Vehicle Charging System

Abstract

To shorten the charging time automatically in such a situation that charging congestion occurs and notify a user of the time of completion of charging at the start of charging.SOLUTION: A storage battery board 3 which is connected to a plurality of chargers 2 and includes a storage battery 31 comprises: an external communication unit 35 which communicates with a management server 4; and a camera 8 which images a vehicle waiting for charging, and the storage battery board transmits a photographed image of the camera 8 to the management server 4. The charger 2 has a display part 2a which displays the charging time. The management server 4 determines the presence / absence of charging congestion based on the photographed image information on the camera 8 transmitted from the storage battery board 3, and sets the charging time by the charger 2 to any of a first time and a second time shorter than the first time. When it is determined that the charging congestion has occurred, the management server sets the charging time of the charger 2 to the second time, and causes the display part 2a to display the charging time set by a time setting part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle charging system that includes a plurality of chargers for charging storage batteries mounted on vehicles. [Background technology]

[0002] Charging stations installed in service areas and the like for charging vehicles are becoming increasingly common, equipped with a high-power charging function that enables charging in a short period of time. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a system that includes multiple chargers and a centralized battery panel that supplies charging current to the chargers. By placing batteries on the centralized battery panel, it is possible to charge in high-speed mode using commercial power as well as the discharge power of the batteries. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-78235 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Chargers for vehicle charging installed in service areas on expressways and other locations are commonly operated in high-speed mode, using a rapid charging function to complete charging in 30 minutes when there are vehicles waiting to be charged, as mentioned above. However, switching between normal and high-speed charging modes required the administrator to do the work, resulting in increased administrative workload. Furthermore, few users returned after 30 minutes, and vehicles remained connected to the charger for some time after charging was complete, preventing the 30-minute charging feature from functioning effectively. This situation occurred especially during busy periods such as Golden Week and the New Year holidays, even though people had to wait to charge, so improvement was desired.

[0005] In view of these problems, the present invention aims to provide a vehicle charging system that automatically shortens the charging time when charging congestion occurs, and also notifies the user at the start of charging that the time when charging will be completed. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problem, the invention of claim 1 is a vehicle charging system having a plurality of chargers that supply charging power to connected vehicles, a battery panel that is equipped with storage batteries and supplies the battery power to the chargers in addition to commercial power, and a management server that manages the battery panel via a communication network, wherein the battery panel has an AC / DC conversion unit that converts commercial power to direct current, a DC / AC conversion unit that supplies the output of the AC / DC conversion unit and the output of the storage batteries to the chargers, an external communication unit that communicates with the management server, and a camera that takes images of vehicles waiting to be charged and sends images taken by the camera to the management server, while the charger has a display unit that displays the charging time, and the management server further has a situation determination unit that determines whether or not there is a charging congestion based on the image information taken by the camera sent from the battery panel, and a time setting unit that sets the charging time by the charger to either a first time or a second time shorter than the first time, and when the situation determination unit determines that a charging congestion has occurred for the charger to be set, the time setting unit sets the charging time to the second time except in certain situations, and the display unit displays the charging time set by the time setting unit. With this configuration, charging time is controlled to be shorter when charging congestion occurs, except in certain circumstances, which reduces waiting time and is convenient for users, and also reduces the workload of administrators as they do not need to change the charging time. Furthermore, since the user can recognize the charging time when charging starts, it is easy to plan the time until charging is completed, and the number of users who do not return even after the charging time has passed can be reduced.

[0007] The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that, in the configuration described in claim 1, the charging mode of the charger when the second time is selected is high-power mode, and the charging mode of the charger also includes a low-power mode with lower output power than the high-power mode, the management server has a charging mode control unit that switches the charging mode of each charger between the high-power mode and the low-power mode, and if the remaining capacity of the storage battery in the battery panel is less than a predetermined amount, the charging mode control unit sets the charger to low-power mode regardless of whether there is a charging congestion, and charging is carried out during the first time. With this configuration, if a specific situation occurs where the remaining capacity of the storage battery in the storage battery panel is low, the charger output is reduced and the system switches to low-power mode, preventing increased use of commercial electricity and preventing increases in electricity charges. Also, even if there is a charging congestion, charging is performed in the first time in low-power mode, allowing charging to be performed so that a certain distance can be traveled.

