Parking management system
A movable pallet-based system optimizes the distribution of power-supplying electric vehicles in parking lots by strategically moving vehicles with power capabilities to charge/discharge spaces, addressing inefficiencies and reducing power loss.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Patents
- Current Assignee / Owner
- TOYOTA JIDOSHA KK
- Filing Date
- 2023-02-28
- Publication Date
- 2026-05-11
AI Technical Summary
Existing parking management systems struggle to efficiently park electric vehicles capable of supplying power to designated facilities due to the lack of charge/discharge devices in all parking spaces, leading to inefficient power supply and limited capacity for vehicles with power supply capabilities.
A system comprising movable pallets equipped with electric vehicles capable of supplying power, controlled by a management system that moves these pallets to charge/discharge parking spaces, optimizing the distribution of power-supplyable vehicles and reducing power loss through strategic placement of charging and discharging devices.
The system enhances the number of electric vehicles that can supply power to designated facilities by efficiently allocating vehicles with power capabilities to charge/discharge spaces, minimizing power loss, and ensuring more vehicles can utilize power supply features.
Smart Images
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Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0005] ,
[0001] The present disclosure relates to a parking management system, and more particularly to a parking management system that manages the movement of a plurality of movable pallets mounted on vehicles to parking spaces.
Background Art
[0002] Conventionally, as this type of parking management system, there has been proposed a system including a stationary battery installed in a parking lot and a plurality of charge / discharge stands for charging and discharging a battery mounted on an electric vehicle (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this system, even when the power grid is in an emergency, power is supplied to a first load from at least one of the stationary battery and the plurality of charge / discharge stands. Thereby, even when the power grid is in an emergency, a predetermined amount of power can be supplied to the first load.
Prior Art Documents
Patent Documents
[0003]
Patent Document 1
Summary of the Invention
Problems to be Solved by the Invention
[0004] In a parking lot where power can be supplied from a battery mounted on an electric vehicle to a predetermined facility (such as an airport or a shopping mall), it is difficult to install a charge / discharge device capable of charging and discharging the battery mounted on an electric vehicle in all parking spaces. In addition, power cannot be supplied to a predetermined facility from an electric vehicle parked in a parking space where no charge / discharge device is installed. For this reason, for an electric vehicle capable of supplying power to a predetermined facility, it is an important issue to park the vehicle in a parking space where a charge / discharge device is installed.
[0005] The parking management system disclosed herein primarily aims to park more electric vehicles capable of supplying power to designated facilities in parking spaces equipped with charging and discharging devices. [Means for solving the problem]
[0006] The parking management system of this disclosure employs the following means to achieve the primary objectives described above.
[0007] The parking management system disclosed herein is Multiple pallets that can be moved between parking spaces with a vehicle loaded on them, Multiple charging and discharging devices are installed in the charging and discharging parking spaces within the parking area and are capable of supplying power to designated facilities. A control device that controls the movement of the pallet and controls the charging and discharging device, A parking management system comprising, The control device moves the power supply-capable pallet, which is a pallet on which an electric vehicle capable of supplying power to the predetermined facility is mounted, to the charging / discharging parking space. It is characterized by the following:
[0008] The parking management system disclosed herein comprises multiple pallets that can move within a parking space while a vehicle is mounted on them, multiple charge / discharge devices installed in charge / dischargeable parking spaces that can supply power to a designated facility, and a control device that controls the movement of the pallets and also controls the charge / discharge devices. Pallets that are mounted on electric vehicles capable of supplying power to a designated facility (power-supplyable pallets) are moved to charge / dischargeable parking spaces. By moving power-supplyable pallets to charge / dischargeable parking spaces, electric vehicles capable of supplying power to a designated facility can be parked in charge / dischargeable parking spaces. This makes it possible to park a larger number of electric vehicles capable of supplying power to a designated facility in parking spaces equipped with charge / discharge devices.
[0009] In the parking management system of this disclosure, the charging and discharging parking space includes a first parking space with a short power supply line to the predetermined facility and a second parking space with a longer power supply line to the predetermined facility than the first parking space, and the control device may prioritize moving the power-supplyable pallets to the first parking space. By moving more power-supplyable pallets to the first parking space with a short power supply line, power loss when supplying power to the predetermined facility can be reduced. In this parking management system, the charging and discharging parking space may be provided in part of a multi-story parking space or in part of a planar parking space.
[0010] In the parking management system of this disclosure, a plurality of charging devices may be installed in charging-only parking spaces, and the control device may move the power supply-enabled pallet to the charging-discharging parking space when there is a power supply-enabled pallet in a general parking space where neither charging nor power supply is possible, or in the charging-only parking space. This allows more electric vehicles capable of supplying power to a predetermined facility to be parked in parking spaces equipped with charging-discharging devices. In this parking management system, the charging-discharging parking spaces may be located at a location that is close to the predetermined facility. This reduces power loss when supplying power to the predetermined facility.
