Control device, charging device, control method, temperature adjustment method, program, and computer-readable recording medium

Abstract

This control device for controlling a charging device configured to be capable of charging a plurality of electricity storage devices including a first electricity storage device and a second electricity storage device is provided with: a stored electricity amount acquiring unit for acquiring information relating to the stored electricity amounts of each of the first electricity storage device and the second electricity storage device; and a charge control unit for controlling the charging device to charge the first electricity storage device and the second electricity storage device. If a first stored electricity amount, which is the stored electricity amount in the first electricity storage device, acquired by the stored electricity amount acquiring unit, and a second stored electricity amount, which is the stored electricity amount in the second electricity storage device, acquired by the stored electricity amount acquiring unit, differ from one another, the charge control unit controls the charging device such that the charging state of the first electricity storage device and the charging state of the second electricity storage device are different.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a control device, a charging device, a control method, a temperature adjustment method, a program, and a computer-readable recording medium.

Background Art

[0002] There is known a charging device that houses a portable mobile battery and discharges the mobile battery in response to a user's request. Patent Document 1 discloses a battery charging device including a charger that charges a battery housed in one of a pair of battery housing portions. Further, Patent Document 2 discloses extracting, as a charging target, a storage battery that satisfies specific conditions from among a plurality of storage batteries. [Prior Art Documents] [Patent Documents] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-333379 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2018-160364

Disclosure of the Invention

[0003] In a first aspect of the present invention, a control device is provided. The control device controls, for example, a charging device configured to be able to charge a plurality of power storage devices including a first power storage device and a second power storage device. The control device includes, for example, a power storage amount acquisition unit that acquires information regarding the power storage amounts of the first power storage device and the second power storage device. The control device includes, for example, a charge control unit that controls the charging device to charge the first power storage device and the second power storage device. In the control device, for example, when the first power storage amount, which is the power storage amount of the first power storage device acquired by the power storage amount acquisition unit, and the second power storage amount, which is the power storage amount of the second power storage device acquired by the power storage amount acquisition unit, are different, the charge control unit controls the charging device so that the charging modes of the first power storage device and the second power storage device are different.

[0004] In the control device described above, when the first stored power amount is smaller than the second stored power amount, the charge control unit may control the charging device so that a first timing, which is the charging start time of the first storage device, occurs before a second timing, which is the charging start time of the second storage device. At the second timing, (i) a value obtained by subtracting the first stored power amount from the second stored power amount or (ii) an absolute value of the difference between the first stored power amount and the second stored power amount may be equal to a predetermined first threshold or smaller than the first threshold. The second timing may be a timing after a third timing, which is the time when (i) a value obtained by subtracting the first stored power amount from the second stored power amount becomes smaller than the first threshold. The first threshold may be 0 or a positive number.

[0005] In the control device, the charge control unit may stop charging of the first power storage device at a third timing. The charge control unit may (i) resume charging of the first power storage device and (ii) start charging of the second power storage device at a second timing.

[0006] In the control device described above, when the first amount of stored power is smaller than the second amount of stored power, the charge control unit may control the charging device so that a first rate, which is a charging rate of the first power storage device, is greater than a second rate, which is a charging rate of the second power storage device. In the control device described above, the charge control unit may determine the first rate and the second rate so that the length of the period between the time when the first amount of stored power reaches a predetermined first target value and the time when the second amount of stored power reaches the first target value is equal to or smaller than a predetermined second threshold value.

[0007] In the above control device, when the first stored power amount is smaller than the second stored power amount, the charging control unit may control the charging device so that the time when the first stored power amount reaches a predetermined second target value is later than the time when the second stored power amount reaches the second target value. In the above control device, the charging control unit may stop charging the second power storage device at a fourth timing which is the time when the absolute value of the difference between the second stored power amount and the second target value becomes equal to or smaller than a predetermined third threshold value. In the above control device, the charging control unit may resume charging the second power storage device at a fifth timing which is a time after the fourth timing and when the absolute value of the difference between the first stored power amount and the second target value becomes equal to or smaller than a predetermined fourth threshold value or smaller than the fourth threshold value.

[0008] In the above control device, when the second stored power amount is larger than the first stored power amount, the charging control unit may control the charging device so that the second stored power amount reaches a predetermined third target value before the first stored power amount reaches the predetermined third target value. In the above control device, the stored power amount may be at least one of (i) the amount of power [Wh] that can be discharged, (ii) the amount of charge or the remaining capacity [Ah], (iii) the charging rate or the state of charge (SOC) [%], (iv) the terminal voltage [V], and (iv) the potential with respect to the reference potential [V].

[0009] In the above control device, the charging mode may be determined by a setting related to at least one of the charging period and the charging speed. In the above control device, the setting related to the charging period may include matters related to at least one of the start period of the charging period, the end period of the charging period, and the length of the charging period. In the above control device, each of the first power storage device and the second power storage device may be configured to be detachable from a power device that operates by consuming the power supplied from each of the first power storage device and the second power storage device.

[0010] In the above control device, the charging device may include a temperature adjustment unit that adjusts the temperature of at least one of the first power storage device and the second power storage device. The above control device may include a temperature control unit that controls the temperature adjustment unit. In the above control device, when the first power storage amount and the second power storage amount acquired by the power storage amount acquisition unit are different, the temperature control unit may control the temperature adjustment unit so that the temperature adjustment modes of the first power storage device and the second power storage device are different.

[0011] The above control device may include a temperature acquisition unit that acquires information regarding the temperatures of the first power storage device and the second power storage device respectively. In the above control device, at the sixth timing when the first power storage amount and the second power storage amount are substantially the same, the temperature control unit may control the temperature adjustment unit so that a first temperature, which is the temperature of the first power storage device acquired by the temperature acquisition unit, and a second temperature, which is the temperature of the second power storage device acquired by the temperature acquisition unit, are substantially the same.

[0012] In the above control device, the control start timing and / or the control end timing of the charging device by the charge control unit and the control start timing and / or the control end timing of the temperature adjustment unit by the temperature control unit may be different. In the above control device, the temperature control unit may control the temperature adjustment unit so that the control start timing of the temperature adjustment unit is earlier than the control start timing of the charging device. In the above control device, the charge control unit may control the charging device so that the control start timing of the charging device is later than the control start timing of the temperature adjustment unit.

[0013] In the above control device, the charging device may include a temperature adjustment unit that adjusts the temperature of at least one of the first power storage device and the second power storage device. The above control device may include a temperature acquisition unit that acquires information regarding the temperatures of the first power storage device and the second power storage device respectively, and a temperature control unit that controls the temperature adjustment unit. In the above control device, when a first temperature, which is the temperature of the first power storage device acquired by the temperature acquisition unit, and a second temperature, which is the temperature of the second power storage device acquired by the temperature acquisition unit, are different, the temperature control unit may control the temperature adjustment unit so that the temperature adjustment modes of the first power storage device and the second power storage device are different.

[0014] In a second aspect of the present invention, a charging device is provided. The charging device described above includes, for example, the control device according to the first aspect described above. The charging device described above includes, for example, one or more charging units for charging the first power storage device and the second power storage device.

[0015] In a third aspect of the present invention, a control method is provided. The control method described above is used, for example, to control a charging device configured to be able to charge a plurality of power storage devices including a first power storage device and a second power storage device. The control method described above includes, for example, a power storage amount acquisition step of acquiring information regarding the power storage amount of each of the first power storage device and the second power storage device. The control method described above includes, for example, a charging control step of controlling the charging device to charge the first power storage device and the second power storage device. In the control method described above, for example, the charging control step includes a step of controlling the charging device such that the charging modes of the first power storage device and the second power storage device are different when a first power storage amount, which is the power storage amount of the first power storage device acquired in the power storage amount acquisition step, and a second power storage amount, which is the power storage amount of the second power storage device acquired in the power storage amount acquisition step, are different. Each step of the control method described above is executed, for example, by a computer.

[0016] A fourth aspect of the present invention provides a temperature adjustment method. The temperature adjustment method is, for example, a temperature adjustment method for a charging device equipped with a temperature adjustment device. In the temperature adjustment method, the charging device is configured to be able to charge a plurality of power storage devices including, for example, a first power storage device and a second power storage device. In the temperature adjustment method, the temperature adjustment device adjusts the temperature of at least one of the first power storage device and the second power storage device. The temperature adjustment method, for example, includes a stored power amount acquisition step of acquiring information on the stored power amounts of the first power storage device and the second power storage device. The temperature adjustment method, for example, includes a control step of controlling a temperature adjustment unit so that the temperature adjustment mode of the first power storage device and the temperature adjustment mode of the second power storage device differ when a first stored power amount, which is the stored power amount of the first power storage device acquired in the stored power amount acquisition step, is different from a second stored power amount, which is the stored power amount of the second power storage device acquired in the stored power amount acquisition step. Each step of the temperature adjustment method is executed, for example, by a computer.

[0017] A fifth aspect of the present invention provides a temperature adjustment method. The temperature adjustment method is, for example, a temperature adjustment method for a charging device equipped with a temperature adjustment device. In the temperature adjustment method, the charging device is configured to be able to charge a plurality of power storage devices including, for example, a first power storage device and a second power storage device. In the temperature adjustment method, the temperature adjustment device adjusts the temperature of at least one of the first power storage device and the second power storage device. The temperature adjustment method, for example, includes a temperature acquisition step of acquiring information on the temperatures of the first power storage device and the second power storage device. The temperature adjustment method, for example, includes a control step of controlling a temperature adjustment unit so that the temperature adjustment mode of the first power storage device and the temperature adjustment mode of the second power storage device differ when a first temperature, which is the temperature of the first power storage device acquired in the temperature acquisition step, is different from a second temperature, which is the temperature of the second power storage device acquired in the temperature acquisition step. Each step of the temperature adjustment method is executed, for example, by a computer.

[0018] In a sixth aspect of the present invention, a program is provided. A computer-readable medium storing the program may be provided. The computer-readable medium may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium or a computer-readable recording medium. The program may be a program for causing a computer to function as the control device according to the first aspect. When executed by a computer, the program may cause the computer to function as the control device according to the first aspect. The program may be a program for causing a computer to execute a method according to the third, fourth, or fifth aspect. When executed by a computer, the program may cause the computer to execute a method according to the third, fourth, or fifth aspect.

[0019] The above summary of the invention does not list all of the necessary features of the present invention, and subcombinations of these features may also constitute inventions. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0020] [Figure 1] 1 shows an example of a system configuration of a battery management system 100. [Figure 2] 10 shows an example of a charging procedure for the battery 20 and the relationship between the voltage and the temperature. [Figure 3] 1 shows an example of a system configuration of a management server 120. [Figure 4] 1 shows an example of a system configuration of a battery station 140. [Figure 5] 1 illustrates a first example of the operation of a battery station 140. [Figure 6] 10 shows an example of a voltage fluctuation immediately after the start of charging. [Figure 7] 10 illustrates a second embodiment of the operation of the battery station 140. [Figure 8] 10 illustrates a second embodiment of the operation of the battery station 140. [Figure 9] Schematically shows a third embodiment of the operation of the battery station 140. [Figure 10] Schematically shows a fourth embodiment of the operation of the battery station 140. [Figure 11] Schematically shows a fourth embodiment of the operation of the battery station 140. [Figure 12] Schematically shows a fifth embodiment of the operation of the battery station 140. [Figure 13] Schematically shows a fifth embodiment of the operation of the battery station 140. [Figure 14] Schematically shows an example of the internal configuration of the battery station 140. [Figure 15] Schematically shows an example of the internal configuration of the input / output unit 1440. [Figure 16] Schematically shows an example of the temperature variation of the battery 20 in another example of the charging procedure of the battery 20. [Figure 17] Schematically shows an example of the control of the slot 420 that houses the battery 24. [Figure 18] Schematically shows an example of the control of the slot 420 that houses the battery 22. [Figure 19] Schematically shows an example of the operation of the battery station 140 in another example of the charging procedure of the battery 20. [Figure 20] Schematically shows an example of the system configuration of the computer 3000.

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0021] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention. However, the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. Also, not all combinations of features described in the embodiments are essential for the solution means of the invention. In the drawings, the same or similar parts may be given the same reference numerals, and redundant explanations may be omitted.

[0022] [Overview of the Battery Management System 100] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, an overview of the battery management system 100 will be described. FIG. 1 schematically shows an example of the system configuration of the battery management system 100. FIG. 2 schematically shows an example of the relationship between the battery charging procedure and the voltage and temperature of the battery.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 1, in the present embodiment, the battery management system 100 includes a management server 120 and a battery station 140. In the present embodiment, the battery station 140 holds one or more (which may be referred to as one or more) batteries 20. The battery station 140 may hold a plurality of batteries 20 including the battery 22 and the battery 24. The battery management system 100 may include one or more battery stations 140.

[0024] In the present embodiment, the management server 120 and the battery station 140 can transmit and receive information to and from each other via the communication network 10. In the present embodiment, the management server 120 can transmit and receive information to and from the communication terminal 32 of the user 30 via the communication network 10.

[0025] In the present embodiment, the details of the battery management system 100 will be described by taking as an example the case where the battery management system 100 provides one or more batteries 20 to the user 30. The battery management system 100 may provide one or more batteries 20 to each of one or more users 30.

[0026] For example, the user 30 uses the communication terminal 32 to request the battery management system 100 to lend out the battery 20 held in a specific battery station 140. The battery management system 100 executes a process for lending out the battery 20 to the user 30 in response to the above lending request. In the present embodiment, the user 30 uses the battery 20 lent out from the battery management system 100 as the power source of the electric bike 34.

[0027] The battery management system 100 may lend out a plurality of batteries 20 as a set. When a plurality of batteries 20 lent out from the battery management system 100 are used as the power source of the electric bike 34, at least two of the plurality of batteries 20 may be connected in parallel. In this case, by sufficiently matching the voltages of at least two batteries 20 connected in parallel, damage or excessive deterioration of the battery 20 can be suppressed.

[0028] In this embodiment, the battery management system 100 manages the use of each of one or more batteries 20. For example, the battery management system 100 manages the lending status (e.g., available for lending, not available for lending, on loan, etc.), operation status (e.g., charging, discharging, standby, etc.), charging status (e.g., current SOC), storage status (e.g., temperature, humidity, etc.), deterioration status, etc. of each of one or more batteries 20.

[0029] Note that the provision form of the battery 20 is not limited to lending. As long as the battery 20 is provided to the user 30, the provision form of the battery 20 is not particularly limited.

[0030] In this embodiment, the charge rate is defined with the fully charged state as 100% and the fully discharged state as 0%. The charge rate may be referred to as the State Of Charge (SOC). The SOC of the battery 20 is calculated, for example, by multiplying the value obtained by dividing the remaining capacity [Ah] of the battery 20 by the fully charged capacity [Ah] of the battery 20 by 100. The SOC of the battery 20 is calculated using various estimation methods based on, for example, physical quantities measurable from the outside of the battery 20. Examples of physical quantities measurable from the outside of the battery 20 include current, voltage, temperature, etc. The SOC of the battery 20 is estimated based on, for example, the measurement result of the voltage of the battery 20.

[0031] In this embodiment, the battery management system 100 manages the temperature of each of one or more batteries 20. For example, the battery management system 100 manages the temperature of at least one set of batteries 20 so that the absolute value of the temperature difference between the plurality of batteries 20 rented out as one set of batteries 20 is smaller than a predetermined value.

[0032] It is known that the charge / discharge characteristics of the battery 20 are affected by the battery temperature. When the battery 20 is charged, the temperature of the battery 20 rises according to the amount of charge of the battery 20. Therefore, for example, when a charging device charges multiple batteries 20 with different charge rates, the temperatures of the multiple batteries 20 after charging vary. As a result, the charge / discharge characteristics of the battery 20 may vary depending on the timing at which the battery 20 is released from the charging device.

[0033] Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the battery management system 100 manages the temperatures of the rentable batteries 20 held in the battery station 140 so that the temperatures of the rentable batteries 20 satisfy predetermined conditions. Examples of the predetermined conditions include (i) a condition that the temperature of each of the rentable batteries 20 is within a predetermined temperature range, and (ii) a condition that the absolute value of the difference in temperature between at least two batteries 20 among the multiple batteries 20 rented as one set of batteries 20 is smaller than a predetermined value.

[0034] As described above, when multiple batteries 20 rented from the battery management system 100 are used as power sources for electric motorcycles 34, there are cases where at least two of the multiple batteries 20 are connected in parallel. In particular, in such cases, if the temperatures of the multiple batteries 20 stored in the battery station 140 are different, it is difficult to align the charge / discharge characteristics of each battery or to sufficiently match the voltages of the batteries 20 when these batteries 20 are dispensed as a set of batteries 20.

[0035] Therefore, in the present embodiment, the battery management system 100 manages the temperatures of a plurality of batteries 20 that can be lent out and are held in the battery station 140. The battery management system 100 may manage the temperatures of a set of the batteries 20 such that the absolute value of the temperature difference between the plurality of batteries 20 lent out as at least one set of the batteries 20 becomes smaller than a predetermined value.

[0036] [Overview of Each Part of Battery Management System 100] In the present embodiment, the communication network 10 may be a transmission path for wired communication, a transmission path for wireless communication, or a combination of a transmission path for wireless communication and a transmission path for wired communication. The communication network 10 may include a wireless packet communication network, the Internet, a P2P network, a dedicated line, a VPN, a power line communication line, a vehicle-to-vehicle communication line, a road-to-vehicle communication line, and the like. The communication network 10 may include (i) a mobile communication network such as a mobile phone line network, and (ii) a wireless communication network such as a wireless MAN (for example, WiMAX (registered trademark)), a wireless LAN (for example, WiFi (registered trademark)), Bluetooth (registered trademark), Zigbee (registered trademark), NFC (Near Field Communication).

[0037] In the present embodiment, the battery 20 supplies power to the electric bike 34. The battery 20 may be mounted on the electric bike 34. The battery 20 may be detachably mounted on the electric bike 34. The battery 20 may be a replaceable power storage device. The battery 20 may be a portable power storage device.

[0038] As described above, in the present embodiment, a plurality of batteries 20 are mounted on the electric motorcycle 34. Among the plurality of batteries 20 described above, at least two batteries 20 may be connected in parallel to supply power to the electric motorcycle 34. Among the plurality of batteries 20 described above, at least two batteries 20 may be connected in series to supply power to the electric motorcycle 34. Further, a battery pack composed of a plurality of batteries 20 connected in series may be connected in parallel with another such battery pack.

