spaces, some of which may not have charging piles, while others may be designated as charging parking spaces, with each charging parking space corresponding to one charging pile. The charging pile itself contains a device (hereinafter referred to as the control device) for executing the following method. This device includes a memory for storing the program corresponding to the method and a processor for executing the method. The device can be implemented using a main controller, such as an MCU, DSP (Digital Signal Processor), or FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). The charging gun is equipped with a locking mechanism. The device within the charging pile can control the locking mechanism to switch between a locked and unlocked state. The charging pile also contains a power module for converting the input power voltage and outputting it to the vehicle via the charging gun. When the charging gun is connected to the vehicle's charging port and outputting voltage to charge the vehicle, the control device will control the locking mechanism to be in a locked state, fixing the charging gun and charging port. This ensures the reliability and stability of the connection between the charging gun and the charging port when outputting voltage, and prevents unauthorized removal of the charging gun.

[0026] refer to Figure 1 In one embodiment of this application, the charging pile usage monitoring method includes: Step S100: If it is determined that the charging gun of the charging pile itself is connected to the same vehicle as the charging gun of at least one other charging pile, obtain the current battery level of the vehicle. In this embodiment, optionally, in one embodiment, the control device in the charging pile body can communicate with the vehicle via the communication terminal on the charging gun. The control device can determine, based on the communication with the vehicle, whether at least two charging guns (including itself) are currently connected to the vehicle and charging it. Optionally, in another embodiment, the control device can also communicate with the parking lot control terminal via the communication unit inside the charging pile body. The parking lot control terminal can identify whether the vehicle connected to the charging gun of the current charging pile is in a multi-gun charging state based on images acquired by multiple image modules installed in the parking lot and feed back to the corresponding charging pile. Optionally, in yet another embodiment, the charging pile can also communicate with other charging piles simultaneously. During the communication with the vehicle, the charging pile can obtain the vehicle's identification information and exchange data with other charging piles. If it is determined that the charging gun of another charging pile has the same identification information, it can be determined that the charging gun of the charging pile itself is connected to the same vehicle as the charging gun of at least one other charging pile.

[0027] When the control device determines that the charging gun of its own charging station and the charging guns of other charging stations are connected to the same car and charging the car at the same time, it will communicate with the car to obtain the car's current battery level.

[0028] Step S200: When the power reaches the target power, set at least one of the charging guns of the charging pile itself and the charging guns of other charging piles connected to the same vehicle as the target charging gun. In this embodiment, optionally, in one embodiment, the target power level can be a fixed power level preset in advance by the manufacturer's R&D personnel or the parking lot maintenance personnel, such as 80%, 90%, etc.

[0029] Alternatively, in another embodiment, the target power level can be dynamically set, as shown in the reference. Figure 2 Prior to step S200, the charging pile usage monitoring method further includes: Step S500: The charging pile communicates with the parking lot to obtain the hourly vehicle entry volume corresponding to the current time period of the parking lot; Step S600: The charging pile determines the power level corresponding to the hourly vehicle entry volume based on the hourly vehicle entry volume and the hourly vehicle entry volume-power level mapping table, and sets the target power level based on the power level corresponding to the power level. In the hourly vehicle entry volume-battery level mapping table, the hourly vehicle entry volume and the corresponding battery level are inversely proportional, and the minimum battery level corresponding to the battery level in the hourly vehicle entry volume-battery level mapping table is greater than or equal to 80%.

[0030] In this embodiment, the hourly vehicle entry volume-battery level mapping table can be pre-set in the control device by the manufacturer's R&D personnel or the parking lot maintenance personnel. The control device can obtain the current vehicle flow entering the parking lot, i.e., the hourly vehicle entry volume, through communication with the parking lot. Then, based on the mapping table, it determines the battery level corresponding to the hourly vehicle entry volume and sets the battery level corresponding to that level as the current target battery level. It is understood that, relatively speaking, the greater the vehicle flow entering the parking lot, the more vehicles will have charging needs. Therefore, the battery level corresponding to the current battery level in the vehicle entry volume-battery level mapping table will be smaller, thus satisfying the charging needs of as many vehicles as possible within a given timeframe. Furthermore, it should be noted that among all the battery levels in the mapping table, the minimum battery level corresponding to each level is 80%. This is understandable because, for current automotive lithium batteries, the charging speed is relatively fast before reaching 80% battery level, and 80% battery level is sufficient to meet basic operating needs. However, the charging rate will significantly decrease after 80%. Therefore, setting the minimum value to 80% can ensure the basic charging needs of vehicles currently using multi-gun charging. As shown in the following embodiment, only one charging gun will stop charging, while the other connected charging guns will continue to operate as before to replenish the vehicle's energy as much as possible.

