Vehicle charging and parking assist system

Abstract

To provide a highly practical vehicle charging / parking support system.SOLUTION: A vehicle charging parking support system for supporting parking of a vehicle C to an appropriate position in a charging section when charging the vehicle C by a charger 14 installed in the charging section 12 includes an information storage device 24 for storing charger information which is information of the charger, an appropriate position determination device 28 for determining the appropriate position based on the charger information stored in the information storage device and charging vehicle information which is information of a vehicle to be charged, and a guide device 32 mounted on the vehicle for guiding the vehicle to the determined appropriate position. Since the charging vehicle can be parked at an appropriate position with respect to the charger in the charging section, the connector 18 of the charging cable 16 can be easily connected to the inlet.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle charging parking assistance system that provides assistance in parking a vehicle when charging the vehicle using a charger. [Background technology]

[0002] Charging the battery of a vehicle such as an electric vehicle is performed by parking the vehicle to be charged (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a "vehicle to be charged") in a charging space and using a charger installed in that space. More specifically, charging is performed by connecting the connector at the end of a charging cable attached to the charger to a charging inlet (sometimes called a "charging port") provided on the vehicle to be charged. Since the placement of the inlet varies depending on the vehicle, for example, the technology described in the following document specifies which charging space and in which orientation the vehicle to be charged should be parked. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-257914 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the above document, the charging section and the orientation of the vehicle to be charged are specified. However, due to various inlet locations and, for example, the condition of the charging cable, even if the vehicle is parked according to the above specifications, it is expected that connecting the connector to the inlet will be difficult. Specifically, for example, depending on the location of the inlet, the charging cable may not reach the inlet, or if the charging cable is stiff, the cable may not be able to be properly handled, making it difficult to connect the connector. In other words, there is still room for improvement in the practicality of assistance provided for parking the vehicle when charging. The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a highly practical vehicle charging parking assistance system. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In order to solve the above problems, the vehicle charging parking assistance system of the present invention comprises: A vehicle charging parking assistance system for assisting a vehicle in parking at an appropriate position in a charging section when the vehicle is being charged by a charger installed in the charging section, the system comprising: an information storage device that stores charger information, which is information about the charger; an appropriate position determination device that determines the appropriate position based on the charger information stored in the information storage device and charging vehicle information that is information about the vehicle to be charged; a guidance device mounted on the vehicle for guiding the vehicle to the determined appropriate position; The present invention is configured to include the following. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] According to the vehicle charging parking assistance system of the present invention (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the "system of the present invention"), it is possible to park a vehicle to be charged in an appropriate position relative to a charger within a charging section, making it easy to connect the connector of the charging cable to the inlet.

[0007] The "appropriate position" in the system of the present invention does not refer to which charging section a charging vehicle (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as "vehicle") should be parked in, but rather refers to where within the charging section the vehicle should be parked. The appropriate position refers not only to the front-rear and left-right positions of the charging vehicle, but also to its vertical position and the vehicle's orientation, i.e., whether the vehicle should be parked facing forward or backward within the charging section. In other words, the appropriate position refers to the position relative to the charger, i.e., the relative position between the vehicle and the charger. Note that the identified appropriate position may be a position that includes a certain margin, i.e., an appropriate range.

[0008] The "charger" in the system of the present invention may have a general configuration, for example, a configuration including a charger main body and a charging cable extending from the charger and having a connector at the end. Furthermore, "charger information" includes various information such as the size of the installed charging section, the installation position and orientation of the charger relative to the charging section, the charging capacity of the charger, the length of the charging cable, the position of the base of the charging cable in the charger, and the type of charging cable. The type of charging cable also includes physical properties of the charging cable, such as its hardness. Meanwhile, "charging vehicle information" is vehicle information about the vehicle being charged, including the size of the vehicle, the location of the inlet in the vehicle, and the power receiving capacity (whether fast charging is possible, etc.).

[0009] The "information storage device" in the system of the present invention may be, for example, a database that stores information about various chargers. If there is a management center that comprehensively manages the charger or multiple chargers including the charger, the database may be provided in the management center, or may be a so-called cloud database. The information storage device stores charger information, but may also store vehicle information about various vehicles in the form of a database. The management center may also have a function for managing reservations for chargers.