[0039] In the present embodiment, the battery 20 is charged by the battery station 140. For example, when the batteries 22 and 24 are mounted on the electric motorcycle 34, the replacement of the batteries 22 and 24 and the other two batteries 20 being charged at the battery station 140 is executed according to the following procedure. For example, in the electric motorcycle 34, the batteries 22 and 24 are connected in series.

[0040] According to one embodiment, when the remaining capacity of the battery 20 mounted on the electric motorcycle 34 decreases, the user 30 requests the battery management system 100 to lend the battery 20 held at a specific battery station 140. When the user 30 arrives at the battery station 140 described above, the user 30 removes the batteries 22 and 24 from the electric motorcycle 34. The user 30 returns the batteries 22 and 24 removed from the electric motorcycle 34 to the battery return space provided at the battery station 140. For example, at this time, the connector of the returned battery 20 and the connector of the battery station 140 are electrically connected. The battery station 140 charges the battery 20 at an appropriate time in preparation for the next use of the battery 20. The battery return space may be an empty battery storage chamber (which may be referred to as an empty battery storage chamber) among the plurality of battery storage chambers provided at the battery station 140 that does not contain the battery 20.

[0041] Next, the battery station 140 executes a process for lending two of the batteries 20 that are fully charged and available for lending to the user 30. Specifically, it unlocks the lock of the battery storage chamber that houses the two batteries 20. As a result, the user 30 can take out the battery 20 from the battery storage chamber. The user 30 takes out the two batteries 20 from the battery station 140 and mounts them on the electric bike 34. Thereby, the replacement of the battery 22 and the battery 24 is completed.

[0042] According to another embodiment, when the remaining capacity of the battery 20 mounted on the electric bike 34 decreases, the user 30 moves the electric bike 34 toward the nearby battery station 140. When the user 30 arrives at the battery station 140, the user 30 requests the lending of the battery 20 held in the battery station 140 by using the user interface of the battery station 140. Next, the user 30 removes the battery 20 from the electric bike 34. The user 30 returns the battery 20 removed from the electric bike 34 to the battery return space provided in the battery station 140. Thereafter, the user 30 takes out the two batteries 20 from the battery station 140 and mounts them on the electric bike 34. Thereby, the replacement of the battery 22 and the battery 24 is completed.

[0043] In this embodiment, an example of the battery station 140 has been described by taking as an example the case where the battery station 140 is configured such that after the user 30 returns the battery 22 and the battery 24 to the battery station 140, the user 30 can take out two other batteries 20 from the battery station 140. However, the battery station 140 is not limited to this embodiment. In other embodiments, the battery station 140 may be configured such that the user 30 can take out two other batteries 20 from the battery station 140 before the user 30 returns the battery 22 and the battery 24 to the battery station 140.

[0044] In the present embodiment, an example of the electric motorcycle 34 has been described by taking the case where the batteries 22 and 24 are connected in series in the electric motorcycle 34 as an example. However, the electric motorcycle 34 is not limited to the present embodiment. In other embodiments, in the electric motorcycle 34, the batteries 22 and 24 are connected in parallel. In still other embodiments, the electric motorcycle 34 may be equipped with three or more batteries 20. The three or more batteries 20 described above may be connected in series or in parallel. Also, a battery pack composed of a plurality of batteries 20 connected in series may be connected in parallel with other such battery packs.

[0045] In the present embodiment, the communication terminal 32 is used by the user 30. The communication terminal 32 functions as an interface, for example, between the battery management system 100 and the user 30.

[0046] In one embodiment, the communication terminal 32 receives an input from the user 30. Based on the input from the user 30, the communication terminal 32 transmits various requests to the management server 120. Examples of the above requests include a search request for searching for a battery station 140 that meets specific conditions, a reservation request for reserving an arbitrary or specific battery 20 stored in a specific battery station 140, and the like.

[0047] In other embodiments, the communication terminal 32 outputs information to the user 30. For example, the communication terminal 32 outputs the information received from the management server 120 to the user 30. The output mode of the information is not particularly limited. The communication terminal 32 may output an image or may output voice.

[0048] The communication terminal 32 may be any device capable of transmitting and receiving information with each part of the battery management system 100 (for example, the management server 120.) via the communication network 10, and its details are not particularly limited. Examples of the communication terminal 32 include a personal computer, a mobile terminal, etc. Examples of the mobile terminal include a mobile phone, a smartphone, a PDA, a tablet, a notebook computer or a laptop computer, a wearable computer, etc.

[0049] In this embodiment, the electric bike 34 operates by consuming the power supplied from the battery 20. More specifically, the electric bike 34 moves using the power supplied from the battery 20. When the battery 20 has a storage device, the electric bike 34 may store at least one of the running history and the operation history of the electric bike 34 in the above storage device.

[0050] One or more batteries 20 are configured to be detachable from the electric bike 34. A plurality of batteries 20 may be configured to be detachable from the electric bike 34. When a plurality of batteries 20 are attached to the electric bike 34, at least two batteries 20 may be connected in parallel and configured to supply power to the electric bike 34.

[0051] In this embodiment, the management server 120 manages the use of each of the one or more batteries 20. For example, the battery management system 100 manages the lending status (for example, available for lending, not available for lending, on loan, etc.), the operation status (for example, charging, discharging, standby, etc.), the charging status (for example, the current SOC), the storage status (for example, temperature, humidity, etc.), the deterioration status, etc. of each of the one or more batteries 20.

[0052] In this embodiment, the management server 120 may manage the reservation of each of the one or more batteries 20. The management server 120 may transmit information regarding the reservation of the battery 20 related to the battery station to each of the one or more battery stations 140.

[0053] In this embodiment, when the battery station 140 provides the number of batteries 20 reserved by the user 30 to the user 30, the management server 120 may determine a judgment criterion (sometimes referred to as a policy) for determining which battery 20 is to be preferentially provided from among the multiple batteries 20 held in the battery station 140. The management server 120 may transmit information regarding the above policy to each of the one or more battery stations 140.

[0054] An example of the policy is one in which, when multiple batteries 20 are rented out as a set of batteries 20, the temperature difference between at least n batteries 20 among the multiple batteries 20 is within a predetermined numerical range. n may be an integer equal to or greater than 2. The value of n may be specified by the user 30 at the time of reservation, or may be determined based on the type of electric motorcycle 34 used by the user 30.

[0055] In this embodiment, the battery station 140 holds one or more batteries 20. The battery station 140 charges each of the one or more batteries 20. The battery station 140 may be configured to be able to charge multiple batteries 20, including the battery 22 and the battery 24.

[0056] For example, the battery station 140 obtains information regarding the reservation of the battery 20 from the management server 120. The battery station 140 may obtain information regarding the above policy from the management server 120. In accordance with the above policy, the battery station 140 may determine, as the batteries 20 to be lent, from among the multiple batteries 20 held by the battery station, the number of batteries 20 that matches the number reserved by the user 30. The battery station 140 may charge the batteries 20 determined to be lent, as necessary.

[0057] In this embodiment, the battery station 140 may manage the temperature of each of the one or more batteries 20. The battery station 140 may manage the temperature of at least two of the batteries 20 among all the batteries 20 held by the battery station 140. For example, the battery station 140 manages the temperature of at least two batteries 20 by controlling the charging mode of each of the at least two batteries 20 that are the objects of temperature management.

[0058] In this embodiment, the battery station 140 executes a lending process of the battery 20 in response to a request from the user 30. For example, an authentication process of the user 30, a confirmation process of reservation details, a dispensing process of the battery 20, etc. are executed. Details of the battery station 140 will be described later.

[0059] [First Example of the Charging Operation of the Battery Station 140] Next, with reference to FIG. 2, taking as an example the case where the battery station 140 lends out the batteries 22 and 24 having substantially the same battery capacity as a set of batteries 20, the charging procedure in the battery station 140 will be described. Also, the temperature changes of the batteries 22 and 24 accompanying charging will be described.

[0060] FIG. 2 shows the voltage fluctuations 220 of each battery and the temperature fluctuations 240 of each battery. Note that in FIG. 2, it should be noted that due to limitations in the graphical representation, line segments that actually overlap may be shown separated.

[0061] In FIG. 2, the dotted line 222 indicates the voltage fluctuation of the battery 22 in this embodiment. The solid line 224 indicates the voltage fluctuation of the battery 24 in this embodiment. Also, the dashed-dotted line 226 indicates the voltage fluctuation when the battery 24 is charged in a charging mode different from this embodiment.

[0062] Similarly, in FIG. 2, the dotted line 242 indicates the temperature variation of the battery 22 in this embodiment. The solid line 244 indicates the temperature variation of the battery 24 in this embodiment. Also, the dashed-dotted line 246 indicates the temperature variation when the battery 24 is charged in a charging mode different from this embodiment.

[0063] [Voltage Variation During Charging] As shown in FIG. 2, at a time before time t0, no charging power is supplied from the battery station 140 to the battery 22 and the battery 24. According to this embodiment, at time t0, the open circuit voltage (OCV) of the battery 22 is V AO [V]. Also, the OCV of the battery 24 is V BO [V], and the closed circuit voltage (CCV) of the battery 24 is V BC [V].

[0064] As indicated by the dotted line 222, at time t0, the charging of the battery 22 starts. Thereafter, the battery 22 is charged at a substantially constant charging rate. As the charging of the battery 22 progresses, the CCV of the battery 22 increases, and at time t1, the CCV of the battery 22 reaches V BC [V]. As shown by the solid line 224, at time t1, when the CCV of the battery 22 reaches V BC [V], the charging of the battery 24 starts.

[0065] After the charging of the battery 24 starts at time t1, the battery 22 and the battery 24 are charged at a substantially constant charging rate. The charging rates of the battery 22 and the battery 24 may be substantially the same. In this embodiment, since the battery capacities of the battery 22 and the battery 24 are substantially the same, while the battery 22 and the battery 24 are charged at substantially the same charging rate, the CCVs of the battery 22 and the battery 24 are substantially the same.

[0066] In the present embodiment, at least until the CCV or OCV of battery 22 and battery 24 reaches the target voltage Vt [V] at time t2, battery 22 and battery 24 are charged at substantially the same charging rate. The target voltage Vt may be a voltage set by, for example, an administrator or operator of the battery management system 100 as a lower limit value when battery 20 is lent out from the battery station 140. Thereby, at time t2, both battery 22 and battery 24 are in a lendable state.

[0067] Thereafter, at time t3, until the CCV or OCV of battery 22 and battery 24 reaches the full charge voltage Vf [V], battery 22 and battery 24 are charged at a substantially constant charging rate. The charging rates of battery 22 and battery 24 may be substantially the same. The full charge voltage Vf may be a voltage set by, for example, an administrator or operator of the battery management system 100 as an upper limit value of the chargeable voltage of battery 20. When the CCV or OCV of battery 22 and battery 24 reaches the full charge voltage Vf [V] at time t3, the charging of battery 22 and battery 24 is completed. Thereby, at time t3, both battery 22 and battery 24 are in a fully charged state.

[0068] [Temperature Variation During Charging] As shown in FIG. 2, at a time before time t0, the temperatures of battery 22 and battery 24 are Taa [°C]. Taa may be the temperature of the ambient environment of battery 22 and battery 24.

[0069] As indicated by the dotted line 242, when the charging of the battery 22 starts at time t0, the temperature of the battery 22 gradually rises. The rate of increase in the temperature of the battery 22 is a value corresponding to the charging rate of the battery 22. In the present embodiment, the battery 22 is charged at a substantially constant charging rate from time t0 to time t3. Therefore, the temperature of the battery 22 rises at a substantially constant rate from time t0 to time t3. As a result, at time t3, the temperature of the battery 22 becomes Taf [°C]. After the charging of the battery 22 is completed at time t3, the temperature of the battery 22 gradually drops. And at time t4 when an arbitrary time has elapsed from t3, the temperature of the battery 22 becomes Tae [°C].

[0070] As indicated by the solid line 244, until the charging of the battery 24 starts at time t1, the temperature of the battery 24 is Taa [°C]. When the charging of the battery 24 starts at time t1, the temperature of the battery 24 gradually rises. In the present embodiment, the battery 24 is charged at a substantially constant charging rate from time t1 to time t3.

[0071] Thereby, the temperature of the battery 24 rises at a substantially constant rate from time t1 to time t3. As a result, at time t3, the temperature of the battery 24 becomes Tad [°C]. After the charging of the battery 24 is completed at time t3, the temperature of the battery 24 gradually drops. And at time t4, the temperature of the battery 24 becomes Tac [°C].

[0072] In the present embodiment, the length of the charging period of the battery 24 is shorter than the length of the charging period of the battery 22. Also, the amount of electric power supplied from the battery station 140 to the battery 24 during the charging period is smaller than the amount of electric power supplied from the battery station 140 to the battery 22 during the charging period. Therefore, the peak temperature Tad of the battery 24 during the charging period is lower than the peak temperature Taf of the battery 22. Also, at time t4, the temperature Tac of the battery 24 is lower than the temperature Tae of the battery 22.

[0073] As described above, in this embodiment, an example of the charging operation of the battery station 140 has been described by taking as an example the case where the charging of the battery 22 and the battery 24 is controlled so that the charging start time of the battery 22 is earlier than the charging start time of the battery 24. On the other hand, as indicated by the dashed-dotted line 226 in FIG. 2, it is also conceivable to start charging both the battery 22 and the battery 24 at the time t0.

[0074] As indicated by the dashed-dotted line 226, the charging of the battery 22 and the battery 24 is started at the time t0, and then they are charged at a substantially constant charging rate. The charging rates of the battery 22 and the battery 24 may be substantially the same. Thereafter, for example, at an arbitrary point in time between the time t0 and the time t2, the CCV or OCV of the battery 24 reaches the full charge voltage Vf [V], and the charging of the battery 24 is completed.

[0075] In this case, as indicated by the dashed-dotted line 246, when the charging of the battery 24 is started at the time t0, the temperature of the battery 24 gradually rises. In this embodiment, the battery 24 is charged at a substantially constant charging rate during the charging period. Therefore, the temperature of the battery 24 rises at a substantially constant rate during the charging period. As a result, when the charging of the battery 24 is completed during the period between the time t0 and the time t2, the temperature of the battery 24 becomes Tad [° C]. Thereafter, the temperature of the battery 24 gradually drops. At the time t4, the temperature of the battery 24 becomes Tab [° C]. Note that as a result of reflecting the length of the heat dissipation time, at the time t4, the temperature Tab of the battery 24 indicated by the dashed-dotted line 246 is lower than the temperature Tac of the battery 24 indicated by the solid line 244.

[0076] As described in connection with FIG. 2, according to this embodiment, when the power storage amounts of the battery 22 and the battery 24 are different, the battery station 140 is controlled so that the charging modes of the battery 22 and the battery 24 are different. Thereby, according to this embodiment, for example, compared with the example indicated by the dashed-dotted line 226 described in connection with FIG. 2, the temperature difference between the battery 22 and the battery 24 becomes smaller.

[0077] Therefore, for example, even if the batteries 22 and 24 are rented out at approximately the same time, the temperature difference between the batteries 22 and 24 at the time of rental can be controlled within a predetermined numerical range. The above numerical range may have only an upper limit set, or may have both an upper limit and a lower limit set.

[0078] In this embodiment, the amount of stored power of a battery is one type of state quantity of the battery, and indicates, for example, the state of electrical energy stored in the battery (sometimes referred to as the battery's state of charge). For example, in this embodiment, the amount of stored power of the battery is represented by the charging rate or state of charge (SOC) [%] estimated based on the voltage measurement result of the battery.

[0079] In other embodiments, quantities indicating the state of charge of a battery may include (i) the amount of dischargeable energy [Wh], the amount of charge [Ah], and the remaining capacity [Ah]. In still other embodiments, (i) the charge rate or state of charge (SOC), and (ii) physical quantities used to estimate at least one of the amount of dischargeable energy [Wh], the amount of charge [Ah], and the remaining capacity [Ah] may be used as information regarding the amount of charge stored in the battery. Examples of the physical quantities include (i) terminal voltage [V] and (ii) potential relative to a reference potential [V]. The potential relative to the reference potential may be the potential of the positive terminal relative to the reference potential. The reference potential is not particularly limited. For example, if the reference potential is a negative electrode potential, the potential of the positive terminal relative to the reference potential is equal to the terminal voltage.

[0080] In this embodiment, the charging mode of a battery may be a charging profile of the battery. For example, the charging mode of a battery is determined by settings related to at least one of the charging period and charging rate of the battery. Examples of settings related to the charging period include at least one of the start of the charging period, the end of the charging period, and the length of the charging period. Examples of settings related to the charging rate include the charging rate for each of one or more periods included in the charging period.

[0081] More specifically, when the power storage amount of battery 22 is smaller than that of battery 24, at least one of the charging periods and charging speeds of battery 22 and battery 24 is set so that the absolute value of the difference between the time when battery 22 reaches the target voltage Vt and the time when battery 24 reaches the target voltage Vt is equal to or smaller than a predetermined threshold value (that is, the absolute value becomes any value below the threshold value). The method for setting the charging period and charging speed is not particularly limited.

[0082] According to one embodiment, the charging periods of battery 22 and battery 24 are set so that the start time of charging of battery 24 is later than the start time of charging of battery 22. In this case, (i) the charging speed of battery 22 may be smaller than the charging speed of battery 24, (ii) the charging speed of battery 22 may be substantially the same as the charging speed of battery 24, or (iii) the charging speed of battery 22 may be larger than the charging speed of battery 24.

[0083] According to another embodiment, the charging speeds of battery 22 and battery 24 are set so that the charging speed of battery 24 is smaller than the charging speed of battery 22 during at least a part of the charging period. In this case, (i) the start time of charging of battery 24 may be set to be earlier than the start time of charging of battery 22, (ii) the start time of charging of battery 24 may be set to be later than the start time of charging of battery 22, or (iii) the start time of charging of battery 24 may be set to be substantially the same as the start time of charging of battery 22.