[0031] Correspondingly, based on any of the above and below embodiments, in another embodiment, the charging pile usage monitoring method further includes: when the power level does not reach the target power level, the charging pile maintains the state of outputting charging voltage to the vehicle's charging interface through its own charging gun and controls the locking mechanism to remain locked. When the battery level changes from reaching the target level to falling below the target level and the current charging station determines that its charging gun is not connected to the charging port of another vehicle, the charging station switches to a state where it outputs charging voltage to the charging port of the vehicle through its own charging gun and controls the locking mechanism to switch to the locked state and maintain it.

[0032] In this embodiment, if the current battery level of the car has not reached the target battery level, it means that the car still needs to be charged. In this case, the charging station will not perform the above and below steps S200-S400, but will prioritize the charging operation of the car that is currently undergoing multi-gun charging.

[0033] Furthermore, it's important to understand that in real-world scenarios, a user might be inside the car with some functional modules active, such as sleeping in the car with the air conditioning and lights on, or using an entertainment system. In such cases, the battery level might drop after reaching the target charge (e.g., insufficient power from another charging gun to sustain power consumption). In this situation, based on the following embodiment, if the control device determines that the charging station has stopped outputting charging voltage via the charging gun and the locking mechanism has switched from locked to unlocked, but the control device determines based on the locking mechanism status detection module that the charging gun has not been removed (or the car connected to the charging gun at the current charging station is still the same car), then the control device will control the power module within the charging station to resume outputting charging voltage via the charging gun, and control the locking mechanism to switch to and maintain the locked state, thereby ensuring the power needs of the currently connected car undergoing multi-gun charging.

[0034] In another embodiment, if the control device determines that the battery level of the car currently connected to the multi-gun charging system has reached the target battery level and determines that there is a user active inside the car based on communication with the car, for example, determining that the power consumption of the car is greater than a preset power (set by the R&D personnel) based on communication with the car, then the control device determines that there is a user active inside the car and will not execute the process of steps S200-S400.

[0035] It should be understood that, in one embodiment, as described above, when the charging pile determines that the vehicle's battery level has changed from reaching the target level to below the target level, and the charging pile determines that its charging gun is not connected to another vehicle's charging port, it will switch to output charging voltage to the vehicle's charging port via its own charging gun and control the locking mechanism to switch to and maintain the locked state. However, given the dynamic changes in the target battery level in the above embodiments, the charging pile may repeatedly switch between discharging and stopping discharging, and the locking mechanism may repeatedly switch between the locked and unlocked states. This could potentially cause unnecessary damage to the vehicle's charging port, such as damage to the connection terminals in the port due to repeated discharging and stopping discharging within a short period. Therefore, in practice, if the rate of change of the number of vehicles entering per hour does not reach the preset rate of change (set by the R&D personnel) within the current preset time period (preset by the R&D personnel), the control device will not change the current target battery level until the number of vehicles entering per hour meets the preset rate of change. Only then will the target battery level be determined based on the latest number of vehicles entering per hour and the above process, thereby reducing the occurrence of the charging pile repeatedly switching between discharging and stopping, and the locking mechanism repeatedly switching between locked and unlocked states.

[0036] In one embodiment, reference Figure 3 The step S200, which involves setting at least one of the charging guns of the charging pile itself and other charging guns connected to the same vehicle in other charging piles, as the target charging gun, specifically includes: Step S210: If there is no car parked in the charging parking space corresponding to the charging pile, the charging pile will set itself as the target charging gun. Step S220: If the charging pile determines that there are cars parked in the charging parking spaces corresponding to its own charging parking spaces and the charging parking spaces corresponding to other charging piles connected to the same car, it does not set itself as the target charging gun and does not execute steps S300-S400, and prompts that there are no remaining available charging piles.