[0010] The "proper position determination device" in the system of the present invention may be provided in the management center described above, or may be provided in the charging vehicle. In other words, since the proper position determination device is not provided in the charger itself, it is possible to reduce the equipment burden and processing burden on the charger itself.

[0011] When the appropriate position determination device is located in the management center, the appropriate position determination device may obtain, for example, information about the vehicle model of the charging vehicle (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "vehicle model information") based on the reservation information or directly from the charging vehicle via a communication means, and may identify the charging vehicle information by referring to a database based on the obtained vehicle model information.On the other hand, when the appropriate position determination device is located in the charging vehicle, the appropriate position determination device may obtain the charging vehicle information directly from the vehicle or from information that it has in advance.

[0012] The appropriate position may be determined to satisfy conditions such as ensuring that the vehicle to be charged does not protrude from the charging section, that the connector can be connected to the inlet (restrictions on the length of the charging cable, matching of the connector and inlet models), and that the connector can be easily connected to the inlet (easy handling of the charging cable). As will be explained later, for example, if the charger is designed for high-speed charging, the charging cable may be relatively thick and stiff due to a built-in coolant tube or a thick coating. In particular, at low temperatures, the charging cable becomes stiff and extremely difficult to handle, requiring strict precision in determining the relative position between the vehicle to be charged and the charger. Therefore, in such cases, it is desirable to also determine the appropriate position based on the ambient temperature.

[0013] The "guiding device" in the present invention is mounted exclusively on a vehicle. For example, it may be one of the functions of a so-called car navigation system (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as "car navigation"). Specifically, by displaying the appropriate position on a display, the driver can position the charging vehicle at the appropriate position using the displayed appropriate position as a guide. The guidance device may also provide guidance by voice or the like while monitoring the relationship between the position of the charging vehicle and the appropriate position. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] 1A and 1B are a diagram schematically illustrating a charging facility to which a vehicle charging parking assistance system according to an embodiment is applied, and a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the vehicle charging parking assistance system; [Figure 2] 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining an appropriate position for a charging vehicle and an image displayed by a guidance device for guiding the charging vehicle to the appropriate position. [Figure 3] 4 is a flowchart showing an appropriate position determination process and a guidance process executed in the vehicle charging parking assistance system of the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: a vehicle charging parking assistance system according to an embodiment of the present invention is described in detail below; the present invention can be embodied in various forms, including the forms described in the above section "Modes of the Invention," and in which various modifications and improvements are made based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art. [Example]

[0016] [A] Functional configuration of vehicle charging equipment and vehicle charging parking assistance system As shown in FIG. 1(a), a vehicle charging facility (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as "charging facility") to which the vehicle charging parking assistance system (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as "system") of the embodiment is applied is configured to include a charger 14 installed in a charging section (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as "section") 12 facing a vehicle passageway 10, more specifically, to the side of section 12. A charging cable 16 is provided on the charger 14, and a connector 18 is attached to the tip of the charging cable 16, which is connected to an inlet (charging port) of a vehicle C to be charged (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a "charging vehicle C" or simply "vehicle C").

[0017] Although a detailed explanation will be omitted, this charging facility, together with other charging facilities, is managed by a management center 20 located in a remote location. Therefore, the charger 14 and the management center 20 are capable of communicating with each other. The management center 20 includes a processing device 22 mainly made up of a computer, and a database 24. Meanwhile, the vehicle C is provided with a car navigation system (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as "car navigation") 26 made up of a computer, a display, etc., and is provided with cameras (which may be cameras for monitoring the entire periphery of the vehicle C) associated with the car navigation system 26 for monitoring the front and rear of the vehicle C.

[0018] This system is composed of a processing device 22 and a database 24 in the management center 20, and a car navigation system 26 in the vehicle C. To explain the functional configuration of this system in relation to the present invention, as shown in the functional block diagram of FIG. 1(b), the database 24 functions as an information storage device that stores charger information, and the processing device 22 includes an appropriate position determination unit 28 that determines the position where the vehicle C should be located in the section 12 during charging, i.e., the appropriate position. The processing device 22 also includes a reservation management unit 30 that manages reservations for multiple charging facilities. Meanwhile, the car navigation system 26 in the vehicle C includes a guidance unit 32 that guides the vehicle C to the appropriate position during charging. The appropriate position determination unit 28 functions as the appropriate position determination device in the present invention, and the guidance unit 30 functions as the guidance device in the present invention. The reservation management unit 30 may be provided separately from the processing device 22 in the management center 20, or may be provided as a unit that can communicate with an external device outside the management center 20, for example, on a cloud. The database 24 may be provided in the processing device 22, or may be provided outside the management center 20, for example, as a database on the cloud. Note that this system can also be configured so that the car navigation system 26 of the vehicle C has an appropriate position determination unit 28, as shown in FIG. 1(c).