[0084] The battery 20 may be an example of a power storage device. The battery 22 may be an example of a first power storage device. The battery 24 may be an example of a second power storage device. The amount of power stored in the battery 22 may be an example of a first amount of power stored. The amount of power stored in the battery 24 may be an example of a second amount of power stored. The electric motorcycle 34 may be an example of a power device. The battery management system 100 may be an example of a control device or a charging device. The battery station 140 may be an example of a control device or a charging device.

[0085] Time t0 may be an example of a first timing, and time t1 may be an example of a second timing.

[0086] In this embodiment, the battery management system 100 has been described in detail using the example in which the battery 20 is used as a power source for the electric motorcycle 34. However, the use of the battery 20 is not limited to this embodiment. In other embodiments, the battery 20 may be used as a power source for various types of power devices. The type or structure of the power device is not particularly limited as long as it is a device that operates by consuming power supplied from the battery 20. Other examples of power devices include a mobile object powered by an electric motor and a stationary power storage device.

[0087] In this embodiment, the battery management system 100 has been described in detail using the electric motorcycle 34 as an example of a moving object. However, the moving object is not limited to the electric motorcycle 34.

[0088] In other embodiments, the mobile object may be a vehicle such as an automobile, a motorcycle, or a stand-up vehicle having a power unit. Examples of automobiles include gasoline-powered vehicles, diesel-powered vehicles, electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles, hybrid vehicles, small commuter vehicles, and electric carts. Examples of motorcycles include motorbikes, three-wheeled motorcycles, and electric bicycles.

[0089] In still other embodiments, the moving body may be a ship, an aircraft, or the like. Examples of ships include boats, hovercrafts, water bikes, submarines, submersibles, underwater scooters, and the like. Examples of aircraft include airplanes, airships or balloons, balloons, helicopters, drones, and the like.

[0090] In this embodiment, the details of the battery management system 100 have been described by taking as an example the case where the management server 120 manages one or more batteries 20 and one or more battery stations 140. However, the battery management system 100 is not limited to this embodiment. In other embodiments, at least one of the one or more battery stations 140 may have at least a part of the functions of the management server 120 described above. For example, at least one of the one or more battery stations 140 manages one or more batteries 20. At least one of the one or more battery stations 140 may manage other battery stations 140. In this case, the battery management system 100 may or may not include the management server 120.

[0091] In this embodiment, the details of the battery management system 100 have been described by taking as an example the case where the battery station 140 determines a battery 20 to be lent out from among a plurality of batteries 20 held by the battery station. However, the battery management system 100 is not limited to this embodiment. In other embodiments, the management server 120 may determine a battery 20 to be lent out from among a plurality of batteries 20 held by the battery station 140.

[0092] [Specific Configuration of Each Part of Battery Management System 100] Each part of the battery management system 100 may be implemented by hardware, may be implemented by software, or may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software. When at least a part of the components of the battery management system 100 is implemented by software, the components implemented by the software may be realized by starting a program that defines the operations related to the components in a general-configured information processing device.

[0093] The program may be stored in a computer-readable medium such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, memory, hard disk, etc., or may be stored in a storage device connected to a network. The program may be installed from a computer-readable medium or a storage device connected to a network into a computer that constitutes at least a part of the battery management system 100. When the program is executed, the computer may function as at least a part of each part of the battery management system 100.

[0094] The program that causes the computer to function as at least a part of each part of the battery management system 100 may include modules that define the operations of each part of the battery management system 100. These programs or modules act on a data processing device, an input device, an output device, a storage device, etc., to cause the computer to function as each part of the battery management system 100 or to cause the computer to execute the information processing method in each part of the battery management system 100.

[0095] The information processing described in the program functions as a specific means in which the software related to the program and various hardware resources of the battery management system 100 cooperate when the program is read into the computer. Then, by realizing the calculation or processing of information according to the purpose of use of the computer in the present embodiment by the above specific means, the battery management system 100 corresponding to the purpose of use is constructed.

[0096] The information processing method in each part of the battery management system 100 may be a control method for controlling a charging device configured to be able to charge a plurality of power storage devices including a first power storage device and a second power storage device. The above control method has, for example, a power storage amount acquisition stage of acquiring information regarding the power storage amount of each of the first power storage device and the second power storage device. The above control method has, for example, a charging control stage of controlling the charging device to charge the first power storage device and the second power storage device. In the above control method, the charging control stage may include a stage of controlling the charging device so that the charging modes of the first power storage device and the second power storage device are different when the first power storage amount, which is the power storage amount of the first power storage device, and the second power storage amount, which is the power storage amount of the second power storage device, are different.

[0097] Next, the details of each part of the management server 120 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 schematically shows an example of the system configuration of the management server 120. FIG. 4 schematically shows an example of the system configuration of the battery station 140.

[0098] As shown in FIG. 3, in the present embodiment, the management server 120 includes, for example, a state monitoring unit 310, a battery management unit 320, a reservation management unit 330, and a storage unit 340. In the present embodiment, the storage unit 340 has, for example, a battery information storage unit 342, a station information storage unit 344, and a user information storage unit 346. Each part of the management server 120 may transmit and receive information to and from each other.

[0099] In this embodiment, the state monitoring unit 310 monitors each of the battery stations 140 to be managed. The state monitoring unit 310 acquires information regarding at least one of the operation state and the operation status of the battery station 140 from each of the battery stations 140 to be managed. For example, the state monitoring unit 310 acquires information indicating the operation rate of the battery station 140 from each of the battery stations 140 to be managed. The state monitoring unit 310 may acquire information indicating the presence or absence of an abnormality in the battery station 140 from each of the battery stations 140 to be managed. The state monitoring unit 310 may acquire information indicating the stop or planned stop of the battery station 140 from each of the battery stations 140 to be managed.

[0100] In this embodiment, the state monitoring unit 310 monitors each of the batteries 20 to be managed. For example, the state monitoring unit 310 acquires information regarding at least one of the operation status, the charge status, the storage status, and the deterioration status of the batteries 20 stored in the battery station 140 from each of the battery stations 140 to be managed.

[0101] The state monitoring unit 310 acquires, for example, information regarding the power storage amount of each of the one or more batteries 20 held by the battery station 140. The information regarding the power storage amount of each of the one or more batteries 20 may be information indicating the power storage amount of each of the one or more batteries 20. The above information indicating the power storage amount may be information indicating the SOC.

[0102] In this embodiment, the state monitoring unit 310 monitors the state of the user. For example, the state monitoring unit 310 acquires various types of information regarding the user from the communication terminal 32. The state monitoring unit 310 may acquire position information indicating the position of the communication terminal 32 from the communication terminal 32. The state monitoring unit 310 may acquire information indicating the movement history of the communication terminal 32 from the communication terminal 32. In this case, the movement history may be represented by the position indicated by the GPS signal and the time when the GPS signal was received. The state monitoring unit 310 may also acquire information regarding the movement history of the user stored in the memory of the battery 20 from each of the battery stations 140 to be managed.

[0103] In this embodiment, the battery management unit 320 manages one or more batteries 20. The battery management unit 320 manages, for example, at least one of the operation state, charge state, storage state, and deterioration state of the battery 20 to be managed.

[0104] The battery management unit 320 may manage the charging schedule of one or more batteries 20. The battery management unit 320 may manage the charging schedule of the battery 20 for each battery station 140. The battery management unit 320 may manage the charging schedule of the battery 20 based on at least one of a reservation request from the communication terminal 32 and a demand prediction of the battery 20. The charging schedule may be information in which information indicating time is associated with information indicating the number of batteries 20 that can be lent out after the charging is completed by the time. The charging schedule may also be information in which information indicating time is associated with information indicating the number of batteries 20 whose charging rate is greater than a predetermined value at the time.

[0105] In this embodiment, the reservation management unit 330 manages the reservation status of the battery 20 to be managed. For example, the reservation management unit 330 receives a reservation request from the communication terminal 32 and executes a reservation process. The reservation management unit 330 stores the execution result of the reservation process (which may be referred to as reservation information). The reservation information includes, for example, information regarding the user ID, desired lending date, desired lending time, station ID, battery ID, desired charging state, usage fee, payment method, and the like. The reservation information may include information indicating the time when the reservation request was received (which may be referred to as the reservation time) and information indicating the user's position at the reservation time.

[0106] In this embodiment, the storage unit 340 stores various types of information. The storage unit 340 may store the information generated or acquired by the state monitoring unit 310, the battery management unit 320, or the reservation management unit 330.

[0107] In this embodiment, the battery information storage unit 342 stores various types of information regarding each of the batteries 20 to be managed. For example, the battery information storage unit 342 stores information indicating the amount of power stored in each battery for each battery. The information indicating the amount of power stored in the above-mentioned battery may be the value of the SOC of the battery.

[0108] In this embodiment, the station information storage unit 344 stores various types of information regarding each of the battery stations 140 to be managed. For example, the station information storage unit 344 stores, for each battery station, the identification information of each of the one or more batteries 20 held by the battery station.

[0109] In this embodiment, the user information storage unit 346 stores various types of information regarding the user 30. For example, the user information storage unit 346 stores, for each user, information indicating the attributes of the user. More specifically, the user information storage unit 346 may store, for each user, information indicating the type of the electric bicycle 34 used by the user.

[0110] As shown in FIG. 4, in the present embodiment, the battery station 140 includes one or more charging units 420 and a control unit 440. In the present embodiment, each of the one or more charging units 420 has a battery storage chamber 422, a measuring device 424, and a charging circuit 426. In the present embodiment, the control unit 440 has a communication control unit 442, a charge / discharge control unit 444, a lending management unit 446, and a storage unit 448.

[0111] In the present embodiment, the charging unit 420 charges the battery 20. A single charging unit 420 may charge a single battery 20, or a single charging unit 420 may charge a plurality of batteries 20.

[0112] In the present embodiment, the battery storage chamber 422 stores the battery 20. In the present embodiment, the measuring device 424 measures various physical quantities related to the battery 20 stored in the battery storage chamber 422. The measuring device 424 may transmit information indicating the measurement result to the control unit 440. For example, the measuring device 424 measures the voltage of the battery 20 described above. The measuring device 424 may measure at least one of the charging current and the discharging current of the battery 20 described above. In the present embodiment, the charging circuit 426 supplies power to the battery 20 to charge the battery 20. The charging circuit 426 may charge the battery 20 according to an instruction from the control unit 440.

[0113] In the present embodiment, the control unit 440 controls the operation of the battery station 140. The control unit 440 may control the operation of the battery station 140 using the information acquired from the management server 120. The control unit 440 may control the operation of the battery station 140 based on an instruction from the management server 120. The control unit 440 may execute various information processing methods in the battery station 140.

[0114] The control unit 440 may control the lending operation of the battery 20 by the battery station 140. The control unit 440 may determine the battery 20 to be lent. The control unit 440 may control the charging operation of the battery 20 by the battery station 140. The control unit 440 may determine the battery 20 to be charged.

[0115] In the present embodiment, the communication control unit 442 controls the communication between the battery station 140 and an external device. Examples of the external device include at least one of the battery 20, the communication terminal 32, and the management server 120. The communication control unit 442 may be a communication interface. The communication control unit 442 may support one or more types of communication methods.

[0116] The communication control unit 442 may control the communication between one or more charging units 420 and the control unit 440. For example, the communication control unit 442 transmits information indicating the measurement result output by the measuring device 424 of the charging unit 420 to at least one of the charge and discharge control unit 444 and the lending management unit 446.

[0117] In the present embodiment, the charge and discharge control unit 444 controls the charge and discharge of the battery 20 by each of one or more charging units 420. For example, the charge and discharge control unit 444 controls the charging of the battery 20 by controlling the charging circuit 426. The charge and discharge control unit 444 may control the discharge of the battery 20 by controlling a discharge circuit (not shown). The charge and discharge control unit 444 controls, for example, the timing to start the charging or discharging of each of one or more batteries 20, the timing to end the charging or discharging, the charging speed, or the discharging speed.

[0118] For example, the charge / discharge control unit 444 acquires from the lending management unit 446 information (which may be referred to as schedule information) in which identification information, information indicating the charge completion time, and information indicating the stored power amount at the time of charge completion are associated with respect to each of one or more batteries 20 to be charged. The charge / discharge control unit 444 may acquire from the lending management unit 446 the identification information of the charging unit 420 in which each of one or more batteries 20 to be charged is housed.

[0119] Examples of the stored power amount at the time of charge completion include the target voltage Vt, the full charge voltage Vf, etc. As described above, the stored power amount at the time of charge completion may be the SOC corresponding to the target voltage Vt or the SOC corresponding to the full charge voltage Vf. Examples of one or more batteries 20 to be charged include (i) battery 22 and battery 24, (ii) a plurality of batteries 20 including battery 22 and battery 24, etc.

[0120] The charge / discharge control unit 444 may acquire from the communication control unit 442 information indicating the stored power amount measured by the measuring device 424 with respect to each of one or more batteries 20 to be charged. The charge / discharge control unit 444 may acquire the above information from the storage unit 448. Examples of one or more batteries 20 to be charged include (i) battery 22 and battery 24, (ii) a plurality of batteries 20 including battery 22 and battery 24, etc. For example, when the batteries to be charged are battery 22 and battery 24, the charge / discharge control unit 444 acquires (i) information indicating the open circuit voltage of battery 22 and battery 24, and (ii) information indicating the closed circuit voltage of battery 24.

[0121] The charge / discharge control unit 444 controls the charging of the batteries 22 and 24 based on the schedule information acquired from the lending management unit 446. For example, when the charging targets are the batteries 22 and 24, the charge / discharge control unit 444 controls the charging circuit 426 of the charging unit 420 in which the battery 22 is housed to charge the battery 22 in the charging unit 420. Further, the charge / discharge control unit 444 controls the charging circuit 426 of the charging unit 420 in which the battery 24 is housed to charge the battery 24 in the charging unit 420.

[0122] For example, when the charging targets are the batteries 22 and 24, and the power storage amounts of the battery 22 and the battery 24 are different, the charge / discharge control unit 444 controls the charging circuit 426 of the charging unit 420 in which the battery 22 is housed and the charging circuit 426 of the charging unit 420 in which the battery 24 is housed so that the charging modes of the battery 22 and the battery 24 are different. As described above, the charge / discharge control unit 444 determines the charging mode of each battery by determining, for example, a setting related to at least one of the charging period and the charging speed of each battery.

[0123] As described above, examples of the setting related to the charging period include matters related to at least one of the start period of the charging period, the end period of the charging period, and the length of the charging period. Examples of the setting related to the charging speed include the charging speed in each of one or more periods included in the charging period.

[0124] As methods for determining the charging modes of the batteries 22 and 24, for example, various embodiments as shown below can be considered. Note that the method for determining the charging modes of the batteries 22 and 24 is not limited to the following embodiments. For example, within a technically non - conflicting range, various embodiments shown below or a part thereof may be appropriately combined.

[0125] In one embodiment, for example, when the power storage amount of the battery 22 is smaller than that of the battery 24, the charge / discharge control unit 444 controls the charge circuit 426 that charges the battery 22 and the charge circuit 426 that charges the battery 24 so that the charge start time of the battery 22 is earlier than the charge start time of the battery 24. At the charge start time of the battery 24, (i) the value obtained by subtracting the power storage amount of the battery 22 from the power storage amount of the battery 24, or (ii) the absolute value of the difference between the power storage amounts of the battery 22 and the battery 24 may be equal to a predetermined first threshold value, or may be smaller than the first threshold value.

[0126] For example, the charge / discharge control unit 444 determines to start charging the battery 24 at the timing when (i) the value obtained by subtracting the power storage amount of the battery 22 from the power storage amount of the battery 24, or (ii) the absolute value of the difference between the power storage amounts of the battery 22 and the battery 24 becomes equal to the first threshold value, or at the timing when it becomes smaller than the first threshold value. The above-mentioned power storage amount may be the open-circuit voltage or the SOC.

[0127] More specifically, the charge / discharge control unit 444 monitors the open-circuit voltages of the battery 22 and the battery 24, and when it is detected that the value obtained by subtracting the open-circuit voltage of the battery 22 from the open-circuit voltage of the battery 24 is equal to or less than the first threshold value, determines to start charging the battery 24. In this case, the first threshold value may be 0 or a positive number.

[0128] For example, the charge / discharge control unit 444 determines to start charging the battery 24 at a timing later than the timing when (i) the value obtained by subtracting the power storage amount of the battery 22 from the power storage amount of the battery 24, or (ii) the absolute value of the difference between the power storage amounts of the battery 22 and the battery 24 becomes equal to the first threshold value, or at the timing when it becomes smaller than the first threshold value. The above-mentioned power storage amount may be the open-circuit voltage or the SOC.

[0129] More specifically, the charge and discharge control unit 444 monitors the closed-circuit voltages of the battery 22 and the battery 24, and after detecting that the value obtained by subtracting the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 22 from the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 24 is equal to or less than the first threshold value, it determines to start charging the battery 24 at a specific timing until the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 22 reaches the target voltage. In this case, the first threshold value may be 0 or a positive number.

[0130] In another embodiment, for example, when the power storage amount of the battery 22 is smaller than the power storage amount of the battery 24, the charge and discharge control unit 444 may charge the battery 24 in multiple divisions until it is detected that the value obtained by subtracting the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 22 from the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 24 is equal to or less than the first threshold value. In this case, until the value obtained by subtracting the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 22 from the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 24 becomes equal to or less than the first threshold value, the charge and discharge control unit 444 repeats the start and stop of charging the battery 24.

[0131] Note that the charge and discharge control unit 444 may charge the battery 22 in multiple divisions until it is detected that the value obtained by subtracting the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 22 from the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 24 is equal to or less than the first threshold value. In this case, the charge and discharge control unit 444 may control the charging of the battery 22 and the battery 24 so that the length of the period during which the charging of the battery 24 is stopped is longer than the length of the period during which the charging of the battery 22 is stopped.

[0132] In other embodiments, for example, when the power storage capacity of battery 22 is smaller than that of battery 24, the charge / discharge control unit 444 controls the charge circuit 426 that charges battery 22 and the charge circuit 426 that charges battery 24 such that the charging speed of battery 22 is greater than the charging speed of battery 24. The charge / discharge control unit 444 determines the charging speed of battery 22 and the charging speed of battery 24 such that the length of the period between the time when the power storage capacity of battery 22 reaches a predetermined first target value and the time when the power storage capacity of battery 24 reaches the first target value is equal to or smaller than a predetermined second threshold value. The first target value may be the power storage capacity at which each battery can be lent out, or may be the power storage capacity serving as a standard for completion of charging of each battery.