[0037] In this embodiment, it is understood that a car undergoing multi-gun charging must be parked in a charging parking space corresponding to a specific connected charging pile; that is, a new vehicle cannot park in the current charging parking space. Therefore, when the charging pile determines that the current car's battery level has reached the target level, it will check whether there is a car already parked in its corresponding charging parking space. This can be achieved using a detection unit in the charging parking space, such as a grating detection unit. When there is a car charging in the space, the grating detection unit will output the corresponding detection result to the charging pile. Alternatively, the control device in the charging pile can also obtain image information of its corresponding charging parking space through communication with the parking lot's control terminal, and then confirm whether there is a car in its corresponding charging parking space. If there is no car, it will set itself as the target charging gun.

[0038] Furthermore, in one embodiment, reference is made to... Figure 4 Step S210, where the charging pile sets itself as the target charging gun when there is no car parked in its corresponding charging parking space, specifically includes: Step S211: If only one of the multiple charging piles that are simultaneously connected to the charging pile can be set as the target charging gun, then set itself as the target charging gun. Step S212: If, among the multiple charging piles that are simultaneously connected to the same vehicle, there are multiple charging piles, including the one itself, whose charging guns can be set as target charging guns, then the preset serial numbers of the multiple target charging guns are obtained and compared with the preset serial number corresponding to the one's own charging gun. If its own preset serial number is the smallest among multiple preset serial numbers, then its own charging gun is set as the target charging gun; if its own preset serial number is not the smallest, then its own charging gun is not set as the target charging gun.

[0039] In this embodiment, if the current charging station determines that it is the only one that can be used as a target charging gun, then it directly uses itself as the target charging gun and executes step 300 below. If the current charging station determines that among the charging stations currently connected to the same car (i.e., performing multi-gun charging), including itself, there are multiple charging guns that can be used as target charging guns, for example, the car currently performing multi-gun charging is a three-gun charging station, then the control device will simultaneously obtain the preset serial numbers of the other target charging guns and compare them with its own. If it is the smallest one, then it uses itself as the target charging gun and executes step S300; if it is not the smallest one, then it does not use itself as the target charging gun and continues to execute step S400 below.

[0040] Correspondingly, if the control device in the current charging pile communicates with the control devices in other charging piles connected to the same vehicle and determines that all corresponding charging parking spaces are occupied, it means that someone has parked their car in a charging parking space even though they do not have a charging need. In this case, the control device will not set itself as the target charging gun and will control the prompting components on its own charging pile, such as the display screen on the charging pile showing that there are no remaining available charging piles, to inform the user.

[0041] Step S300: When the charging gun of the charging pile itself is the target charging gun, control the charging pile body to switch to stop outputting charging voltage to the car's charging interface through its own charging gun and control the locking mechanism to switch from the locked state to the unlocked state, and indicate that it is currently in the pluggable state. Step S400: When the charging gun of the charging pile itself is not the target charging gun, control the charging pile body to maintain the output charging voltage to the charging interface of the car through its own charging gun and control the locking mechanism to maintain the locked state.

[0042] In this embodiment, if the control device determines that its own charging gun is the target charging gun based on the process described in the above embodiment, it will control the power module to stop outputting charging voltage through the charging gun and control the locking mechanism to switch from the locked state to the unlocked state. Then, it will control the display screen, which is the prompt component, to indicate that the charging gun corresponding to the charging pile can be removed. Conversely, if the charging pile's own charging gun is not the target charging gun, the control device will control the power module to output charging voltage through the charging gun and control the locking mechanism to remain locked, in order to maintain continuous charging for vehicles using multi-gun charging as much as possible.

[0043] In this way, through the above settings, the charging station can monitor its own usage. When it confirms that it and another charging station are simultaneously charging the same car, it determines whether to stop its own charging gun output and lock it based on the car's current battery level. If it does so, it will provide a prompt, allowing drivers who need to charge their cars to see that the charging gun is available and guiding them to safely unplug it. This effectively improves the utilization efficiency of charging stations in the parking lot, reduces waste of charging resources, and enhances the user experience. Furthermore, since at least one of the multi-gun charging stations will continue to supply power to the car that was originally being charged, its basic charging needs can still be guaranteed.