[0008] The invention of claim 3 is characterized in that, in the configuration described in claim 2, the management server has a map information storage unit that stores map information of charging spots where vehicles can be charged, and the battery panel obtains remaining capacity information from the vehicle to be charged via the charger and notifies the management server, and the time setting unit, when the remaining capacity of the obtained vehicle's remaining capacity information is less than a predetermined amount and the charging mode is set to low output mode, selects charging spot information within a predetermined distance from the charger from the map information storage unit and transmits it to the battery panel, and displays the charging spot information on the display unit of the charger. With this configuration, if charging begins in low output mode even though the vehicle's storage battery has little remaining capacity, information about the nearest charging spot will be displayed on the charger when charging begins, so users who want to charge further can be assured that they will know the nearest charging location. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, when a charging congestion occurs, the charging time is automatically changed to a shorter time, thereby reducing waiting time and providing convenience for users, and the workload of the administrator can be reduced because there is no need for the administrator to change the charging time. Furthermore, since the user can recognize the charging time when charging starts, it is easy to plan the time until charging is completed, and the number of users who do not return even after the charging time has passed can be reduced. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a vehicle charging system according to the present invention, illustrating a configuration of a battery panel. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a management server. [Figure 3] 10 is a flowchart showing a flow of charge mode switching control of a charger. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart showing another flow of charge mode switching control of the charger. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a vehicle charging system according to the present invention, with a battery panel shown as a block. The vehicle charging system 1 comprises a charger 2 connected to a vehicle 5 to be charged, a battery panel 3 equipped with a battery 31 and controlling the charger 2, and a management server 4 managing the battery panel 3. A vehicle detection sensor 7 that recognizes the vehicle 5 connected to the charger 2 and a camera 8 that detects charging congestion are also connected to the battery panel 3.

[0012] A plurality of chargers 2 are connected to the battery panel 3, and the management server 4 manages a plurality of battery panels 3. The chargers 2, vehicle detection sensors 7, and cameras 8 are connected to the battery panel 3, and the management server 4 is connected to the battery panel 3 via a communication network N.

[0013] In addition to the storage battery 31, the battery panel 3 includes a converter unit 32 that converts AC to DC, an inverter unit 33 for supplying charging power to the charger 2, a control controller 34 that controls the storage battery panel 3, and an external communication unit 35 that communicates with the management server 4. The converter unit 32 has an AC / DC conversion section, to which commercial power is supplied from a high-voltage power receiving facility (not shown), and the converted DC output is supplied to the storage battery 31 and the inverter unit 33. The inverter unit 33 has a DC / AC conversion section, to which the combined power of the DC power output by the converter unit 32 and the discharge power of the storage battery 31 is converted to AC and supplied to the charger 2 as vehicle charging power.

[0014] The control controller 34 controls the battery panel 3, as well as the charger 2 and the storage battery 31. Specifically, in response to an instruction from the management server 4, the control controller 34 switches the charging mode of the charger 2, notifies the management server 4 of the vehicle detection sensor 7, the images captured by the camera 8, and the remaining capacity information of the storage battery 31, and controls the charging and discharging of the storage battery 31. The storage battery 31 is provided with a BMS (Battery Management System) 31a that manages charging and discharging, and the controller 34 controls the storage battery 31 by communicating with this BMS 31a.

[0015] The charger 2 has a power conversion unit that converts AC power supplied from the battery panel 3 into DC power, and a communication unit (neither of which are shown) that communicates with the connected vehicle 5 via a connector, and supplies the converted DC power to the vehicle 5 and obtains remaining capacity information and the like from the connected vehicle 5. It also has a display unit 2a that displays the charging time, the charging mode (described later), and the like when charging starts.

[0016] The vehicle detection sensor 7 detects the vehicle 5 to which the charger 2 is connected. For example, when the vehicle 5 is parked in a parking area for charging, the vehicle detection sensor 7 detects this and notifies the management server 4. This information is used to detect vehicles 5 that remain parked even though charging has been completed, and the management server recognizes such vehicles 5 and notifies the administrator or other person to encourage efficient use of the charger 2.

[0017] The camera 8 is used to detect vehicles 5 waiting to be charged, and captures images of the set charging waiting area and vehicles 5 waiting to be charged. The captured images are sent to the management server 4, which then determines the charging congestion situation from the captured image information.

[0018] Fig. 2 shows a block diagram of the management server 4. As shown in Fig. 2, the management server 4 includes a map information storage unit 41 that stores map information of charging spots, a management server CPU 42 that controls the management server 4, an image analysis unit 43 that identifies vehicles 5 from captured images sent from the cameras 8, a management server communication IF 44 that communicates with the battery panel 3, and the like. The management server CPU 42 has the functions of a situation judgment unit that judges charging congestion, a time setting unit that sets the charging time, and a charging mode control unit that switches the charging mode, and controls the switching of the charging mode and charging time of the charger 2 based on the usage information of the charger 2 sent from the battery panel 3, remaining capacity information of the storage battery 31, image information captured by the camera 8, and remaining capacity information of the vehicle 5 to be charged.