[0133] More specifically, the charge / discharge control unit 444 determines the charging speed of battery 22 and the charging speed of battery 24 such that the length of the period between the time when the closed-circuit voltage or open-circuit voltage of battery 22 reaches the target voltage and the time when the closed-circuit voltage or open-circuit voltage of battery 24 reaches the target voltage is equal to or smaller than the second threshold value. The charge / discharge control unit 444 may also determine the charging speed of battery 22 and the charging speed of battery 24 such that the length of the period between the time when the SOC of battery 22 reaches the target SOC and the time when the SOC of battery 24 reaches the target SOC is equal to or smaller than the second threshold value.

[0134] In still other embodiments, for example, when the power storage capacity of battery 22 is smaller than that of battery 24, the charge / discharge control unit 444 controls the charge circuit 426 that charges battery 22 and the charge circuit 426 that charges battery 24 such that the time when the power storage capacity of battery 22 reaches a predetermined second target value is later than the time when the power storage capacity of battery 24 reaches the second target value. The second target value may be the power storage capacity at which each battery can be lent out, or may be the power storage capacity serving as a standard for completion of charging of each battery.

[0135] For example, when the power storage amount of the battery 24 reaches the second target value, the charge and discharge control unit 444 controls the charging circuit 426 that charges the battery 24 to stop charging the battery 24. Thereafter, when the power storage amount of the battery 22 reaches the second target value, the charging of the battery 24 is resumed.

[0136] The charge and discharge control unit 444 determines that the power storage amount of the battery 24 has reached the second target value, for example, when the absolute value of the difference between the power storage amount of the battery 24 and the second target value becomes equal to or smaller than a predetermined third threshold value. Similarly, the charge and discharge control unit 444 determines that the power storage amount of the battery 22 has reached the second target value, for example, when the absolute value of the difference between the power storage amount of the battery 22 and the first target value becomes equal to or smaller than a predetermined fourth threshold value.

[0137] In yet another embodiment, for example, when the power storage amount of the battery 24 is larger than the power storage amount of the battery 22 (that is, when the power storage amount of the battery 22 is smaller than the power storage amount of the battery 24), the charge and discharge control unit 444 controls the charging circuit 426 that charges the battery 22 and the charging circuit 426 that charges the battery 24 so that the power storage amount of the battery 24 reaches the third target value before the power storage amount of the battery 22 reaches the third target value. The third target value may be the power storage amount at which each battery can be lent out, or may be the power storage amount serving as a standard for completion of charging of each battery.

[0138] The start time of charging the battery 22 may be an example of the first timing. The start time of charging the battery 24 may be an example of the second timing. The timing that becomes smaller than the first threshold value may be an example of the third timing. The point in time when the power storage amount of the battery 22 reaches the second target value may be an example of the fifth timing. The point in time when the power storage amount of the battery 24 reaches the second target value may be an example of the fourth timing. The charging speed of the battery 22 may be an example of the first speed. The charging speed of the battery 24 may be an example of the second speed.

[0139] In this embodiment, the lending management unit 446 manages the lending of the batteries 20 at the battery station 140. For example, the lending management unit 446 acquires information regarding reservations for one or more batteries 20 held at the battery station 140 (which may be referred to as reservation information) from the management server 120. The reservation information is associated with, for example, the identification information of the user 30 who reserved the battery 20, the time when the user 30 wishes to borrow, the number of batteries 20 that the user 30 wishes to borrow, and the conditions that the user 30 desires regarding the charge state of the above-mentioned battery 20. The lending management unit 446 may manage the charging of the battery 20 so that the battery 20 is lent out according to the reservation information.

[0140] More specifically, the lending management unit 446 creates a charging and discharging schedule for each of the one or more batteries 20 held by the battery station 140. For example, the lending management unit 446 determines which of the above one or more batteries 20 to charge. The lending management unit 446 may also determine, for the above one or more batteries 20, which battery 20 to charge, to what extent, and by when. The lending management unit 446 may output schedule information indicating the charging and discharging schedule of each battery to the charging and discharging control unit 444.

[0141] The lending management unit 446 may classify one or more batteries 20 held by the battery station 140 into one or more groups and manage the batteries 20 for each group. For example, when a plurality of batteries 20 are lent out as a set of batteries 20, the lending management unit 446 classifies the plurality of batteries 20 included in the set of batteries 20 into a single group. The lending management unit 446 may create a charging and discharging schedule for each group.

[0142] The lending management unit 446 may manage the states of one or more batteries 20 stored in the battery station 140. For example, the lending management unit 446 manages at least one of the operating state, charging state, storage state, and deterioration state of the battery 20. The lending management unit 446 may manage the states of one or more batteries 20 based on the measurement results of the measuring device 424. The lending management unit 446 may detect abnormalities or defects in the battery 20.

[0143] In the present embodiment, the storage unit 448 stores various information used for controlling the battery station 140. For example, the storage unit 448 stores information indicating the time and information indicating the measurement results of the measuring device 424 at that time in association with each other. The storage unit 448 may store in association with each other the identification information of each battery and information indicating at least one of the operating state, charging state, storage state, and deterioration state of each battery. The storage unit 448 may store various information received by the communication control unit 442 from the management server 120. The storage unit 448 may store various information received by the communication control unit 442 from the communication terminal 32.

[0144] The information indicating the measurement results of the measuring device 424 may be information indicating the measurement results regarding the voltage of the battery 20. For example, the storage unit 448 may store information indicating the open-circuit voltage of at least one of the one or more batteries 20 held in the battery station 140. The storage unit 448 may store information indicating the closed-circuit voltage of at least one of the one or more batteries 20 held in the battery station 140.

[0145] For example, when a plurality of batteries 20 are lent out as a set of batteries 20, the lending management unit 446 stores the open-circuit voltage and the information indicating the open-circuit voltage of each of the plurality of batteries 20 in association with the identification information of each of the plurality of batteries 20. In this case, the lending management unit 446 may store the information indicating the open-circuit voltage of each of one or more batteries 20 excluding the battery 20 having the smallest open-circuit voltage among the plurality of batteries 20 in association with the identification information of each of the one or more batteries 20.

[0146] The charging unit 420 may be an example of a charging unit or a power storage amount acquisition unit. The charging circuit 426 may be an example of a charging unit. The measuring device 424 may be an example of a power storage amount acquisition unit. The control unit 440 may be an example of a control device, a power storage amount acquisition unit, or a charge control unit. The communication control unit 442 may be an example of a power storage amount acquisition unit. The charge and discharge control unit 444 may be an example of a control device, a power storage amount acquisition unit, or a charge control unit. In other embodiments, when the charging unit 420 has a part of the functions of the control unit 440, the charging unit 420 can be an example of a charging device.

[0147] In this embodiment, the details of the charge and discharge control unit 444 have been described by taking the case where the charge and discharge control unit 444 controls the charging of the batteries 22 and 24 as an example. However, the charge and discharge control unit 444 is not limited to this embodiment. In other embodiments, the charge and discharge control unit 444 may control the charging of three or more batteries 20. In this case, the charge and discharge control unit 444 may determine the charging mode of the battery 20 with the smallest open circuit voltage among the three or more batteries 20 to be charged according to the same procedure as the charging mode of the battery 22, and determine the charging modes of the remaining batteries 20 according to the same procedure as the charging mode of the battery 24. Thereby, the charging of the three or more batteries 20 to be charged is completed at substantially the same time.

[0148] FIG. 5 schematically shows a first embodiment of the operation of the battery station 140. Using FIG. 5, the details of the charging operation described in relation to FIG. 2 are described. Note that the steps may be abbreviated as S. According to this embodiment, first, in S510, the battery management unit 320 generates a charging schedule for the batteries 22 and 24 housed in the battery station 140. The battery management unit 320 transmits schedule information indicating the generated charging schedule to the battery station 140.

[0149] The schedule information includes, for example, information indicating the charging completion times of batteries 22 and 24, and information indicating the start time of the charging operation. The start time of the charging operation is determined based on, for example, the charging completion times of batteries 22 and 24. The charge / discharge control unit 444 of the battery station 140 controls the charging of batteries 22 and 24 based on the schedule information.

[0150] In S520, the charge / discharge control unit 444 determines whether the charging start time has arrived. If it is determined that the charging start time has not arrived (in the case of No in S520), the charge / discharge control unit 444 repeats the process of S520. On the other hand, if it is determined that the charging start time has arrived (in the case of Yes in S520), in S522, the charge / discharge control unit 444 controls the charging circuit 426 of the charging unit 420 in which the battery 22 is housed to start charging the battery 22.

[0151] Next, in S530, the charge / discharge control unit 444 determines whether the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 24 has become substantially equal to the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 22. If it is determined that the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 24 has not become substantially equal to the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 22 (in the case of No in S530), the charge / discharge control unit 444 repeats the process of S530. On the other hand, if it is determined that the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 24 has become substantially equal to the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 22 (in the case of Yes in S530), in S540, the charge / discharge control unit 444 controls the charging circuit 426 of the charging unit 420 in which the battery 24 is housed to start charging the battery 24. At this time, the charge / discharge control unit 444 may determine the charging speeds of the batteries 22 and 24 so that the charging speeds of the batteries 22 and 24 become substantially the same.

[0152] Next, in S550, the charge / discharge control unit 444 determines whether the closed-circuit voltage or open-circuit voltage of the battery 22 and the battery 24 is equal to or higher than Vt. If it is determined that the closed-circuit voltage or open-circuit voltage of the battery 22 and the battery 24 is not equal to or higher than Vt (in the case of No in S550), the charge / discharge control unit 444 repeats the process of S550. On the other hand, if it is determined that the closed-circuit voltage or open-circuit voltage of the battery 22 and the battery 24 is equal to or higher than Vt (in the case of Yes in S550), in S560, the charge / discharge control unit 444 determines whether to continue charging.

[0153] If it is determined in S560 not to continue charging (in the case of No in S560), the charge / discharge control unit 444 decides to end the charging operation. Further, the charge / discharge control unit 444 controls the charging circuit 426 of the charging unit 420 in which the battery 22 is housed to end the charging of the battery 22. Similarly, the charge / discharge control unit 444 controls the charging circuit 426 of the charging unit 420 in which the battery 24 is housed to end the charging of the battery 24.

[0154] On the other hand, if it is determined in S560 to continue charging (in the case of Yes in S560), in S570, the charge / discharge control unit 444 determines whether the closed-circuit voltage or open-circuit voltage of the battery 22 and the battery 24 has reached Vf. If it is determined that the closed-circuit voltage or open-circuit voltage of the battery 22 and the battery 24 has not reached Vf (in the case of No in S570), the charge / discharge control unit 444 repeats the process of S570.

[0155] On the other hand, if it is determined that the closed-circuit voltage or open-circuit voltage of the battery 22 and the battery 24 has reached Vf (in the case of Yes in S570), the charge / discharge control unit 444 decides to end the charging operation. Further, the charge / discharge control unit 444 controls the charging circuit 426 of the charging unit 420 in which the battery 22 is housed to end the charging of the battery 22. Similarly, the charge / discharge control unit 444 controls the charging circuit 426 of the charging unit 420 in which the battery 24 is housed to end the charging of the battery 24.

[0156] FIG. 6 schematically shows an example of voltage fluctuations immediately after the start of charging. When a charging current is applied to the battery 24, the voltage of the battery 24 increases due to the internal resistance of the battery 24. That is, the value V of the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 24 measured during charging of the battery 24 BC is larger than the value of the open-circuit voltage V of the battery 24 measured before the start of charging of the battery 24 BO . In FIG. 6, the value V of the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 22 AC and the open-circuit voltage V of the battery 22 AO have the same relationship.

[0157] Therefore, before the process of S530 described in relation to FIG. 5 is executed, it is desirable for the charge and discharge control unit 444 to acquire the value of the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 24. Therefore, in the present embodiment, for example, in S522, when the charging of the battery 22 is started, a CCV detection step of detecting at least the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 24 is provided. In the CCV detection step, the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 22 may be detected.

[0158] [Second Embodiment of the Charging Operation of the Battery Station 140] A second embodiment of the operation of the battery station 140 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG. 7 schematically shows an example of the voltage fluctuation 720 of each battery and the temperature fluctuation 740 of each battery in the second embodiment. FIG. 8 schematically shows an example of the charging operation of the battery station 140 in the second embodiment. Note that in FIG. 7, it should be noted that due to the limitations of the illustration, there may be cases where the actually overlapping line segments are described separately.

[0159] According to the present embodiment, the charging procedure in the battery station 140 will be described by taking as an example the case where the battery station 140 rents out the battery 22 and the battery 24 having substantially the same battery capacity as a set of batteries 20. Also, the temperature changes of the battery 22 and the battery 24 accompanying charging will be described.

[0160] [Voltage Fluctuations During Charging] As shown in FIG. 7, before time t0, no charging power from the battery station 140 is supplied to the battery 22 and the battery 24. According to the present embodiment, at time t0, the OCV of the battery 22 is V AO [V]. Also, the OCV of the battery 24 is V BO [V], and the CCV of the battery 24 is V BC [V].

[0161] In the present embodiment, at time t0, charging of the battery 22 and the battery 24 is started. In that the charging operation of the battery 24 is started at time t0, the charging operation of the present embodiment is different from the charging operation described in relation to FIG. 2.

[0162] Thereafter, the battery 22 is charged at a substantially constant charging rate. Also, the battery 24 is charged at a substantially constant charging rate. In that the charging rate of the battery 24 is set to be smaller than the charging rate of the battery 22, the charging operation of the present embodiment is different from the charging operation described in relation to FIG. 2.

[0163] In the present embodiment, at least until the CCV or OCV of the battery 22 and the battery 24 reaches the target voltage Vt [V] at time t2, the battery 22 and the battery 24 are charged at substantially the same charging rate.

[0164] Thereafter, at time t3, until the CCV or OCV of the battery 22 and the battery 24 reaches the full charge voltage Vf [V], the battery 22 and the battery 24 are charged at a substantially constant charging rate. The charging rates of the battery 22 and the battery 24 may be substantially the same.

[0165] [Temperature Variation During Charging] As shown in FIG. 7, before time t0, the temperatures of the battery 22 and the battery 24 are Tba [° C.]. Tba may be the temperature of the surrounding environment of the battery 22 and the battery 24.

[0166] As shown by the dotted line 242, when the charging of the battery 22 starts at time t0, the temperature of the battery 22 gradually rises. The temperature of the battery 22 rises at a substantially constant rate from time t0 to time t3. At time t3, the temperature of the battery 22 becomes Tbf [°C]. After the charging of the battery 22 is completed at time t3, the temperature of the battery 22 gradually drops. Then, at time t4, the temperature of the battery 22 becomes Tbe [°C].

[0167] As shown by the solid line 244, when the charging of the battery 24 starts at time t0, the temperature of the battery 24 gradually rises. The temperature of the battery 24 rises at a substantially constant rate from time t0 to time t2, and at time t2, the temperature of the battery 24 becomes Tbc [°C]. During the period from time t0 to time t2, the temperature rise rate of the battery 24 is smaller than the temperature rise rate of the battery 22.

[0168] Thereafter, the temperature of the battery 24 rises at a substantially constant rate from time t2 to time t3, and at time t3, the temperature of the battery 24 becomes Tbd [°C]. During the period from time t2 to time t3, the temperature rise rate of the battery 24 may be substantially the same as the temperature rise rate of the battery 22. Note that the temperature rise rate of the battery 24 during the period from time t2 to time t3 is larger than the temperature rise rate of the battery 24 during the period from time t0 to time t2. After the charging of the battery 24 is completed at time t3, the temperature of the battery 24 gradually drops. Then, at time t4, the temperature of the battery 22 becomes Tbb [°C].

[0169] Thus, according to the present embodiment, for example, compared with the example shown by the dashed-dotted line 226 described in relation to FIG. 2, the temperature difference between the battery 22 and the battery 24 becomes smaller. Therefore, for example, even when the battery 22 and the battery 24 are lent out at substantially the same time, the temperature difference between the battery 22 and the battery 24 at the time of lending can be controlled within a predetermined numerical range. Only the upper limit of the above numerical range may be determined, or both the upper limit and the lower limit may be determined.

[0170] [Flowchart] As shown in FIG. 8, according to this embodiment, first, the same steps as S510 and S520 described in relation to FIG. 2 are performed. Note that in this embodiment, it is different from the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 2 in that a step of determining the charging rate of the battery 24 is added to S510.

[0171] In the step of determining the charging rate of the battery 24, for example, first, the time t2 is estimated based on the charging rate of the battery 22. Next, the charging rate of the battery 24 is determined based on the length of the period from the time t0 to the time t2, the closed-circuit voltage or open-circuit voltage of the battery 24 at the time t0, and the difference from the target voltage Vt.

[0172] In this embodiment, it is different from the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 2 in that S822 is executed instead of S522, S530, and S540. In S822, at the time t0, the charging of both the battery 22 and the battery 24 is started. More specifically, the charge and discharge control unit 444 controls the charging circuit 426 of the charging unit 420 in which the battery 22 is housed to start charging the battery 22. Further, the charge and discharge control unit 444 controls the charging circuit 426 of the charging unit 420 in which the battery 24 is housed to start charging the battery 24. Thereafter, S550, S560, and S570 are executed, and the charging operation of the battery station 140 ends.

[0173] [Third Embodiment of the Charging Operation of the Battery Station 140] A third embodiment of the operation of the battery station 140 is described with reference to FIG. 9. FIG. 9 schematically shows an example of the voltage fluctuation 920 of each battery and the temperature fluctuation 940 of each battery in the third embodiment. Note that in FIG. 9, it should be noted that due to the limitations of the illustration, there may be cases where the actually overlapping line segments are shown separately.

[0174] According to this embodiment, the charging procedure at the battery station 140 will be described by taking as an example the case where the battery station 140 leases the batteries 22 and 24 having substantially the same battery capacity as a set of batteries 20. Further, the temperature changes of the batteries 22 and 24 accompanying charging will be described.

[0175] In the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 2, the charging of the battery 24 was started at time t1. In the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 7, the charging of the battery 24 was started at time t0. In contrast, in this embodiment, the charging of the battery 24 is started at time t90 between time t0 and time t1, which is different from the embodiments described in relation to FIGS. 2 and 7.