[0044] In addition, in another embodiment, it is understood that some users may have a need to quickly charge their cars to full capacity, so they do not want the multiple charging guns connected to their cars to stop outputting at a certain time. In this case, they can communicate and configure their external terminal with the connected charging piles to select whether the charging piles corresponding to the multiple charging guns connected to their cars should perform the above steps S100-S400 in this charging operation. It should be understood that, as described in the above embodiments, this application can effectively improve the utilization rate of charging resources in parking lots to meet the charging needs of more vehicles as much as possible. However, even if the car owners currently charging agree to the charging pile performing the above steps S100-S400, this process will inevitably affect the charging rate to some extent.

[0045] Therefore, refer to Figure 5 In one embodiment of this application, between step S100 and step 200, the charging pile usage monitoring method further includes: Step S700: The charging pile communicates with the parking lot and obtains the number of charging piles in the parking lot that are not currently occupied by a car. Step S800: If the number of charging stations not connected to the car is less than or equal to a preset number, execute steps S200 to S400. Step S900: If the number of charging stations without cars plugged in is greater than the preset number, steps S200-S400 are not executed, and the current working state is maintained. The preset quantity is a positive integer greater than 0.

[0046] In this embodiment, the control device in the charging pile can communicate with the control terminal in the parking lot to obtain the number of charging piles where no car is currently plugged in. If the number is greater than or equal to the preset number set by the R&D personnel or parking lot maintenance personnel, the control device will assume that there is no shortage of available charging resources in the parking lot and will not execute the above steps S200-S400, so as to prioritize the charging operation of cars that are charging with multiple charging guns.

[0047] If the number is less than or equal to a preset number, then further, in one embodiment, step S800, when the number of charging stations without cars plugged in is less than or equal to the preset number, specifically includes the following steps: When the number of charging piles without cars plugged in is less than or equal to a preset number, the charging pile communicates with the parking lot and obtains the first image information of the current entrance and exit of the parking lot and the second image information of the parking lot; If, based on the first image information and the second image information, it is determined that there is a car in the current parking lot that has entered from the entrance / exit and is driving toward any of the charging parking spaces, then steps S200 to S400 are executed. If, based on the first image information, it is determined that there are no cars entering the parking lot from the entrance or exit, or based on the second image, it is determined that there are no cars driving towards any of the charging parking spaces, then steps S200 to S400 are not executed.

[0048] In this embodiment, the first and second image information can be acquired by the control terminal in the parking lot based on the camera and output to the charging pile. The control terminal in the parking lot can independently determine whether a car has entered the parking lot without a clear intention to drive to the charging parking space based on the first and second image information and transmit the determination result to the control device of the corresponding charging pile. Alternatively, the control device in the charging pile can perform a self-determination based on the first and second image information.

[0049] Based on the above process, if it is determined that a car has entered the parking lot and clearly intends to drive towards the charging parking space, the control device determines that there are still new vehicles that need to charge even though there are few available charging resources. Then, it will execute the above steps S200-S400.

[0050] Correspondingly, if it is determined that no car has entered the parking lot or no car intends to drive to the charging parking space, the control device determines that there are no new vehicles with charging needs when there are few available charging resources. Therefore, steps S200-S400 will not be executed, thereby maintaining the power supply to the car currently undergoing multi-gun charging. Furthermore, it should be understood that, based on any embodiment of this application, in order to facilitate users finding a usable charging station in a parking lot, the charging station will indicate that it is currently in a pluggable state. However, if there is no charging station in the parking lot that meets the requirements of steps S200-S300 above, that is, if every charging station in the parking lot is outputting voltage through a charging gun, then if there are cars charging with multiple guns in the parking lot, users driving around the parking lot entrance and exit may visually misjudge whether there are still available charging parking spaces, or be misled by the indication that there are still available parking spaces displayed at the parking lot entrance and exit (especially in commercial parking lots, where generally only some parking spaces are equipped with charging stations, and some are ordinary parking spaces without charging stations).

[0051] Therefore, in one embodiment of this application, the charging pile usage monitoring method further includes: The charging pile reports the status of its charging gun locking mechanism to the parking lot, so that when the parking lot determines that the locking mechanisms of all charging piles' charging guns are locked, it will display a message at the entrance and exit of the parking lot indicating that there are no remaining charging piles available.