[0019] The charger 2 has two charging modes: a low-output mode in which the vehicle is charged mainly using commercial power, and a high-output mode in which the discharge power of the storage battery 31 is used in addition to the commercial power source to charge the vehicle at a higher current than in the low-output mode. Regarding charging time, there are two time settings: a first time, which is a long-time mode (e.g., 60 minutes), and a second time, which is a short-time mode (e.g., 30 minutes), and the management server CPU 42 selects one of them based on the remaining capacity of the storage battery 31, charging congestion information, etc.

[0020] Reference numeral 9 denotes a management personal computer that performs various settings such as inputting map information into the management server 4 and that allows the manager to grasp the status of each charging spot.

[0021] The vehicle charging control of the vehicle charging system 1 configured as described above is carried out as follows. This control is started by the control of the management server CPU 42 when the vehicle 5 is connected to the charger 2. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of switching control, and the description will be made with reference to this figure. First, the presence or absence of a charging congestion is determined (S1). This is done by the image analysis unit 43 analyzing the image captured by the camera 8 to determine whether or not there are any vehicles 5 waiting to be charged. If it is determined that there is no charging congestion, the remaining capacity of the storage battery 31 is checked (S2), and if the remaining capacity is 20% or more of a full charge (YES in S2), high-power mode and long-time charging are selected and charging begins (S4). Then, information about the high-power mode and a charging time such as 60 minutes are displayed on the display unit 2a of the charger 2 (S5).

[0022] If the remaining capacity of the storage battery 31 is less than 20% of full charge (NO in S2), the low-power mode and long-time mode are selected and charging begins (S6). Then, information about the low-power mode and the charging time are displayed on the display unit 2a of the charger 2 (S7).

[0023] On the other hand, if it is determined that a charging congestion has occurred (YES in S1), the remaining capacity of the storage battery of the vehicle 5 to be charged, which is obtained via the charger 2, is checked. If the remaining capacity of the vehicle 5 is 50% or more, the process proceeds to S2, and the above control flow is implemented. If the remaining capacity of the vehicle 5 is less than 50% (NO in S3), control is further determined based on the remaining capacity of the storage battery 31 on the battery panel 3 (S8), and if the remaining capacity of the storage battery 31 is less than 20% (NO in S8), information on charging spots in the vicinity of the charger 2 (for example, within 3 km) is obtained from the map information storage unit 41 (S9), and long-time mode charging in low power mode is started (S10). Then, information on the low power mode and the charging time are displayed on the display unit 2a of the charger 2, along with the obtained information on nearby charging spots (S11). If the remaining capacity of the storage battery 31 on the battery panel 3 is 20% or more in S8 (YES in S8), the high-power short-time mode is selected and charging begins (S12). Then, information about the high-power mode and the charging time, such as 30 minutes, are displayed on the display 2a of the charger 2 (S13).

[0024] In this way, when a charging congestion occurs, the charging time is controlled to be shorter depending on the remaining capacity of the vehicle 5, which reduces waiting time and is convenient for users. In addition, the administrator does not need to change the charging time, which reduces the workload. Furthermore, since users can know the charging time when charging starts, it is easier to plan the time until charging is completed, and the number of users who do not return after the charging time has passed can be reduced. In addition, if the remaining capacity of the storage battery 31 in the storage battery panel 3 becomes low, the output of the charger 2 is reduced and charging is performed in low output mode, thereby preventing an increase in commercial power usage and an increase in electricity charges. In addition, if charging starts in low output mode even when the remaining capacity of the vehicle 5 is low, the charging time will not be shortened even if there is traffic congestion, so it will be possible to drive a certain distance or more by charging, and since information about the nearest charging spot is displayed on the charger 2 when charging starts, users who want to charge further can be assured that they can recognize the nearest charging location.

[0025] Whether or not to display charging spots on the charger 2 is determined based on whether the remaining capacity of the storage battery provided in the vehicle 5 is 50% or more, but this threshold is not limited to 50%. In addition, when displaying nearby charging spots, if the usage status is available, it is also possible to display only information about nearby charging spots with available space.