[0176] Also, in this embodiment, the charging of the battery 24 is started at time t90 between time t0 and time t1. Therefore, the charging rate of the battery 24 in the period from time t90 to time t2 in this embodiment is greater than the charging rate of the battery 24 in the period from time t0 to time t2 in the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 7, which is different from the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 7. Regarding features other than these differences, this embodiment may have the same configuration as the embodiments described in relation to FIGS. 2 and 7.

[0177] [Fourth Embodiment of the Charging Operation of the Battery Station 140] The fourth embodiment of the operation of the battery station 140 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. FIG. 10 schematically shows an example of the voltage fluctuation 1020 of each battery and the temperature fluctuation 1040 of each battery in the fourth embodiment. FIG. 11 schematically shows an example of the charging operation of the battery station 140 in the fourth embodiment. Note that in FIG. 10, it should be noted that there may be cases where actually overlapping line segments are shown separated due to limitations in the illustration.

[0178] According to this embodiment, taking the case where the battery station 140 rents out the batteries 22 and 24 having substantially the same battery capacity as a set of batteries 20 as an example, the charging procedure in the battery station 140 will be described. Also, the temperature changes of the batteries 22 and 24 during charging will be described.

[0179] According to the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 2, the charging of the battery 24 was started when the open-circuit voltage of the battery 22 became substantially equal to the open-circuit voltage of the battery 24. In contrast, according to this embodiment, the charging of the battery 24 is started at a time t91 after the time t90 when the open-circuit voltage of the battery 22 becomes substantially equal to the open-circuit voltage of the battery 24, which is different from the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 2. Also, according to this embodiment, the charging of the battery 22 is distinguished into pre-charging from time t0 to time t90 and main-charging from time t91 to time t2 or time t3, which is different from the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 2.

[0180] [Voltage Fluctuation During Charging] As shown in FIG. 10, before the time t0, no charging power is supplied from the battery station 140 to the batteries 22 and 24. According to this embodiment, at time t0, the OCV of the battery 22 is V AO [V]. Also, the OCV of the battery 24 is V BO [V], and the CCV of the battery 24 is V BC [V].

[0181] In this embodiment, at time t0, charging of the battery 22 is started. Thereafter, the battery 22 is charged at a substantially constant charging rate until (i) the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 22 becomes equal to the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 24 at time t90, or (ii) the open-circuit voltage of the battery 22 becomes equal to the open-circuit voltage of the battery 24 at time t90. The charging rate of the battery 22 during the period from time t0 to time t90 in this embodiment is higher than the charging rate of the battery 22 during the period from time t0 to time t2 in the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 2.

[0182] As shown by the dotted line 242, the temperature of the battery 22 rises at a substantially constant rate during the period from time t0 to time t90, and at time t90, the temperature of the battery 22 becomes Tdb [°C]. Thereafter, charging of the battery 22 is stopped until time t91 when the temperature of the battery 22 reaches a predetermined temperature. In this embodiment, time t91 may be (i) the time when the temperature of the battery 22 becomes substantially the same as the temperature of the battery 22 at time t0, or (ii) the time when the temperature of the battery 22 becomes substantially the same as the temperature of the battery 24.

[0183] Next, when the temperature of the battery 22 reaches a predetermined temperature at time t91, main charging of the battery 22 and the battery 24 is started. Thereafter, the battery 22 and the battery 24 are charged at a substantially constant charging rate.

[0184] In this embodiment, at least until the CCV or OCV of the battery 22 and the battery 24 reaches the target voltage Vt [V] at time t2, the battery 22 and the battery 24 are charged at substantially the same charging rate.

[0185] Thereafter, at time t3, the battery 22 and the battery 24 are charged at a substantially constant charging rate until the CCV or OCV of the battery 22 and the battery 24 reaches the full charge voltage Vf [V]. The charging rates of the battery 22 and the battery 24 may be substantially the same.

[0186] [Temperature Variation During Charging] As shown in FIG. 10, at a time before time t0, the temperatures of battery 22 and battery 24 are Tda [° C]. Tda may be the temperature of the ambient environment of battery 22 and battery 24.

[0187] As indicated by the dotted line 242, when the pre - charging of battery 22 starts at time t0, the temperature of battery 22 gradually rises. The temperature of battery 22 rises at a substantially constant rate from time t0 to time t90. At time t90, the temperature of battery 22 becomes Tdb [° C].

[0188] After the pre - charging of battery 22 is completed at time t90, the temperature of battery 22 gradually drops. And at time t91, the temperature of battery 22 becomes substantially the same as the temperature of battery 24. That is, the temperature of battery 22 becomes Tda [° C].

[0189] When the main charging of battery 22 and battery 24 starts at time t91, the temperatures of battery 22 and battery 24 gradually rise. The temperatures of battery 22 and battery 24 rise at a substantially constant rate from time t91 to time t3. At time t3, the temperatures of battery 22 and battery 24 become Tdd [° C]. After the charging of battery 22 and battery 24 is completed at time t3, the temperatures of battery 22 and battery 24 gradually drop. And at time t4, the temperatures of battery 22 and battery 24 become Tdc [° C].

[0190] Accordingly, according to this embodiment, the temperature difference between battery 22 and battery 24 becomes extremely small. Therefore, for example, even when battery 22 and battery 24 are lent out at substantially the same time, the temperature difference between battery 22 and battery 24 at the time of lending can be controlled within a predetermined numerical range. The above - mentioned numerical range may have only an upper limit defined, or both an upper limit and a lower limit defined.

[0191] [Flowchart] As shown in FIG. 11, according to this embodiment, first, the same process as S510 described in relation to FIG. 2 is performed. In this embodiment, S1120, S1122, S1130, S1132, S1140, and S1142 are executed instead of S520, S522, S530, and S540, which is different from the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 2. Thereafter, S550, S560, and S570 are executed, and the charging operation of the battery station 140 ends.

[0192] According to this embodiment, in S1120, the charge / discharge control unit 444 determines whether the start time of pre-charging has arrived. If it is determined that the start time of pre-charging has not arrived (in the case of No in S1120), the charge / discharge control unit 444 repeats the process of S1120. On the other hand, if it is determined that the start time of pre-charging has arrived (in the case of Yes in S1120), in S1122, the charge / discharge control unit 444 controls the charging circuit 426 of the charging unit 420 in which the battery 22 is housed to start pre-charging of the battery 22.

[0193] Next, in S1130, the charge / discharge control unit 444 determines whether the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 22 has become substantially equal to the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 24, or whether the open-circuit voltage of the battery 22 has become substantially equal to the open-circuit voltage of the battery 24. If it is determined that the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 22 is not substantially equal to the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 24, or the open-circuit voltage of the battery 22 is not substantially equal to the open-circuit voltage of the battery 24 (in the case of No in S1130), the charge / discharge control unit 444 repeats the process of S1130.

[0194] On the other hand, if it is determined that the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 22 has become substantially equal to the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 24, or the open-circuit voltage of the battery 22 has become substantially equal to the open-circuit voltage of the battery 24 (in the case of Yes in S1130), in S1132, the charge / discharge control unit 444 controls the charging circuit 426 of the charging unit 420 in which the battery 22 is housed to end the pre-charging of the battery 22.

[0195] Next, in S1140, the charge / discharge control unit 444 determines whether the temperature of the battery 22 has become substantially the same as the temperature of the battery 24. If it is determined that the temperature of the battery 22 is not substantially the same as the temperature of the battery 24 (in the case of No in S1140), the charge / discharge control unit 444 repeats the process of S1140.

[0196] On the other hand, if it is determined that the temperature of the battery 22 has become substantially the same as the temperature of the battery 24 (in the case of Yes in S1140), in S1142, the charge / discharge control unit 444 controls the charging circuit 426 of the charging unit 420 in which the battery 22 is housed to start the main charging of the battery 22. Further, the charge / discharge control unit 444 controls the charging circuit 426 of the charging unit 420 in which the battery 24 is housed to start the main charging of the battery 24.

[0197] Accordingly, according to the present embodiment, for example, compared with the example shown by the dashed line 226 described in relation to FIG. 2, the temperature difference between the battery 22 and the battery 24 becomes smaller. Therefore, for example, even when the batteries 22 and 24 are lent out at substantially the same time, the temperature difference between the battery 22 and the battery 24 at the time of lending can be controlled within a predetermined numerical range. The above numerical range may have only an upper limit defined, or may have both an upper limit and a lower limit defined.

[0198] [Fifth Embodiment of the Charging Operation of the Battery Station 140] A fifth embodiment of the operation of the battery station 140 will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. FIG. 12 schematically shows an example of voltage fluctuations 1220 of each battery and temperature fluctuations 1240 of each battery in the fifth embodiment. FIG. 13 schematically shows an example of the charging operation of the battery station 140 in the fifth embodiment. Note that in FIG. 12, it should be noted that due to the limitations of the illustration, there may be cases where actually overlapping line segments are shown separately.

[0199] According to this embodiment, the charging procedure in the battery station 140 will be described by taking as an example the case where the battery station 140 rents out the batteries 22 and 24 with substantially the same battery capacity as a set of batteries 20. Further, the temperature changes of the batteries 22 and 24 accompanying charging will be described.

[0200] In the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 7, after the charging of the batteries 22 and 24 was started at time t0, the batteries 22 and 24 were continuously executed until time t2, and the open-circuit voltages of the batteries 22 and 24 became substantially the same at time t2. On the other hand, in this embodiment, (i) after the charging of the batteries 22 and 24 was started at time t0, when the open-circuit voltage of the battery 24 reached the target voltage Vt at time t72 between time t0 and time t2, the charging of the battery 24 was temporarily stopped, and (ii) thereafter, when the open-circuit voltage of the battery 22 reached the target voltage Vt at time t2, the charging of the battery 24 was restarted, which is different from the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 7.

[0201] [Voltage Fluctuation During Charging] As shown in FIG. 12, at a time before time t0, no charging power is supplied from the battery station 140 to the batteries 22 and 24. According to this embodiment, at time t0, the OCV of the battery 22 is V AO [V]. Also, the OCV of the battery 24 is V BO [V], and the CCV of the battery 24 is V BC [V].

[0202] In this embodiment, at time t0, the charging of battery 22 and battery 24 is started. After that, battery 22 is charged at a substantially constant charging rate. Also, battery 24 is charged at a substantially constant charging rate. In this embodiment, the charging rate of battery 24 is set to be substantially the same as the charging rate of battery 22. Note that the charging rate of battery 24 may be set to a value smaller than the charging rate of battery 22. The charging rate of battery 24 from time t0 to time t72 in this embodiment is larger than the charging rate of battery 24 from time t0 to time t2 in the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 7.

[0203] In this embodiment, until the CCV of battery 24 reaches the target voltage Vt at time t72, battery 24 is charged at a substantially constant charging rate. After that, at time t72, when the CCV of battery 24 reaches the target voltage Vt, the charge-discharge control unit 444 controls the charging circuit 426 of the charging unit 420 in which battery 24 is housed to temporarily stop the charging of battery 24.

[0204] On the other hand, even after the charging of battery 24 is temporarily stopped at time t72, the charge-discharge control unit 444 continues the charging of battery 22. Then, when the CCV of battery 22 reaches the target voltage Vt at time t2, the charge-discharge control unit 444 controls the charging circuit 426 of the charging unit 420 in which battery 24 is housed to resume the charging of battery 24. After that, until the CCV or OCV of battery 22 and battery 24 reaches the full charge voltage Vf, battery 22 and battery 24 are charged at a substantially constant charging rate. The charging rates of battery 22 and battery 24 may be substantially the same.

[0205] [Temperature Variation During Charging] As shown in FIG. 12, at a time before time t0, the temperatures of battery 22 and battery 24 are Tea [°C]. Tea may be the temperature of the ambient environment of battery 22 and battery 24.

[0206] As indicated by the dotted line 242, when the charging of the battery 22 starts at time t0, the temperature of the battery 22 gradually rises. The temperature of the battery 22 rises at a substantially constant rate from time t0 to time t3. At time t3, the temperature of the battery 22 becomes Teg [°C]. After the charging of the battery 22 is completed at time t3, the temperature of the battery 22 gradually drops. Then, at time t4, the temperature of the battery 22 becomes Tef [°C].

[0207] As indicated by the solid line 244, when the charging of the battery 24 starts at time t0, the temperature of the battery 24 gradually rises. The temperature of the battery 24 rises at a substantially constant rate from time t0 to time t72. At time t72, the temperature of the battery 24 becomes Ted [°C]. In this embodiment, during the period from time t0 to time t72, the charging rates of the battery 22 and the battery 24 are set to be substantially the same. Therefore, during the period from time t0 to time t72, the temperature rise rates of the battery 22 and the battery 24 are substantially the same.

[0208] After the charging of the battery 24 is temporarily stopped at time t72, the temperature of the battery 24 gradually drops. Then, at time t2, the temperature of the battery 24 becomes Teb [°C]. When the charging of the battery 24 is resumed at time t2, the temperature of the battery 24 gradually rises. The temperature of the battery 24 rises at a substantially constant rate from time t2 to time t3. At time t3, the temperature of the battery 24 becomes Tee [°C]. During the period from time t2 to time t3, the temperature rise rate of the battery 24 may be substantially the same as the temperature rise rate of the battery 22. After the charging of the battery 24 is completed at time t3, the temperature of the battery 24 gradually drops. Then, at time t4, the temperature of the battery 24 becomes Tec [°C].

[0209] [Flowchart] As shown in FIG. 13, according to this embodiment, first, the same processes as S510 and S520 described in relation to FIG. 2 are performed. In this embodiment, it is different from the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 2 in that S1322, S1330, S1332, S1340, and S1342 are executed instead of S522, S530, and S540. Thereafter, S550, S560, and S570 are executed, and the charging operation of the battery station 140 ends.

[0210] According to this embodiment, in S1322, charging of both the battery 22 and the battery 24 is started. More specifically, the charge and discharge control unit 444 controls the charging circuit 426 of the charging unit 420 in which the battery 22 is housed to start charging the battery 22. Further, the charge and discharge control unit 444 controls the charging circuit 426 of the charging unit 420 in which the battery 24 is housed to start charging the battery 24.

[0211] Next, in S1330, the charge and discharge control unit 444 determines whether or not the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 24 has reached the target voltage Vt. When it is determined that the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 24 has not reached the target voltage Vt (in the case of No in S1330), the charge and discharge control unit 444 repeats the process of S1330. On the other hand, when it is determined that the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 24 has reached the target voltage Vt (in the case of Yes in S1330), in S1332, the charge and discharge control unit 444 controls the charging circuit 426 of the charging unit 420 in which the battery 24 is housed to stop charging the battery 24.

[0212] Next, in S1340, the charge / discharge control unit 444 determines whether or not the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 22 has reached the target voltage Vt. If it is determined that the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 22 has not reached the target voltage Vt (in the case of No in S1340), the charge / discharge control unit 444 repeats the process of S1340. On the other hand, if it is determined that the closed-circuit voltage of the battery 22 has reached the target voltage Vt (in the case of Yes in S1340), in S1342, the charge / discharge control unit 444 controls the charging circuit 426 of the charging unit 420 in which the battery 24 is housed to resume charging of the battery 24.

[0213] Accordingly, according to the present embodiment, for example, compared with the example shown by the dashed-dotted line 226 described in relation to FIG. 2, the temperature difference between the battery 22 and the battery 24 becomes smaller. Therefore, for example, even when the batteries 22 and 24 are lent out at substantially the same time, the temperature difference between the battery 22 and the battery 24 at the time of lending can be controlled within a predetermined numerical range. Only the upper limit of the above numerical range may be determined, or both the upper limit and the lower limit may be determined.

[0214] [Specific Configuration of Battery Station 140] With reference to FIGS. 14 and 15, an example of the specific configuration of the battery station 140 will be described. The charging unit 420 and the control unit 440 described in relation to FIG. 4 may be realized by the specific configuration described in relation to FIGS. 14 and 15.

[0215] In the present embodiment, an example of the charging unit 420 will be described by taking as an example the case where each part of the charging unit 420 is housed inside the battery housing chamber 422. In the present embodiment, a space for housing the battery 20 is formed inside the battery housing chamber 422. Further, depending on the charging unit 420, the charging unit 420 stores the battery 20 by inserting the battery 20 into the battery housing chamber 422. Therefore, the charging unit 420 may be referred to as a slot.

[0216] FIG. 14 schematically shows an example of the internal configuration of the battery station 140. In the present embodiment, for the purpose of simplifying the explanation, the details of the battery station 140 will be described by taking as an example the case where the charging unit 420 does not have the function of discharging the battery 20. However, those skilled in the art who have read the description of the present specification can understand that the battery station 140 can be changed to a configuration capable of charging and discharging the battery 20.

[0217] In the present embodiment, the battery station 140 includes one or more charging units 420, a breaker 1410, a power line 1412, an AC / DC power supply 1414, a distributor 1416, a power line 1418, a main control board 1430, a communication hub 1432, a communication line 1434, a temperature adjustment unit 1442, a buzzer 1444, a sense unit 1446, and a maintenance door 1448. In the present embodiment, the charging unit 420 includes a battery storage chamber 422, an AC / DC charger 1460, a power connector 1462, a slot control board 1470, a communication connector 1472, a drive unit 1474, a shutter 1476, a lock unit 1478, a temperature adjustment unit 1482, a status display unit 1484, and a sense unit 1486.

[0218] In the present embodiment, the breaker 1410 receives power from a power system (not shown). The breaker 1410 supplies the power received from the power system to each AC / DC charger 1460 of the one or more charging units 420 via the power line 1412. The breaker 1410 supplies the power received from the power system to the AC / DC power supply 1414. Examples of the breaker 1410 include a circuit breaker and a residual current circuit breaker with overcurrent protection.

[0219] In this embodiment, the AC / DC power supply 1414 functions as a power supply that supplies power for control. For example, the AC / DC power supply 1414 converts the AC power received from the breaker 1410 into DC power having an appropriate voltage. The AC / DC power supply 1414 supplies the converted DC power to each slot control board 1470 of one or more charging units 420 via the distributor 1416 and the power line 1418. Also, the AC / DC power supply 1414 supplies the converted DC power to the main control board 1430.

[0220] In this embodiment, the main control board 1430 controls the operations of each part of the battery station 140. The main control board 1430 may cooperate with the slot control board 1470 to control the operations of each part of the battery station 140.