[0052] In this embodiment, prompting components, such as displays and LED lights, can also be installed at the entrances and exits of the parking lot. The device in the charging pile will upload the detection results based on the locking mechanism status detection module installed in the charging pile to the control terminal of the parking lot via its own communication module. This allows the control terminal to control the prompting components at the entrances and exits of the parking lot to display a message, such as "There are currently no available charging piles," thereby further improving the user experience and reducing the chances of users with charging needs wasting time entering the parking lot due to misjudging the availability of charging piles. This application also proposes an apparatus comprising: a memory, a processor, and a charging pile usage monitoring program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, the charging pile usage monitoring program being configured to implement the charging pile usage monitoring method as described in any of the preceding claims.

[0053] It is worth noting that since the device in this application includes the above-mentioned charging pile usage monitoring method, the device in this application also includes all the above-mentioned embodiments of the charging pile usage monitoring method and the effects of each embodiment, which will not be repeated here. This application also proposes a charging pile for use in a parking lot, the parking lot including multiple charging piles, each charging pile having a charging pile body and a single charging gun connected to the charging pile body, the charging gun having a locking mechanism; when the charging gun is inserted into the charging interface of a car and the locking mechanism is in a locked state, the charging gun and the charging interface are in a fixed state; when the charging gun is inserted into the charging interface of a car and the locking mechanism is in an unlocked state, the charging gun and the charging interface are pluggable and detachable; the charging pile also has the device described in any of the above claims.

[0054] It is worth noting that since the charging pile in this application includes the above-mentioned devices, the charging pile in this application also includes embodiments of all the above-mentioned devices and the effects brought by each embodiment, which will not be repeated here. The above description is only a part of the embodiments of this application and does not limit the patent scope of this application. All equivalent structural transformations made under the technical concept of this application and using the contents of the specification and drawings of this application, or direct / indirect applications in other related technical fields, are included in the patent protection scope of this application.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring the use of charging piles, characterized in that, This system is applied to parking lots, which include multiple charging piles. Each charging pile has a corresponding charging parking space. Each charging pile has a charging pile body and a unique charging gun connected to the charging pile body. The charging gun has a locking mechanism. When the charging gun is inserted into the car's charging port and the locking mechanism is in the locked state, the charging gun and the charging port are in a fixed state. When the charging gun is inserted into the car's charging port and the locking mechanism is in the unlocked state, the charging gun and the charging port are pluggable and detachable. The method for monitoring the use of the charging piles includes: Step S100: If it is determined that the charging gun of the charging pile itself is connected to the same vehicle as the charging gun of at least one other charging pile, obtain the current battery level of the vehicle. Step S200: When the power reaches the target power, set at least one of the charging guns of the charging pile itself and the charging guns of other charging piles connected to the same vehicle as the target charging gun. Step S300: When the charging gun of the charging pile itself is the target charging gun, control the charging pile body to switch to stop outputting charging voltage to the car's charging interface through its own charging gun and control the locking mechanism to switch from the locked state to the unlocked state, and indicate that it is currently in the pluggable state. Step S400: When the charging gun of the charging pile itself is not the target charging gun, control the charging pile body to maintain the output charging voltage to the charging interface of the car through its own charging gun and control the locking mechanism to maintain the locked state.

2. The charging pile usage monitoring method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, Before step S200, when the power level reaches the target power level, and before setting at least one of the charging guns of the charging pile itself and other charging piles connected to the same vehicle as the target charging gun, the charging pile usage monitoring method further includes: Step S500: The charging pile communicates with the parking lot to obtain the hourly vehicle entry volume corresponding to the current time period of the parking lot; Step S600: The charging pile determines the power level corresponding to the hourly vehicle entry volume based on the hourly vehicle entry volume and the hourly vehicle entry volume-power level mapping table, and sets the target power level based on the power level corresponding to the power level. In the hourly vehicle entry volume-battery level mapping table, the hourly vehicle entry volume and the corresponding battery level are inversely proportional, and the minimum battery level corresponding to the battery level in the hourly vehicle entry volume-battery level mapping table is greater than or equal to 80%.