[0019] [B] Determining the appropriate location for charging vehicles The charging cable 16 of the charger 14 has a specific length, which limits the reach of the connector 18. In other words, the range in which the inlet of the vehicle C should be positioned during charging varies depending on the length of the charging cable 16.

[0020] Furthermore, charger 14 is capable of high-speed charging, and charging cable 16 has a built-in coolant tube for cooling and is also covered with a thick covering material such as rubber. Therefore, charging cable 16 is relatively thick and hard, and is relatively difficult to handle, that is, difficult to handle. In particular, when the temperature of charging cable 16 itself is low due to low air temperature (ambient temperature), charging cable 16 becomes quite hard and difficult to handle.

[0021] Referring to FIG. 2, for a vehicle C with an inlet I (indicated by a star) located at the rear right side, the appropriate position of the vehicle C relative to the charger 14 installed on the right side of the section 12 (a concept that also includes the orientation of the vehicle) is as shown in FIG. 2(a). For example, as shown in FIG. 2(b), if the charger 14 and the inlet I are located too close to each other, the charging cable 16 cannot be properly handled, making it difficult to connect the connector 18 to the inlet I. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2(c), for a vehicle C with an inlet I located at the front, if the vehicle C is parked facing forward, the charging cable 16 will not reach the far end of the section 12. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2(d), if the vehicle C is parked closer to the front of the charging section 12, the charging cable 16 will reach the far end, but the vehicle C may extend into the aisle 10. Therefore, for a vehicle C with an inlet I located at the front, it is desirable to park the vehicle facing backward in the section 12 to charge. Needless to say, it is desirable to park a vehicle facing forward when the inlet I is located on the right side, and to park a vehicle facing backward when the inlet I is located on the left side.

[0022] In summary, the appropriate position of vehicle C in section 12, in other words, the range of appropriate relative positions between vehicle C and charger 14, is determined by the type of vehicle C, i.e., the location of inlet I, and the length of charging cable 16. Note that this appropriate position range (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the "appropriate position range") also differs depending on the height at which inlet I is located on the vehicle. As mentioned above, the appropriate position range for vehicle C is also determined by the stiffness (a type of physical property) of charging cable 16, and moreover, as mentioned above, the stiffness also changes depending on the temperature of charging cable 16, so the appropriate position range also changes depending on air temperature, i.e., the ambient temperature.

[0023] In view of the above, in this system, the appropriate position determination unit 28 determines the appropriate position of the vehicle C in the section 12 based on the charger information stored in the database 24, the charging vehicle information which is information about the charging vehicle C, and the ambient temperature of the installation location of the charger 14.

[0024] [C] Guiding charging vehicles to the appropriate position The proper position determined by the proper position determination unit 28 includes the direction of the vehicle to be parked relative to the section 12, and the guidance unit 32 of the car navigation system 26 provided in the vehicle C displays on the display whether the vehicle should be parked facing forward or backward.

[0025] Next, the guidance unit 32 prompts the driver of the vehicle C to park the vehicle C in the appropriate position by displaying the appropriate position determined by the appropriate position determination unit 28 as an appropriate position display PD on the display, as shown in Figures 2(e) and 2(f).

[0026] More specifically, Figure 2(e) shows an image captured by the front camera of vehicle C, with the appropriate position display PD superimposed on the image. This image changes from moment to moment as vehicle C moves forward. Incidentally, although not shown in the figure, when parking backward, the image captured by the rear camera is used.

[0027] FIG. 2(f) shows a so-called around-view monitor image, that is, a bird's-eye view image from above synthesized from images from multiple cameras monitoring the surroundings of vehicle C. This image is used by vehicles C that have an around-view monitor function. A proper position display PD is also synthesized into this image, and this image also changes from moment to moment as vehicle C moves forward.