[0221] The main control board 1430 transmits and receives information to and from each slot control board 1470 of one or more charging units 420 via the communication hub 1432 and the communication line 1434. The main control board 1430 may control the operations of the input / output unit 1440, the temperature control unit 1442, the buzzer 1444, the sense unit 1446, and the maintenance door 1448. The main control board 1430 may transmit and receive information to and from the user 30 and / or an information processing device external to the battery station 140 via the input / output unit 1440. The main control board 1430 may acquire information indicating the states of the temperature control unit 1442, the buzzer 1444, the sense unit 1446, and the maintenance door 1448.

[0222] The main control board 1430 may function as the control unit 440. The main control board 1430 may also function as the charge / discharge control unit 444.

[0223] For example, the main control board 1430 acquires information indicating the measurement results of the sensing unit 1446 from the sensing unit 1446. In one embodiment, the main control board 1430 acquires information regarding the state of charge of at least one of the one or more batteries 20 stored in the battery station 140 from the output values of voltage sensors, current sensors, etc. included in the sensing unit 1446. The main control board 1430 may acquire information regarding the state of charge of each of the batteries 22 and 24 stored in the battery station 140. In other embodiments, the main control board 1430 acquires information regarding the temperature of at least one of the one or more batteries 20 stored in the battery station 140 from the temperature sensors included in the sensing unit 1446. The main control board 1430 may acquire information regarding the temperature of each of the batteries 22 and 24 stored in the battery station 140. In still other embodiments, the main control board 1430 acquires information indicating the open / closed state of the maintenance door 1448 from the maintenance door 1448.

[0224] The main control board 1430 may control the operation of at least one of the AC / DC charger 1460 and the temperature adjustment unit 1482. The main control board 1430 may control the operation of at least one of the AC / DC charger 1460 and the temperature adjustment unit 1482 via the slot control board 1470 or in cooperation with the slot control board 1470.

[0225] [Example of temperature adjustment of the battery 20 by controlling the AC / DC charger 1460] In this embodiment, the main control board 1430 controls the AC / DC chargers 1460 arranged in at least two of the one or more charging units 420. The main control board 1430 may control the AC / DC chargers 1460 arranged in each of the one or more charging units 420. For example, the main control board 1430 obtains information regarding the power storage amount of each of the batteries 20 electrically connected to each of the AC / DC chargers 1460 to be controlled from the sense unit 1486 of the charging unit 420 in which each of the AC / DC chargers 1460 to be controlled is arranged. The main control board 1430 controls each of the above AC / DC chargers 1460 to charge each of the above batteries 20.

[0226] As described in relation to FIG. 4, the main control board 1430 may control at least two AC / DC chargers 1460 so that the charging modes of at least two batteries 20 stored in the battery station 140 are different. For example, when the battery 22 and the battery 24 are stored in the battery station 140, when the power storage amounts of the battery 22 and the battery 24 are substantially different, the main control board 1430 causes the charging mode of the battery 22 and the charging mode of the battery 24 to be different, and the AC / DC charger 1460 of the charging unit 420 storing the battery 22 (which may be referred to as the AC / DC charger 1460 of the battery 22), and at least one of the AC / DC chargers 1460 of the charging unit 420 storing the battery 24 (which may be referred to as the AC / DC charger 1460 of the battery 24). The main control board 1430 may control the AC / DC charger 1460 of the battery 22 and the AC / DC charger 1460 of the battery 24.

[0227] When the absolute value of the difference between the power storage amounts of the battery 22 and the battery 24 is greater than a predetermined value, for example, the main control board 1430 determines that the power storage amounts of the battery 22 and the battery 24 are substantially different. The main control board 1430 may control the operation of the AC / DC charger 1460 that charges each of the battery 22 and the battery 24 by the same procedure as the procedure described in relation to the control unit 440 or the charge / discharge control unit 444. Thereby, the temperatures of the battery 22 and the battery 24 when the charging of the battery 22 and the battery 24 is completed can be adjusted.

[0228] [Example of temperature adjustment of the battery 20 by controlling the temperature adjustment unit 1482] In the present embodiment, the main control board 1430 controls the temperature adjustment unit 1482 arranged in at least two of the one or more charging units 420. The main control board 1430 may control each of the temperature adjustment units 1482 arranged in each of the one or more charging units 420.

[0229] According to one embodiment, when the battery 22 and the battery 24 are stored in the battery station 140, the main control board 1430 determines the power storage amount of the battery 22 obtained from the sense unit 1446 of the charging unit 420 that stores the battery 22 and the power storage amount of the battery 24 obtained from the sense unit 1446 of the charging unit 420 that stores the battery 24. When they are substantially different, the temperature adjustment mode of the battery 22 and the temperature adjustment mode of the battery 24 are different, and the temperature adjustment unit 1482 of the charging unit 420 that stores the battery 22 (sometimes referred to as the temperature adjustment unit 1482 of the battery 22), and at least one of the temperature adjustment units 1482 of the charging unit 420 that stores the battery 24 (sometimes referred to as the temperature adjustment unit 1482 of the battery 24) is controlled. The main control board 1430 may control the temperature adjustment unit 1482 of the battery 22 and the temperature adjustment unit 1482 of the battery 24.

[0230] The main control board 1430 determines that the power storage amounts of the battery 22 and the battery 24 are substantially different, for example, when the absolute value of the difference between the power storage amount of the battery 22 and the power storage amount of the battery 24 is greater than a predetermined value. Thereby, the temperatures of the battery 22 and the battery 24 at the time of completion of charging of the battery 22 and the battery 24 can be adjusted.

[0231] According to another embodiment, when the battery 22 and the battery 24 are stored in the battery station 140, the main control board 1430 controls at least one of the temperature adjustment unit 1482 of the battery 22 and the temperature adjustment unit 1482 of the battery 24 so that the temperature adjustment modes of the battery 22 and the temperature adjustment mode of the battery 24 are different when the temperature of the battery 22 acquired from the sensing unit 1446 of the charging unit 420 storing the battery 22 and the temperature of the battery 24 acquired from the sensing unit 1446 of the charging unit 420 storing the battery 24 are substantially different. The main control board 1430 may control the temperature adjustment unit 1482 of the battery 22 and the temperature adjustment unit 1482 of the battery 24.

[0232] The main control board 1430 determines that the temperatures of the battery 22 and the battery 24 are substantially different, for example, when the absolute value of the difference between the temperature of the battery 22 and the temperature of the battery 24 is greater than a predetermined value. Thereby, the temperatures of the battery 22 and the battery 24 at the time of completion of charging of the battery 22 and the battery 24 can be adjusted.

[0233] Examples of the temperature control modes in these embodiments include the timing to start temperature control, the timing to end temperature control, the type of temperature control, the intensity of temperature control, and the like. Examples of the type of temperature control include cooling, heating, and the like. Other examples of the type of temperature control include temperature control by the temperature control unit 1442 that adjusts the temperature outside the plurality of charging slots 420, temperature control by the temperature control unit 1482 arranged in each of the plurality of charging slots 420, and the like. Examples of the intensity of temperature control include the rotation speed of the cooling fan when the temperature control unit 1482 includes a cooling fan, the temperature and circulation amount of the refrigerant when the temperature control unit 1482 uses a refrigerant, and the like.

[0234] The main control board 1430 controls at least one of the temperature control unit 1482 of the charging unit 420 that stores the battery 22 and the temperature control unit 1482 of the charging unit 420 that stores the battery 24 so that the temperature of the battery 22 and the temperature of the battery 24 become substantially the same at the time when the stored power amounts of the battery 22 and the battery 24 become substantially the same (which may be referred to as the sixth timing). The main control board 1430 may determine that the stored power amounts of the battery 22 and the battery 24 are substantially the same when the absolute value of the difference between the stored power amounts of the battery 22 and the battery 24 is smaller than a predetermined value. The main control board 1430 may determine that the temperature of the battery 22 and the temperature of the battery 24 are substantially the same when the absolute value of the difference between the temperature of the battery 22 and the temperature of the battery 24 is smaller than a predetermined value.

[0235] As a result, for example, the temperatures of the battery 22 and the battery 24 at the time of completion of charging of the battery 22 and the battery 24 become substantially the same. As a result, the temperatures of the battery 22 and the battery 24 at the time of discharging of the battery 22 and the battery 24 may become substantially the same.

[0236] The main control board 1430 may control at least one of the temperature regulators 1482 of the battery 22 and the temperature regulator 1482 of the battery 24 according to the control of the AC / DC charger 1460 of the battery 22 and / or the AC / DC charger 1460 of the battery 24. The main control board 1430 may control at least one of the AC / DC charger 1460 of the battery 22 and the AC / DC charger 1460 of the battery 24 according to the control of the temperature regulator 1482 of the battery 22 and / or the temperature regulator 1482 of the battery 24.

[0237] For example, the main control board 1430 controls at least one of the AC / DC charger 1460 and the temperature regulator 1482 such that the control start timing and / or the control end timing of the AC / DC charger 1460 is different from the control start timing and / or the control end timing of the temperature regulator 1482. By the control start timing and / or the control end timing of the AC / DC charger 1460 being different from the control start timing and / or the control end timing of the temperature regulator 1482, the temperatures of the battery 22 and the battery 24 at the completion of charging of the battery 22 and the battery 24 can be adjusted.

[0238] In one embodiment, the main control board 1430 may control the control start timing of the temperature regulator 1482 such that the control start timing of the temperature regulator 1482 is earlier than the control start timing of the AC / DC charger 1460. In other embodiments, the main control board 1430 may control the control start timing of the AC / DC charger 1460 such that the control start timing of the AC / DC charger 1460 is later than the control start timing of the temperature regulator 1482.

[0239] In this embodiment, the input / output unit 1440 functions as an interface between the battery station 140 and the outside of the battery station 140. In one embodiment, the input / output unit 1440 transmits and receives information to and from the management server 120. In other embodiments, the input / output unit 1440 transmits and receives information to and from the user 30 and / or the communication terminal 32. Details of the input / output unit 1440 will be described later.

[0240] In this embodiment, the temperature control unit 1442 adjusts the temperature inside the housing of the battery station 140. Examples of the temperature control unit 1442 include a fan, a water-cooled cooler, a heat exchanger, a heating device, and the like. The heat exchanger may be a water-cooled heat exchanger. The heating device may be a heater. When the temperature control unit 1442 includes a fan, the temperature control unit 1442 takes in outside air from an outside air inlet provided in the housing of the battery station 140, for example, and discharges the air inside the housing from an outlet provided in the housing.

[0241] In this embodiment, the buzzer 1444 notifies the user 30 of the state of the battery station 140. The buzzer 1444 may output a warning sound. The buzzer 1444 may output a warning designated by the main control board 1430 among a plurality of warning sounds with different warning patterns.

[0242] In this embodiment, the sensing unit 1446 acquires information indicating the state of the battery station 140. The sensing unit 1446 may include a plurality of types of sensors. Examples of the sensors included in the sensing unit 1446 include a temperature sensor, a vibration sensor, a leakage sensor, and the like. The sensing unit 1446 may form part of the measuring device 424.

[0243] In this embodiment, the maintenance door 1448 is arranged, for example, at the opening of the housing of the battery station 140 and is used for the maintenance management of the battery station 140 by the maintenance personnel of the battery station 140. The maintenance door 1448 may output information indicating the open / closed state to the main control board 1430. For example, when the maintenance door 1448 is opened, the maintenance door 1448 outputs a signal indicating that the maintenance door 1448 has been opened.

[0244] In this embodiment, the AC / DC charger 1460 charges the battery 20 electrically connected to the power connector 1462. The AC / DC charger 1460 adjusts at least one of the voltage and current applied to the battery 20 electrically connected to the power connector 1462 according to the instruction of the slot control board 1470.

[0245] In this embodiment, the power connector 1462 includes electrical terminals that are electrically connected to the power connector of the battery 20 when the battery 20 is housed in the charging unit 420. In this embodiment, the power connector 1462 is configured to be movable by the driving unit 1474. In other embodiments, the power connector 1462 may be fixed inside the charging unit 420.

[0246] In this embodiment, the slot control board 1470 controls the operations of each part of the charging unit 420. The slot control board 1470 may control the operation of the corresponding charging unit 420 according to the instruction from the main control board 1430. The slot control board 1470 may function as the control unit 440. The slot control board 1470 may function as the control unit 440 in cooperation with the main control board 1430.

[0247] The slot control board 1470 may transmit and receive information to and from the control unit of the battery 20 stored in the charging unit 420 via the communication connector 1472. For example, the slot control board 1470 can read the information stored in the storage unit of the battery 20. Also, the slot control board 1470 can write information to the storage unit of the battery 20.

[0248] In the present embodiment, the communication connector 1472 includes a communication terminal that is communicably connected to the communication connector of the battery 20 when the battery 20 is housed in the charging unit 420. The communication connector 1472 may be configured to be movable by the drive unit 1474 or may be fixed inside the charging unit 420.

[0249] In the present embodiment, the drive unit 1474 drives various movable members arranged in the charging unit 420. The drive unit 1474 may drive the above-described movable members according to an instruction from the slot control board 1470. Examples of the movable members include the power connector 1462, the communication connector 1472, the shutter 1476, the lock unit 1478, a removal prevention member arranged in the charging unit 420, and a mechanism for restraining the battery 20 arranged in the charging unit 420.

[0250] In the present embodiment, the shutter 1476 is arranged at an opening (not shown) of the charging unit 420 and controls whether the battery 20 can be accessed by the user 30. The shutter 1476 may control opening and closing according to an instruction from the slot control board 1470.

[0251] For example, when the shutter 1476 is in the open state, the user 30 can insert the battery 20 into the charging unit 420 or take out the battery 20 from the charging unit 420. On the other hand, when the shutter 1476 is in the closed state, the battery 20 cannot be inserted into the charging unit 420 or taken out from the charging unit 420.

[0252] In the present embodiment, the locking unit 1478 switches between the locked state and the unlocked state of the shutter 1476. The locking unit 1478 may switch between the locked state and the unlocked state of the shutter 1476 according to an instruction from the slot control board 1470.

[0253] In the present embodiment, the temperature adjustment unit 1482 adjusts the temperature inside the charging unit 420. The temperature adjustment unit 1482 may adjust the temperature inside the charging unit 420 by cooling the inside of the charging unit 420. The temperature adjustment unit 1482 may adjust the temperature inside the charging unit 420 by cooling the outside of the charging unit 420. In the present embodiment, the temperature adjustment unit 1482 may adjust the temperature inside the charging unit 420 according to an instruction from the slot control board 1470. Examples of the temperature adjustment unit 1482 include a fan, a water-cooled cooler, a heat exchanger, a heating device, etc. The heat exchanger may be a water-cooled heat exchanger. The heating device may be a heater.

[0254] In the present embodiment, the temperatures inside the plurality of charging units 420 arranged in the battery station 140 may be independently adjusted. Among the plurality of charging units 420, the temperatures inside at least two charging units 420 may be independently adjusted.

[0255] According to one embodiment, the battery station 140 includes a plurality of temperature adjustment units 1482. The battery station 140 may include the same number of temperature adjustment units 1482 as the number of charging units 420, and a temperature adjustment unit 1482 may be arranged for each of the plurality of charging units 420. For example, when the temperature adjustment unit 1482 includes a fan, each of the plurality of charging units 420 sucks outside air from an intake port arranged in the battery accommodation chamber 422, and discharges the air inside the battery accommodation chamber 422 to the inside of the housing of the battery station 140 from an exhaust port arranged in the battery accommodation chamber 422. Each of the plurality of charging units 420 may suck the air inside the housing of the battery station 140 from an intake port arranged in the battery accommodation chamber 422.

[0256] According to another embodiment, each of the one or more temperature control units 1482 independently controls the temperature inside a plurality of charging units 420 corresponding to a single temperature control unit 1482. Thereby, for example, the temperature inside the plurality of charging units 420 is independently adjusted by a single fan.

[0257] For example, the battery station 140 includes a fan disposed outside the battery accommodation chamber 422 of the plurality of charging units 420 and a flow path for allowing air to flow by the above-described fan. The plurality of charging units 420 to be temperature-controlled by the above-described fan are disposed inside the above-described flow path. Each of the plurality of charging units 420 further includes an on-off valve (not shown) that adjusts the opening degree of an opening (not shown) formed in the battery accommodation chamber 422.

[0258] The on-off valve may open and close according to an instruction from the main control board 1430, which is an example of the control unit 440 or the charge / discharge control unit 444. The on-off valve may also open and close according to an instruction from the slot control board 1470 that has received an instruction from the main control board 1430. Thereby, the main control board 1430 can independently adjust the temperature inside the plurality of charging units 420 by a single fan by controlling the opening and closing or the opening degree of the on-off valve of each of the plurality of charging units 420.

[0259] The on-off valve may have a function as a check valve. Thereby, the air inside the flow path can be discharged to the outside of the flow path through the above-described opening, but the air outside the flow path cannot flow into the inside of the flow path through the above-described opening. Further, the above-described fan may be an example of the temperature control unit 1482 or may be an example of the temperature control unit 1442.

[0260] In this embodiment, the status display unit 1484 notifies the user 30 of the status of the charging unit 420. Examples of the status of the charging unit 420 include the presence or absence of the battery 20 and the presence or absence of abnormalities. The status display unit 1484 may notify the user 30 of the status of the charging unit 420 by, for example, a lighting pattern, a blinking pattern, or a display pattern specified by the slot control board 1470 among a plurality of lighting patterns, blinking patterns, or display patterns. Examples of the status display unit 1484 include an LED and a display.

[0261] In this embodiment, the sensing unit 1486 acquires information indicating the status of the charging unit 420. The sensing unit 1486 may include a plurality of types of sensors. Examples of the sensors included in the sensing unit 1486 include a temperature sensor, a voltage sensor, and a current sensor. For example, the sensing unit 1486 includes at least one of (i) a temperature sensor that measures the temperature inside the charging unit 420, the battery 20, or in the vicinity of the battery 20, (ii) a voltage sensor that measures the voltage of the power connector 1462, and (iii) a current sensor that measures the current flowing through the power connector 1462. The sensing unit 1486 may constitute at least a part of the measuring device 424.