3. The charging pile usage monitoring method as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The charging pile monitoring method further includes: when the power level does not reach the target power level, the charging pile maintains the state of outputting charging voltage to the vehicle's charging interface through its own charging gun and controls the locking mechanism to remain locked. When the battery level changes from reaching the target level to falling below the target level and the current charging station determines that its charging gun is not connected to the charging port of another vehicle, the charging station switches to a state where it outputs charging voltage to the charging port of the vehicle through its own charging gun and controls the locking mechanism to switch to the locked state and maintain it.

4. The charging pile usage monitoring method as described in claim 3, characterized in that, Step S200, setting at least one of the charging guns of the charging pile itself and other charging guns connected to the same vehicle in other charging piles as the target charging gun, specifically includes: Step S210: If there is no car parked in the charging parking space corresponding to the charging pile, the charging pile sets its own charging gun as the target charging gun. Step S220: If the charging pile determines that there are cars parked in the charging parking spaces corresponding to its own charging parking spaces and the charging parking spaces corresponding to other charging piles connected to the same car, it does not set its own charging gun as the target charging gun and does not execute steps S300-S400, and prompts that there are no remaining available charging piles.

5. The charging pile usage monitoring method as described in claim 4, characterized in that, Step S210, where the charging pile sets its own charging gun as the target charging gun when there is no car parked in its corresponding charging parking space, specifically includes: Step S211: If only one of the charging piles that is simultaneously connected to the charging pile can be set as the target charging pile, then set its own charging pile as the target charging pile. Step S212: If, among the multiple charging piles that are simultaneously connected to the same vehicle, there are multiple charging piles, including the charging pile itself, whose charging guns can be set as target charging guns, then the preset serial numbers of the multiple target charging guns are obtained and compared with the preset serial number corresponding to the charging gun itself. If its own preset serial number is the smallest among multiple preset serial numbers, then its own charging gun is set as the target charging gun; if its own preset serial number is not the smallest, then its own charging gun is not set as the target charging gun.

6. The charging pile usage monitoring method as described in claim 5, characterized in that, Between step S100 and step S200, the charging pile usage monitoring method further includes: Step S700: The charging pile communicates with the parking lot and obtains the number of charging piles in the parking lot where no car is inserted; Step S800: If the number of charging stations not connected to the car is less than or equal to a preset number, execute steps S200 to S400. Step S900: If the number of charging stations without cars plugged in is greater than the preset number, steps S200-S400 are not executed, and the current working state is maintained. The preset quantity is a positive integer greater than 0.

7. The charging pile usage monitoring method as described in claim 6, characterized in that, Step S800, when the number of charging stations not connected to the car is less than or equal to a preset number, the steps S200-S400 are executed, specifically including: When the number of charging piles without cars plugged in is less than or equal to a preset number, the charging pile communicates with the parking lot and obtains the first image information of the current entrance and exit of the parking lot and the second image information of the parking lot; If, based on the first image information and the second image information, it is determined that there is a car in the current parking lot that has entered from the entrance / exit and is driving toward any of the charging parking spaces, then steps S200 to S400 are executed. If, based on the first image information, it is determined that there are no cars entering the parking lot from the entrance or exit, or based on the second image, it is determined that there are no cars driving towards any of the charging parking spaces, then steps S200 to S400 are not executed.

8. The charging pile usage monitoring method according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that, The method for monitoring the use of charging piles also includes: The charging pile reports the status of its charging gun locking mechanism to the parking lot, so that when the parking lot determines that the locking mechanisms of all charging piles' charging guns are locked, it will display a message at the entrance and exit of the parking lot indicating that there are no remaining charging piles available.

9. An apparatus, characterized in that, The device includes a memory, a processor, and a charging pile usage monitoring method as described in any one of claims 1-8, stored in the memory and capable of running on the processor.

10. A charging pile, characterized in that, The charging pile is used in a parking lot, which includes multiple charging piles. Each charging pile has a charging pile body and a single charging gun connected to the charging pile body. The charging gun has a locking mechanism. When the charging gun is inserted into the charging port of a car and the locking mechanism is in the locked state, the charging gun and the charging port are in a fixed state. When the charging gun is inserted into the charging port of a car and the locking mechanism is in the unlocked state, the charging gun and the charging port are pluggable and detachable. The charging pile also has the device as described in claim 9.

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