[0026] Next, another embodiment of vehicle charging control of vehicle charging system 1 will be described. The flow chart of Figure 4 shows the flow of another embodiment of vehicle charging control, and will be described with reference to this figure. In the above embodiment, remaining capacity information of the storage battery provided in vehicle 5 is obtained from vehicle 5 and used to determine charging control, but in this embodiment, control is performed without obtaining remaining capacity information from vehicle 5. When a vehicle 5 is connected to the charger 2, first, the presence or absence of waiting vehicles 5, i.e., whether or not there is a charging congestion, is determined from the image captured by the camera 8 (S21). If there are no waiting vehicles 5, the remaining capacity of the storage battery 31 on the storage battery panel 3 is checked, and if it is 20% or more, charging is carried out in high-power mode and long-time mode (S23), and the high-power mode and charging time are displayed on the display unit 2a (S24). If it is less than 20%, charging is carried out in low-power mode and long-time mode (S25), and this is displayed on the display unit 2a (S26).

[0027] If a charging congestion has occurred (YES in S21), the remaining capacity of the storage battery 31 on the storage battery panel 3 is checked, and if it is less than 20% (NO in S27), charging is performed in low-power mode and long-time mode (S25), and this is displayed on the display unit 2a (S26). If it is 20% or more (YES in S27), charging is performed in high-power mode and short-time mode (S28), and this is displayed on the display unit 2a (S29).

[0028] In this way, even without obtaining remaining capacity information from the vehicle 5, when a charging congestion occurs, the charging time is controlled to be shorter depending on the remaining capacity of the vehicle 5, which reduces waiting time and is convenient for users. In addition, since there is no need for the administrator to change the charging time, the workload can be reduced. Furthermore, since the user can recognize the charging time when charging starts, it is easy to plan the time until charging is completed, and the number of users who do not return even after the charging time has passed can be reduced. In addition, when the remaining capacity of the storage battery 31 in the storage battery panel 3 is low, the output of the charger 2 is reduced, which prevents an increase in commercial power usage and an increase in electricity charges.

[0029] In the above embodiments, the charging mode is changed depending on whether the remaining capacity of the storage battery 31 in the storage battery panel 3 is 20% or more, but the threshold is not limited to 20% and may be, for example, 40%. [Explanation of symbols]

[0030] 1·· Vehicle charging system, 2·· Charger, 2a·· Display unit, 3·· Battery panel, 4·· Management server, 5·· Vehicle, 7·· Vehicle detection sensor, 8·· Camera, 31·· Storage battery, 32·· Converter unit (AC / DC conversion unit), 33·· Inverter unit (DC / AC conversion unit), 34·· Control controller, 35·· External communication unit, 41·· Map information storage unit, 42·· Management server CPU (situation determination unit, time setting unit, charging mode control unit), N·· Communication network.

Claims

1. A vehicle charging system including a plurality of chargers that supply charging power to connected vehicles, a battery panel that includes storage batteries and supplies power from the storage batteries to the chargers in addition to commercial power, and a management server that manages the battery panels via a communication network, The battery panel includes an AC / DC converter that converts the commercial power into DC, a DC / AC conversion unit for supplying an output of the AC / DC conversion unit and an output of the storage battery to the charger; The charging system includes an external communication unit that communicates with the management server and a camera that captures images of vehicles waiting for charging, and transmits images captured by the camera to the management server. the charger has a display unit that displays a charging time, The management server further includes a situation determination unit that determines whether or not there is a charging congestion based on the image information captured by the camera transmitted from the battery panel, and a time setting unit that sets the charging time by the charger to either a first time or a second time shorter than the first time, the time setting unit sets the charging time to the second time for the charger to be set, except for specific situations, when the situation determination unit determines that charging congestion has occurred; The vehicle charging system is characterized in that the display unit displays the charging time set by the time setting unit.

2. the charging mode of the charger when selecting the second time period is a high power mode; The charging mode of the charger includes a low output mode having an output power lower than that of the high output mode, the management server has a charge mode control unit that switches the charge mode of each of the chargers between the high output mode and the low output mode; 2. The vehicle charging system according to claim 1, wherein the charging mode control unit sets the charger to the low output mode and performs charging for the first time period when the remaining capacity of the battery in the battery panel is less than a predetermined amount, regardless of whether there is a charging traffic jam.

3. The management server has a map information storage unit that stores map information of charging spots where vehicles can be charged, and the battery panel acquires remaining capacity information from the vehicle to be charged via the charger and notifies the management server; When the remaining capacity information of the vehicle obtained indicates that the remaining capacity is less than a predetermined amount and the charging mode is set to the low power mode, 3. The vehicle charging system according to claim 2, wherein information about charging spots within a predetermined distance from the charger is selected from the map information storage unit and transmitted to the battery panel, and the information about the charging spots is displayed on a display unit of the charger.

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