[0262] The main control board 1430 may be an example of a control device. The slot control board 1470 may be an example of a control device. It may be an example of the charging unit 420. The sensing unit 1486 may be an example of the measuring device 424. The AC / DC charger 1460 may be an example of the charging circuit 426. The main control board 1430 may be an example of the control unit 440. The main control board 1430 may be an example of the charge and discharge control unit 444. The slot control board 1470 may be an example of the control unit 440. The slot control board 1470 may be an example of the charge and discharge control unit 444.

[0263] The main control board 1430 may be an example of a temperature acquisition unit. The temperature of the battery 22 acquired by the main control board 1430 may be an example of one of the first temperature and the second temperature. The temperature of the battery 24 acquired by the main control board 1430 may be an example of the other of the first temperature and the second temperature. The main control board 1430 may be an example of a temperature control unit.

[0264] [Example of another embodiment] In this embodiment, taking the case where the main control board 1430 functions as an example of the control unit 440 or the charge and discharge control unit 444 as an example, the details of the temperature adjustment method in the control unit 440 or the charge and discharge control unit 444 have been described. However, the control unit 440 or the charge and discharge control unit 444 is not limited to the main control board 1430. In other embodiments, the main control board 1430 and at least one of the slot control board 1470 and the input / output unit 1440 cooperate to function as the control unit 440 or the charge and discharge control unit 444.

[0265] FIG. 15 schematically shows an example of the internal configuration of the input / output unit 1440. In this embodiment, the input / output unit 1440 includes an AC / DC power supply 1514, a service outlet 1516, a CPU board 1520, an Ethernet interface 1530 which is a communication interface of Ethernet (registered trademark), an NFC reader 1542, a camera 1544, a touch panel 1552, a display 1554, and a speaker 1556.

[0266] In this embodiment, the AC / DC power supply 1514 functions as a power supply for supplying control power. The AC / DC power supply 1514 receives power from the power grid, for example, via an uninterruptible power supply device. The AC / DC power supply 1514 converts the received AC power from the power grid into DC power having an appropriate voltage. The AC / DC power supply 1514 supplies the converted DC power to the CPU board 1520.

[0267] In this embodiment, the service outlet 1516 supplies power to devices external to the battery station 140. The service outlet 1516 receives power from the power grid, for example, via an uninterruptible power supply. The service outlet 1516 may control the supply of power to external devices according to instructions from the CPU board 1520. The service outlet 1516 may transmit information regarding the power supplied to external devices to the CPU board 1520.

[0268] The CPU board 1520 controls the operations of each part of the input / output unit 1440. The CPU board 1520 may function as the control unit 440. The CPU board 1520 may function as the control unit 440 in cooperation with the main control board 1430.

[0269] In this embodiment, the Ethernet interface 1530 is connected to the communication network 10 via, for example, a router. The Ethernet interface 1530 may function as a communication interface.

[0270] In this embodiment, the NFC reader 1542 transmits and receives information to and from the communication terminal 32 via short-range wireless communication. The NFC reader 1542 may function as a communication interface.

[0271] In this embodiment, the camera 1544 images the user 30. The camera 1544 may function as a user interface.

[0272] In this embodiment, the touch panel 1552 receives touch inputs from the user 30. The touch panel 1552 may function as a user interface. In this embodiment, the display 1554 presents information to the user 30 by outputting an image. The display 1554 may function as a user interface. In this embodiment, the speaker 1556 presents information to the user 30 by outputting sound. The speaker 1556 may function as a user interface.

[0273] [Another Embodiment of Temperature Control of Battery 20] In the embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 13, for example, when the power storage amounts of battery 22 and battery 24 are different, battery station 140 is controlled so that the charging modes of battery 22 and battery 24 are different, and the temperatures of battery 22 and battery 24 are adjusted. As an example, the details of battery station 140 were described. As described above, battery 22 and battery 24 may be an example of a plurality of batteries 20 stored in battery station 140.

[0274] However, the temperature adjustment procedure for battery 22 and battery 24 is not limited to the above embodiment. In other embodiments, when the temperatures of battery 22 and battery 24 are different, battery station 140 may be controlled so that the temperature adjustment modes of battery 22 and battery 24 are different, thereby adjusting the temperatures of battery 22 and battery 24.

[0275] With reference to FIGS. 16, 17, 18, and 19, an example of a method for adjusting the temperatures of battery 22 and battery 24 by adjusting the temperature adjustment modes of battery 22 and battery 24 is described. FIG. 16 schematically shows an example of temperature variation of battery 20 in another example of the charging procedure of battery 20. FIG. 17 schematically shows an example of control of slot 420 that houses battery 24. FIG. 18 schematically shows an example of control of slot 420 that houses battery 22. FIG. 19 schematically shows an example of the operation of battery station 140 in another example of the charging procedure of battery 20.

[0276] FIG. 16 shows another example of the temperature adjustment method for batteries 22 and 24 when batteries 22 and 24 are charged, similar to the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 2. FIG. 16 shows the voltage fluctuations 220 of batteries 22 and 24 and the temperature fluctuations 1640 of batteries 22 and 24. In FIG. 16, the dotted line 1642 indicates the temperature fluctuation of battery 22. Also, the solid line 244 indicates the temperature fluctuation of battery 24. Note that in FIG. 16, it should be noted that there may be cases where line segments that actually overlap are shown separated due to limitations in the graphical representation.

[0277] [Voltage Fluctuations During Charging] In the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 16, batteries 22 and 24 are charged in the same manner as the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 2. That is, the voltage fluctuations during charging may be the same as those in the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 2.

[0278] [Temperature Fluctuations During Charging] As shown in FIG. 16, at a time before time tpc, the temperatures of batteries 22 and 24 are Tfa [°C]. As described in relation to FIG. 2, the charging of battery 22 starts at time t0. Therefore, in this embodiment, the cooling of battery 22 starts at time tpc before time t0. As a result, during the period from time tpc to time t0, the temperature of battery 22 decreases. As a result, at time t0, the temperature of battery 22 becomes Tpc [°C]. Note that Tpc < Tfa.

[0279] Thereafter, when the charging of the battery 22 starts at time t0, the temperature of the battery 22 rises. The rate of increase in the temperature of the battery 22 is a value corresponding to the charging rate and the cooling rate of the battery 22. In the present embodiment, the battery 22 is charged at a substantially constant charging rate from time t0 to time t3. Therefore, the temperature of the battery 22 rises at a substantially constant rate from time t0 to time t3. As a result, at time t3, the temperature of the battery 22 becomes Tfc [°C]. After the charging of the battery 22 is completed at time t3, the temperature of the battery 22 gradually decreases. Then, at time t4 when an arbitrary time has elapsed from t3, the temperature of the battery 22 becomes Tfb [°C].

[0280] On the other hand, as shown by the solid line 244, until the charging of the battery 24 starts at time t1, the temperature of the battery 24 is Tfa [°C]. When the charging of the battery 24 starts at time t1, the temperature of the battery 24 gradually rises. In the present embodiment, the battery 24 is charged at a substantially constant charging rate from time t1 to time t3.

[0281] Thereby, the temperature of the battery 24 rises at a substantially constant rate from time t1 to time t3. As a result, at time t3, the temperature of the battery 24 becomes Tfc [°C]. After the charging of the battery 24 is completed at time t3, the temperature of the battery 24 gradually decreases. Then, at time t4, the temperature of the battery 24 becomes Tfb [°C]. Thereby, the temperatures of the battery 22 and the battery 24 are adjusted so that the temperatures of the battery 22 and the battery 24 are substantially the same when the charging of the battery 22 and the battery 24 is completed.

[0282] According to the present embodiment, compared with the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 2, the temperature difference between the battery 22 and the battery 24 when the charging of the battery 22 and the battery 24 is completed becomes smaller. Further, according to the present embodiment, it is not necessary to wait until the temperature of the battery 22 decreases after the voltages of the battery 22 and the battery 24 become substantially the same, as in the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 10.

[0283] [Procedure for determining tpc] The time tpc is determined such that the temperatures of the batteries 22 and 24 become substantially the same when the charging of the batteries 22 and 24 is completed. For example, the time tpc is determined such that the temperatures of the batteries 22 and 24 become substantially the same at the time t1 when the charging of the battery 24 with a larger amount of stored power starts. The main control board 1430 may determine the cooling mode of the battery 22 such that the temperature of the battery 22 becomes Tpc at the time t0. Examples of the cooling mode include the cooling method, the cooling intensity, the length of the cooling period, the cooling start time, and the cooling end time.

[0284] For example, the main control board 1430 as the control unit 440 or the charge / discharge control unit 444 first predicts the temperature rise of the battery 22 during the period from the time t0 to the time t1. As described above, during the above period, the voltage of the battery 22 changes from the state where the OCV is V AO [V] to the state where the CCV is V BC [V]. According to the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 16, during the above period, it is expected that the temperature of the battery 22 will rise while the battery 22 is cooled by the temperature adjustment unit 1482.

[0285] Next, the main control board 1430 determines the target time tpc such that the temperature drop amount of the battery 22 during the period from the time tpc to the time t0 is equal to or greater than the predicted value of the temperature rise of the battery 22 during the period from the time t0 to the time t1. When the target time tpc is determined, the main control board 1430 determines the cooling mode of the battery 22 such that the temperature of the battery 22 becomes Tpc during the period from the time tpc to the time t0. Note that the cooling mode may be an example of the temperature adjustment mode.

[0286] In another embodiment, the main control board 1430 as the control unit 440 or the charge / discharge control unit 444 determines the length Δt of the period between the time t0 when the charging of the battery 22 with less stored power starts and the time tpc, based on the degree of temperature rise of the battery 22 accompanying the charging of the battery 22. The degree of the above temperature rise is determined based on, for example, the internal resistance of the battery 22, the charging rate, the planned value of the time variation of the charging rate (which may be referred to as a charging profile). Δt may be determined based on the degree of temperature rise of the battery 22 accompanying the charging of the battery 22 and the temperature drop due to heat dissipation. In this case, Δt is determined based on the internal resistance of the battery 22, the charging rate, the charging profile, the outside air temperature, the internal temperature of the housing of the battery station 140, and the like.

[0287] If the temperature of the battery 22 drops to Tpc before the time t0, the cooling of the battery 22 may be stopped at that point, or the cooling of the battery 24 may be started while the cooling of the battery 22 continues. If the temperature of the battery 22 does not drop to Tpc even at the time t0, the start time of charging the battery 24 may be delayed until the temperature of the battery 22 reaches Tpc, or the battery 24 may be heated.

[0288] Note that the time t0 is determined, for example, at the time t2 or the time t3 so that the charging of the battery 22 is completed. The time t1 is determined, for example, at the time t2 or the time t3 so that the charging of the battery 24 is completed.

[0289] [An example of another embodiment] In this embodiment, as an example, a case where the power storage amounts of the batteries 22 and 24 are different and the temperatures of the batteries 22 and 24 are substantially the same at time tpc is described, and an example of a procedure for adjusting the temperatures of the batteries 22 and 24 is explained. However, the procedure for adjusting the temperatures of the batteries 22 and 24 is not limited to this embodiment. In other embodiments, at time tpc, when the power storage amounts of the batteries 22 and 24 are substantially the same and the temperatures of the batteries 22 and 24 are different, the cooling intensity of the battery with the higher temperature is made greater than the cooling intensity of the battery with the lower temperature, and the cooling of the batteries 22 and 24 is controlled. For example, at time tpc, while the cooling of the battery with the lower temperature remains stopped, the cooling of the battery with the higher temperature is started.

[0290] In this embodiment, as an example, a case where the power storage amounts of the batteries 22 and 24 are different and the temperatures of the batteries 22 and 24 are substantially the same at time tpc is described, and an example of a procedure for adjusting the temperatures of the batteries 22 and 24 is explained. However, the procedure for adjusting the temperatures of the batteries 22 and 24 is not limited to this embodiment. In other embodiments, at time tpc, the power storage amounts of the batteries 22 and 24 may be different and the temperatures of the batteries 22 and 24 may also be different.

[0291] In this embodiment, as an example, a case where at least one of the batteries 22 and 24 is cooled is described, and an example of a procedure for adjusting the temperatures of the batteries 22 and 24 is explained. However, the procedure for adjusting the temperatures of the batteries 22 and 24 is not limited to this embodiment. In other embodiments, the temperatures of the batteries 22 and 24 are adjusted by heating at least one of the batteries 22 and 24. Even in this case, at least one of the cooling and heating of the batteries 22 and 24 can be controlled so that the temperatures of the batteries 22 and 24 become substantially the same at time t1, t2, or t3.

[0292] FIG. 17 schematically shows an example of the control of the slot 420 that houses the battery 24. FIG. 17 shows the control profile 1742 of the AC / DC charger 1460 of the battery 24 and the control profile 1744 of the temperature regulator 1482 of the battery 24. The operations of the AC / DC charger 1460 and the temperature regulator 1482 are controlled by, for example, the main control board 1430.

[0293] According to this embodiment, in the period before time t1, the AC / DC charger 1460 of the battery 24 is controlled to be OFF. At time t1, the AC / DC charger 1460 of the battery 24 turns ON, and at time t3, the AC / DC charger 1460 of the battery 24 turns OFF.

[0294] According to this embodiment, in the period before time t1, the temperature regulator 1482 of the battery 24 is controlled to be OFF. At time t1, the temperature regulator 1482 of the battery 24 turns ON.

[0295] FIG. 18 schematically shows an example of the control of the slot 420 that houses the battery 22. FIG. 18 shows the control profile 1842 of the AC / DC charger 1460 of the battery 22 and the control profile 1844 of the temperature regulator 1482 of the battery 22. The operations of the AC / DC charger 1460 and the temperature regulator 1482 are controlled by, for example, the main control board 1430.

[0296] According to this embodiment, in the period before time t0, the AC / DC charger 1460 of the battery 22 is controlled to be OFF. At time t0, the AC / DC charger 1460 of the battery 22 turns ON, and at time t3, the AC / DC charger 1460 of the battery 22 turns OFF.

[0297] According to this embodiment, in the period before time tpc, the temperature regulator 1482 of the battery 22 is controlled to be OFF. At time tpc, the temperature regulator 1482 of the battery 24 turns ON.

[0298] FIG. 19 schematically shows an example of the operation of the battery station 140 in another example of the charging procedure of the battery 20. The embodiment described in relation to FIG. 19 is different from the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 5 in that S1912, S1914, and S1916 are implemented between S510 and S520 in the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 5. Regarding features other than the above differences, the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 19 may have the same configuration as the embodiment described in relation to FIG. 5.

[0299] According to this embodiment, in S1912, a cooling plan for the plurality of batteries 20 is determined. The cooling plan for the plurality of batteries 20 may be determined based on the charging plan for the plurality of batteries 20 determined in S510. For example, the cooling start time of the battery 22 is determined based on the charging start time of the battery 22 and the temperature adjustment ability of the temperature adjustment unit 1482 of the battery 22. The cooling start time of the battery 22 may be earlier than the charging start time of the battery 22. Also, for the battery 24 paired with the battery 22, it may be determined to start cooling simultaneously with the start of charging.

[0300] Next, in S1914, it is determined whether the cooling start time of each of the plurality of batteries 20 has arrived. For example, when it is determined that the cooling start time of the battery 22 has arrived (Yes in S1914), in S1916, the cooling of the battery 22 is started. Thereafter, in S520, when it is determined that the cooling start time of the battery 22 has arrived, in S522, the charging of the battery 22 is started. Thereby, the temperatures of the battery 22 and the battery 24 are adjusted.

[0301] [An example of another embodiment] In this embodiment, as an example of a case where the temperatures of battery 22 and battery 24 at the time of completion of charging of battery 22 and battery 24 are adjusted by adjusting the cooling start time of battery 22 and the charging start time of battery 22, an example of a temperature adjustment method for battery 22 and battery 24 was described. However, the temperature adjustment method for battery 22 and battery 24 is not limited to this embodiment.

[0302] In other embodiments, the temperatures of battery 22 and battery 24 at the time of completion of charging of battery 22 and battery 24 may be adjusted by adjusting the cooling intensity of battery 22 and the cooling intensity of battery 24. In still other embodiments, the temperatures of battery 22 and battery 24 at the time of completion of charging of battery 22 and battery 24 may be adjusted by a combination of the cooling start time and the cooling intensity.

[0303] FIG. 20 shows an example of a computer 3000 in which a plurality of aspects of the present invention may be embodied in whole or in part. A part of the battery management system 100 may be realized by the computer 3000. For example, at least a part of the battery station 140 may be realized by the computer 3000. At least a part of the control unit 440 may be realized by the computer 3000, and at least a part of the charge / discharge control unit 444 may be realized by the computer 3000.

[0304] At least a part of the main control board 1430 described in relation to FIG. 14 may be realized by the computer 3000. The main control board 1430 may be realized by at least a part of the computer 3000. At least a part of the input / output unit 1440 described in relation to FIG. 14 may be realized by the computer 3000. The input / output unit 1440 may be realized by at least a part of the computer 3000.

[0305] The program installed in the computer 3000 can cause the computer 3000 to function as an operation associated with the device according to the embodiment of the present invention or as one or more "parts" of the device, or to execute the operation or the one or more "parts", and / or can cause the computer 3000 to execute the process according to the embodiment of the present invention or a stage of the process. Such a program may be executed by the CPU 3012 to cause the computer 3000 to execute specific operations associated with some or all of the blocks of the flowcharts and block diagrams described herein.

[0306] The computer 3000 according to this embodiment includes a CPU 3012, a RAM 3014, a GPU 3016, and a display device 3018, which are interconnected by a host controller 3010. The computer 3000 also includes input / output units such as a communication interface 3022, a hard disk drive 3024, a DVD-ROM drive 3026, and an IC card drive, which are connected to the host controller 3010 via an input / output controller 3020. The computer also includes legacy input / output units such as a ROM 3030 and a keyboard 3042, which are connected to the input / output controller 3020 via an input / output chip 3040.

[0307] The CPU 3012 operates according to programs stored in the ROM 3030 and the RAM 3014, thereby controlling each unit. The GPU 3016 acquires image data generated by the CPU 3012 in a frame buffer or the like provided in the RAM 3014 or in itself, and causes the image data to be displayed on the display device 3018.