[0028] [D] Flow of proper position determination process and guidance process When the processing device 22 of the management center 20 has the appropriate position determination unit 28, the appropriate position determination process, which is the process for determining the appropriate position described above, is performed by the processing device 20 executing an appropriate position determination process program, the flowchart of which is shown in Fig. 3. Since the vehicle C waits along the stop line 40 (see Fig. 1(a)) of the vehicle passage 10, the process according to the program is started in response to a process start request from the waiting vehicle C.

[0029] The waiting vehicle C transmits information for identifying the vehicle C (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "vehicle identification information", for example, the license plate number of the vehicle C) and information for identifying the charger 14 to be charged (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "charger identification information", for example, the number of the charger 14). In the process according to the above program, first, in steps 1 (hereinafter abbreviated as "S1", the same applies to the other steps) and S2, the vehicle C and the charger 14 are identified based on the vehicle identification information and charger identification information transmitted from the vehicle C, respectively. In the next S3, if a charging reservation has already been made for vehicle C, the reservation information stored in the database 24 is referenced based on the vehicle identification information, and if a reservation has not been made, the model of vehicle C is identified based on information further transmitted from vehicle C, and information about vehicle C (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "charging vehicle information", such as the inlet placement position and type) is obtained based on that model, and in S4, information about the charger 14 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "charger information", such as the position of the charger 14 in the above-mentioned charging section 12, the length and physical properties of the charging cable 16, and the installation position of the charging cable 16 on the charger 14) is obtained by reference to the information stored in the database 24 based on the charger identification information.

[0030] Next, in S5, it is determined whether the vehicle C can use the charger 14. This determination is made by determining whether the charger 14 and the vehicle C match in terms of the types of connector 18 and inlet, power supply and power receiving capabilities, etc. If the charger 14 is usable, in S6, information regarding the temperature at the location where the vehicle C is located (hereinafter, may be referred to as "ambient temperature information") is obtained from the vehicle C. Then, in S7, an appropriate position for the vehicle C in the charging section 12 (a concept that also includes the orientation of the vehicle C) is determined based on the charging vehicle information, charger information, and ambient temperature information, and information regarding the specific position is transmitted to the vehicle C in S8. Incidentally, if it is determined in S5 that the vehicle C cannot use the charger 14, information to that effect is transmitted to the vehicle C in S9.

[0031] Although detailed explanation will be omitted, if the car navigation system 26 of the vehicle C has the appropriate position determination unit 28, charger information based on the charger identification information transmitted from the vehicle C is transmitted from the management center 20 to the vehicle C, and the car navigation system 26 determines the appropriate position based on the charger information, the charging vehicle information it possesses, and the environmental temperature information it has acquired. The car navigation system 26 also determines whether or not the charger 14 can be used.

[0032] The guidance process, which is a process for guiding vehicle C to an appropriate position, is performed by the car navigation system 26 by executing a guidance process program whose flowchart is shown in Fig. 3. In the process according to this program, first, in S11, the appropriate position is identified based on information about the appropriate position transmitted from the management center 20 or a decision made by the car navigation system 26. Next, in S12, an instruction is given via the display as to the parking orientation of vehicle C, i.e., whether to park facing forward or backward.

[0033] Next, in S13, an image from the front camera or rear camera including the above-mentioned appropriate position display PD, or an overhead image from the around view monitor function, is displayed on the display. This image is updated in accordance with the operation of vehicle C until a condition for terminating the process is met in S14. This condition may be, for example, that the ignition switch of vehicle C has been turned off or that a door of vehicle C has been opened or closed. If it is determined in S15 that vehicle C is located in the appropriate position, an instruction to stop vehicle C is given via the display in S16. [Explanation of symbols]

[0034] 12: Charging section 14: Charger 16: Charging cable 18: Connector 20: Management center 22: Processing device 24: Database (information storage device) 26: Car navigation system 28: Appropriate position determination unit (appropriate position determination device) 30: Reservation management unit 32: Guidance unit (guidance device) C: Charging vehicle I: Inlet PD: Appropriate position display

Claims

[Claim 1] A vehicle charging parking assistance system for assisting a vehicle in parking at an appropriate position in a charging section when the vehicle is being charged by a charger installed in the charging section, the system comprising: an information storage device that stores charger information, which is information about the charger; an appropriate position determination device that determines the appropriate position based on the charger information stored in the information storage device and charging vehicle information that is information about the vehicle to be charged; a guidance device mounted on the vehicle for guiding the vehicle to the determined appropriate position; A vehicle charging parking assistance system comprising:

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