[0308] The communication interface 3022 communicates with other electronic devices via a network. The hard disk drive 3024 stores programs and data used by the CPU 3012 in the computer 3000. The DVD-ROM drive 3026 reads programs or data from the DVD-ROM 3001 and provides the programs or data to the hard disk drive 3024 via the RAM 3014. The IC card drive reads programs and data from the IC card and / or writes programs and data to the IC card.

[0309] The ROM 3030 stores therein a boot program or the like executed by the computer 3000 when activated, and / or a program dependent on the hardware of the computer 3000. The input / output chip 3040 may also connect various input / output units to the input / output controller 3020 via a parallel port, a serial port, a keyboard port, a mouse port, etc.

[0310] The program is provided by a computer-readable storage medium such as the DVD-ROM 3001 or an IC card. The program is read from the computer-readable storage medium, installed in the hard disk drive 3024, the RAM 3014, or the ROM 3030, which is also an example of a computer-readable storage medium, and executed by the CPU 3012. The information processing described in these programs is read by the computer 3000, resulting in the cooperation between the programs and the various types of hardware resources described above. The device or method may be configured by realizing the operation or processing of information according to the use of the computer 3000.

[0311] For example, when communication is executed between the computer 3000 and an external device, the CPU 3012 may execute a communication program loaded in the RAM 3014 and instruct the communication interface 3022 to perform communication processing based on the processing described in the communication program. Under the control of the CPU 3012, the communication interface 3022 reads transmission data stored in a transmission buffer area provided in a recording medium such as the RAM 3014, the hard disk drive 3024, the DVD-ROM 3001, or an IC card, transmits the read transmission data to the network, or writes the received data received from the network to a reception buffer area or the like provided on the recording medium.

[0312] Further, the CPU 3012 may cause all or a necessary part of a file or database stored in an external recording medium such as the hard disk drive 3024, the DVD-ROM drive 3026 (DVD-ROM 3001), or an IC card to be read into the RAM 3014, and may execute various types of processing on the data on the RAM 3014. The CPU 3012 may then write back the processed data to the external recording medium.

[0313] Various types of information such as various types of programs, data, tables, and databases may be stored in a recording medium and may undergo information processing. The CPU 3012 may perform various types of processing on the data read from the RAM 3014, including various types of operations, information processing, conditional judgments, conditional branches, unconditional branches, information search / replacement, etc. described throughout this disclosure and specified by the instruction sequence of the program, and write back the results to the RAM 3014. Also, the CPU 3012 may search for information in files, databases, etc. within the recording medium. For example, when a plurality of entries each having an attribute value of a first attribute associated with an attribute value of a second attribute are stored in the recording medium, the CPU 3012 searches for an entry that matches the condition where the attribute value of the first attribute is specified among the plurality of entries, reads the attribute value of the second attribute stored in the entry, and thereby may obtain the attribute value of the second attribute associated with the first attribute that satisfies a predetermined condition.

[0314] The program or software module described above may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium on or near the computer 3000. Also, a recording medium such as a hard disk or RAM provided within a server system connected to a dedicated communication network or the Internet can be used as a computer-readable storage medium, thereby providing the above program to the computer 3000 via the network.

[0315] The blocks in the flowcharts and block diagrams in the above embodiments may represent stages of a process in which an operation is performed or "parts" of a device that performs a role in performing an operation. A particular stage and "part" may be implemented by a dedicated circuit, a programmable circuit supplied with computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium, and / or a processor supplied with computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium. The dedicated circuit may include digital and / or analog hardware circuits, and may include integrated circuits (ICs) and / or discrete circuits. The programmable circuit may include, for example, a reconfigurable hardware circuit including logical products, logical sums, exclusive logical sums, negative logical products, negative logical sums, and other logical operations, flip-flops, registers, and memory elements, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) and a programmable logic array (PLA).

[0316] The computer-readable storage medium may include any tangible device capable of storing instructions executable by an appropriate device, and as a result, a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored therein will comprise a product including instructions executable to create means for performing the operations specified in the flowchart or block diagram. Examples of computer-readable storage media may include electronic storage media, magnetic storage media, optical storage media, electromagnetic storage media, semiconductor storage media, and the like. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media may include floppy (registered trademark) disks, diskettes, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), static random access memory (SRAM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disc (DVD), Blu-ray (registered trademark) disc, memory stick, integrated circuit card, and the like.

[0317] Computer-readable instructions may include any combination of one or more programming languages, including assembly instructions, instruction set architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine-dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or object-oriented programming languages such as Smalltalk®, JAVA®, C++, and conventional procedural programming languages such as the "C" programming language or similar programming languages, either source code or object code written in such languages.

[0318] Computer-readable instructions may be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, or a programmable circuit, locally or via a wide area network (WAN) such as a local area network (LAN), the Internet, etc., to execute the computer-readable instructions to generate means for performing the operations specified in a flowchart or block diagram. Examples of processors include computer processors, processing units, microprocessors, digital signal processors, controllers, microcontrollers, etc.

[0319] As described above, the present invention has been described using embodiments, but the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes or improvements can be made to the above embodiments. Also, within a technically consistent range, matters described for a specific embodiment can be applied to other embodiments. It is clear from the claims that forms with such changes or improvements can also be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

[0320] In the claims, the specification, and the drawings, the execution order of each process such as operations, procedures, steps, and stages in the apparatus, system, program, and method shown is not explicitly indicated as "earlier" or "preceding" etc. in particular. It should be noted that, unless the output of the previous process is used in the subsequent process, it can be realized in any order. Regarding the operation flows in the claims, the specification, and the drawings, even if, for convenience, explanations are made using "first," "next," etc., it does not mean that it is essential to implement in this order.

Description of Reference Signs

[0321] 10 Communication network, 20 Battery, 22 Battery, 24 Battery, 30 User, 32 Communication terminal, 34 Electric motorcycle, 100 Battery management system, 120 Management server, 140 Battery station, 220 Voltage fluctuation, 222 Dashed line, 224 Solid line, 226 Dash-dotted line, 240 Temperature fluctuation, 242 Dashed line, 244 Solid line, 246 Dash-dotted line, 310 State monitoring unit, 320 Battery management unit, 330 Reservation management unit, 340 Storage unit, 342 Battery information storage unit, 344 Station information storage unit, 346 User information storage unit, 420 Charging unit (slot), 422 Battery storage chamber, 424 Measuring device, 426 Charging circuit, 440 Control unit, 442 Communication control unit, 444 Charge and discharge control unit, 446 Lending management unit, 448 Storage unit, 720 Voltage fluctuation, 740 Temperature fluctuation, 920 Voltage fluctuation, 940 Temperature fluctuation, 1020 Voltage fluctuation, 1040 Temperature fluctuation, 1220 Voltage fluctuation, 1240 Temperature fluctuation, 1410 Breaker, 1412 Power line, 1414 AC / DC power supply, 1416 Distributor, 1418 Power line, 1430 Main control board, 1432 Communication hub, 1434 Communication line, 1440 Input / output unit, 1442 Temperature adjustment unit, 1444 Buzzer, 1446 Sense unit, 1448 Maintenance door, 1460 AC / DC charger, 1462 Power connector, 1470 Slot control board, 1472 Communication connector, 1474 Driving unit, 1476 Shutter, 1478 Lock unit, 1482 Temperature adjustment unit, 1484 Status display unit, 1486 Sense unit, 1514 AC / DC power supply, 1516 Service outlet, 1520 CPU board, 1530 Ethernet interface 1542 NFC reader, 1544 Camera, 1552 Touch panel, 1554 Display, 1556 Speaker, 1640 Temperature fluctuation, 1642 Dashed line, 1742 Control profile, 1744 Control profile, 1842 Control profile, 1844 Control profile, 3000 Computer, 3001 DVD-ROM, 3010 Host controller, 3012 CPU, 3014 RAM, 3016 GPU, 3018 Display device, 3020 Input / output controller, 3022 Communication interface, 3024 Hard disk drive, 3026DVD-ROM drive, 3030 ROM, 3040 input / output chip, 3042 keyboard

Claims

1. A control device for controlling a charging device configured to be able to charge a plurality of power storage devices including a first power storage device and a second power storage device, a power storage amount acquisition unit that acquires information regarding the power storage amount of each of the first power storage device and the second power storage device, a charging control unit that controls the charging device to charge the first power storage device and the second power storage device, comprising: the charging control unit, when the first power storage amount, which is the power storage amount of the first power storage device acquired by the power storage amount acquisition unit, is different from the second power storage amount, which is the power storage amount of the second power storage device acquired by the power storage amount acquisition unit, controls the charging device so that the charging modes of the first power storage device and the second power storage device are different, the charging device further comprises a temperature adjustment unit that adjusts the temperature of at least one of the first power storage device and the second power storage device, the control device, a temperature control unit that controls the temperature adjustment unit, further comprising: the temperature control unit, when the first power storage amount and the second power storage amount acquired by the power storage amount acquisition unit are different, [[ID=1 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ The second timing is a timing after a third timing at which a value obtained by subtracting the first stored power amount from the second stored power amount becomes smaller than a predetermined first threshold value. The first threshold value is 0 or a positive number. The control device according to claim 2.

5. The charge control unit stops charging the first power storage device at the third timing. The control device according to claim 4.

6. The charge control unit re-starts charging the first power storage device and (ii) starts charging the second power storage device at the second timing. The control device according to claim 5.

7. The charge control unit when the first stored power amount is smaller than the second stored power amount, controls the charging device such that a first speed, which is a charging speed of the first power storage device, becomes greater than a second speed, which is a charging speed of the second power storage device. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. The charge control unit determines the first speed and the second speed such that a length of a period between a time when the first stored power amount reaches a predetermined first target value and a time when the second stored power amount reaches the first target value is equal to or smaller than a predetermined second threshold value. The control device according to claim 7.

9. The charge control unit when the first stored power amount is smaller than the second stored power amount, controls the charging device such that a time when the first stored power amount reaches a predetermined second target value comes after a time when the second stored power amount reaches the second target value. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. The charge control unit stops charging the second power storage device at a fourth timing at which an absolute value of a difference between the second stored power amount and the second target value becomes equal to or smaller than a predetermined third threshold value. The control device according to claim 9.

11. The charge control unit re-starts charging the second power storage device at a fifth timing which is a time after the fourth timing and at which an absolute value of a difference between the first stored power amount and the second target value becomes equal to or smaller than a predetermined fourth threshold value. The control device according to claim 10.

12. The charge control unit when the second stored power amount is greater than the first stored power amount, Before the first stored power reaches a third target value determined in advance, the charging device is controlled so that the second stored power reaches the third target value determined in advance. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

13. The control start timing and / or the control end timing of the charging device by the charging control unit are different from the control start timing and / or the control end timing of the temperature adjustment unit by the temperature control unit. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

14. The temperature control unit controls the temperature adjustment unit so that the control start timing of the temperature adjustment unit is earlier than the control start timing of the charging device. The control device according to claim 13.

15. The charging control unit controls the charging device so that the control start timing of the charging device is later than the control start timing of the temperature adjustment unit. The control device according to claim 13.

16. The stored power is at least one of (i) the dischargeable power amount [Wh], (ii) the charged amount or the remaining capacity [Ah], (iii) the charging rate or the state of charge (SOC) [%], (iv) the terminal voltage [V], and (iv) the potential with respect to the reference potential [V]. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 15.

17. The charging mode is determined by a setting related to at least one of the charging period and the charging speed. The setting related to the charging period includes matters related to at least one of the start period of the charging period, the end period of the charging period, and the length of the charging period. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

18. Each of the first power storage device and the second power storage device is configured to be detachable from a power device that operates by consuming the power supplied from each of the first power storage device and the second power storage device. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 17.

19. A control device for controlling a charging device configured to be able to charge a plurality of power storage devices including a first power storage device and a second power storage device, A stored power amount acquisition unit that acquires information regarding the stored power amount of each of the first power storage device and the second power storage device; A charging control unit that controls the charging device to charge the first power storage device and the second power storage device. Comprising The charging control unit When the first power storage amount, which is the power storage amount of the first power storage device acquired by the power storage amount acquisition unit, is smaller than the second power storage amount, which is the power storage amount of the second power storage device acquired by the power storage amount acquisition unit, control the charging device so that the time point when the first power storage amount reaches a second target value determined in advance is later than the time point when the second power storage amount reaches the second target value, stop charging the second power storage device at a fourth timing when the absolute value of the difference between the second power storage amount and the second target value becomes equal to or smaller than a third threshold value determined in advance, Control device.

20. A control device for controlling a charging device configured to be able to charge a plurality of power storage devices including a first power storage device and a second power storage device, a power storage amount acquisition unit that acquires information regarding the power storage amounts of the first power storage device and the second power storage device respectively; a charging control unit that controls the charging device to charge the first power storage device and the second power storage device, comprising, the charging control unit, when the first power storage amount, which is the power storage amount of the first power storage device acquired by the power storage amount acquisition unit, is smaller than the second power storage amount, which is the power storage amount of the second power storage device acquired by the power storage amount acquisition unit, control the charging device so that a first timing, which is the start time point of charging of the first power storage device, is earlier than a second timing, which is the start time point of charging of the second power storage device, the second timing is a timing later than a third timing when (i) a value obtained by subtracting the first power storage amount from the second power storage amount, or (ii) the absolute value of the difference between the first power storage amount and the second power storage amount becomes smaller than a first threshold value determined in advance, stop charging the first power storage device at the third timing, Control device.

21. A control device for controlling a charging device configured to be able to charge a plurality of power storage devices including a first power storage device and a second power storage device, a power storage amount acquisition unit that acquires information regarding the power storage amounts of the first power storage device and the second power storage device respectively; a charging control unit that controls the charging device to charge the first power storage device and the second power storage device, comprising, the charging control unit, when the first power storage amount, which is the power storage amount of the first power storage device acquired by the power storage amount acquisition unit, is different from the second power storage amount, which is the power storage amount of the second power storage device acquired by the power storage amount acquisition unit, Control the charging device so that the charging mode of the first power storage device and the charging mode of the second power storage device are different. The charging device further includes a temperature adjustment unit that adjusts the temperature of at least one of the first power storage device and the second power storage device. The control device is A temperature control unit that controls the temperature adjustment unit And further includes The temperature control unit is When the first stored power amount is smaller than the second stored power amount Control the temperature adjustment unit so that cooling of the first power storage device is started at a time point before the start time of charging of the first power storage device. Control device.

22. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 21, and One or more charging units that charge the first power storage device and the second power storage device A charging device comprising

23. A control method for controlling a charging device configured to be able to charge a plurality of power storage devices including a first power storage device and a second power storage device, comprising: A stored power amount acquisition step of acquiring information regarding the stored power amount of each of the first power storage device and the second power storage device; A charging control step of controlling the charging device to charge the first power storage device and the second power storage device; A temperature control step of performing control to adjust the temperature of at least one of the first power storage device and the second power storage device; And having The charging control step is When the first stored power amount which is the stored power amount of the first power storage device acquired in the stored power amount acquisition step and the second stored power amount which is the stored power amount of the second power storage device acquired in the stored power amount acquisition step are different Control the charging device so that the charging mode of the first power storage device and the charging mode of the second power storage device are different. The temperature control step is When the first stored power amount and the second stored power amount acquired in the stored power amount acquisition step are different Control so that the temperature adjustment mode of the first power storage device and the temperature adjustment mode of the second power storage device are different. The control method is A temperature acquisition step of acquiring information regarding the temperature of each of the first power storage device and the second power storage device; And further having The temperature control step controls so that a first temperature which is the temperature of the first power storage device acquired in the temperature acquisition step and a second temperature which is the temperature of the second power storage device acquired in the temperature acquisition step become substantially the same at a sixth timing which is a time point when the first stored power amount and the second stored power amount become substantially the same. Control method. A control method for controlling a charging device configured to be capable of charging a plurality of power storage devices including a first power storage device and a second power storage device, comprising: a power storage amount acquisition step of acquiring information on the power storage amount of each of the first power storage device and the second power storage device; a charging control step of controlling the charging device to charge the first power storage device and the second power storage device; and having: the charging control step includes: when a first power storage amount, which is the power storage amount of the first power storage device acquired in the power storage amount acquisition step, is smaller than a second power storage amount, which is the power storage amount of the second power storage device acquired in the power storage amount acquisition step, controlling the charging device such that a time point at which the first power storage amount reaches a predetermined second target value is later than a time point at which the second power storage amount reaches the second target value; stopping charging of the second power storage device at a fourth timing when an absolute value of a difference between the second power storage amount and the second target value becomes equal to or smaller than a predetermined third threshold value; a control method. A control method for controlling a charging device configured to be capable of charging a plurality of power storage devices including a first power storage device and a second power storage device, comprising: a power storage amount acquisition step of acquiring information on the power storage amount of each of the first power storage device and the second power storage device; a charging control step of controlling the charging device to charge the first power storage device and the second power storage device; and having: the charging control step includes: when a first power storage amount, which is the power storage amount of the first power storage device acquired in the power storage amount acquisition step, is smaller than a second power storage amount, which is the power storage amount of the second power storage device acquired in the power storage amount acquisition step, controlling the charging device such that a first timing, which is a charging start time point of the first power storage device, is earlier than a second timing, which is a charging start time point of the second power storage device; the second timing is a timing later than a third timing at which (i) a value obtained by subtracting the first power storage amount from the second power storage amount, or (ii) an absolute value of a difference between the first power storage amount and the second power storage amount becomes smaller than a predetermined first threshold value; stopping charging of the first power storage device at the third timing; a control method. A control method for controlling a charging device configured to be capable of charging a plurality of power storage devices including a first power storage device and a second power storage device, comprising: A battery charge amount acquisition step of acquiring information on the charge amount of each of the first battery device and the second battery device; A charge control step of controlling the charging device to charge the first battery device and the second battery device; A temperature control step of performing control to adjust the temperature of at least one of the first battery device and the second battery device; comprising; The charge control step includes: When the first charge amount, which is the charge amount of the first battery device acquired in the charge amount acquisition step, and the second charge amount, which is the charge amount of the second battery device acquired in the charge amount acquisition step, are different, controlling the charging device so that the charging modes of the first battery device and the second battery device are different; The temperature control step includes: When the first charge amount is smaller than the second charge amount, controlling to start cooling of the first battery device at a time point before the start time of charging of the first battery device; A control method.

27. A program for causing a computer to function as the control device according to any one of Claims 1 to 21.

28. A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon the program according to Claim 27.

Images