[0011] In the parking management system of this disclosure, the control device may preferentially move pallets that are equipped with electric vehicles whose onboard battery state satisfies the power supply conditions necessary for supplying power to the predetermined facility to the charging / discharging parking space. This allows for more efficient power supply to the predetermined facility compared to moving pallets that do not meet the power supply conditions to the charging / discharging parking space. As power supply conditions, conditions such as the capacity of the onboard energy storage device being above a predetermined value or the remaining capacity of the energy storage device being above a predetermined value can be used. [Brief explanation of the drawing]
[0012] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram showing the general configuration of the parking management system 20 as an embodiment of the disclosure. [Figure 2] This diagram shows a schematic configuration of vehicles that can utilize the charging and discharging parking spaces 32 in parking lot 30. [Figure 3] This flowchart shows an example of a pallet movement process performed by the electronic control unit 60. [Figure 4] This is a schematic diagram showing the general configuration of parking lot 30B in a modified example. [Modes for carrying out the invention]
[0013] Next, an embodiment for implementing this disclosure will be described. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a parking management system 20 as an embodiment of this disclosure. As shown in the figure, the parking management system 20 of the embodiment comprises a plurality of pallets 40 that are arranged in each parking space of the parking lot 30 and are movable with vehicles mounted on them, a plurality of charge / discharge devices 33 installed in the chargeable parking spaces 32 of the parking lot 30, a plurality of charge devices 35 installed in the rechargeable parking spaces 34 of the parking lot 30, a power supply circuit 50, and an electronic control unit 60.
[0014] The parking lot 30 includes charging / discharging parking spaces 32, charging-enabled parking spaces 34, and general parking spaces 36. The charging / discharging parking spaces 32 are located in the area of the parking lot 30 closest to the designated facility 10, and each parking space is equipped with a charging / discharging device 33 for charging and discharging the batteries installed in vehicles. The reason why the charging / discharging parking spaces 32 are located in the area of the parking lot 30 closest to the designated facility 10 is to minimize power loss when supplying power from the batteries installed in electric vehicles parked in each parking space of the charging / discharging parking spaces 32 to the designated facility 10. The charging / discharging parking spaces 32 are divided into a first parking space 32a (upper parking space in Figure 1) which is close to the designated facility 10, and a second parking space 32b (lower parking space in Figure 1) which is farther from the designated facility 10. Although the designated facility 10 is described using an airport as an example of the embodiment, it may also be a large leisure facility with a hotel, a shopping center, a train station, a port, etc.
[0015] The rechargeable parking spaces 34 are located in the area of the parking lot 30 that is further from the designated facilities 10 than the rechargeable parking spaces 32, and each parking space is equipped with a charging device 35 that can only charge the battery installed in the vehicle. The general parking spaces 36 are located in the area of the parking lot 30 that is furthest from the designated facilities 10, and each parking space is not equipped with a rechargeable device 33 or a charging device 35.
[0016] Each pallet 40 within the parking lot 30 is equipped with a moving mechanism (not shown) that allows it to be moved to each parking space with a vehicle loaded on it, and this movement is controlled by an electronic control unit 60.
[0017] The power supply circuit 50 is installed between the rechargeable parking spaces 32 of the parking lot 30 and the designated facility 10. The power supply circuit 50 is connected to each charge / discharge device 33 of the rechargeable parking spaces 32 by power line 52 and to each charge device 35 of the rechargeable parking spaces 34 by power line 54. The power supply circuit 50 is also connected to the electrical equipment (not shown) of the designated facility 10 by power line 56 and to other power sources 12 by power line 58. The other power sources 12 are configured to include at least a portion of various power sources such as commercial power, solar power, wind power, tidal power, and geothermal power. The power supply circuit 50 is configured to adjust the voltage of the power supplied from the other power sources 12 and supply it to the designated facility 10, the charge / discharge devices 33, and the charge devices 35, and to adjust the voltage of the power from the battery mounted on the electric vehicle and supply it to the designated facility 10 via the charge / discharge device 33.
[0018] The electronic control unit 60 is configured as a microcomputer centered around a CPU, not shown in the figure. The electronic control unit 60 inputs the voltage Vin from a voltage sensor (not shown) attached to another power source 12, the current Iin from a current sensor (not shown), the voltage Vcd from a voltage sensor (not shown) attached to the power line 52 connected to each charge / discharge device 33 of the charge / dischargeable parking space 32, the current Icd from a current sensor (not shown), the voltage Vch from a voltage sensor (not shown) attached to the power line 54 connected to each charging device 35 of the chargeable parking space 34, the current Ich from a current sensor (not shown), the voltage Vout from a voltage sensor (not shown) attached to the electrical equipment of the predetermined facility 10, the current Iout from a current sensor (not shown), etc. Further, the electronic control unit 60 outputs a drive control signal to the movement mechanism for moving each pallet 40, a control signal to each charge / discharge device 33 of the charge / dischargeable parking space 32, a control signal to each charging device 35 of the chargeable parking space 34, etc. Furthermore, the electronic control unit 60 outputs a drive control signal to each relay (not shown) attached to the power lines 52, 54, 56, 58 in the power supply circuit 50, a drive control signal to each power conversion device (not shown) provided and attached to the power lines 52, 54, 56, 58 in the power supply circuit 50, etc.
[0019] Examples of vehicles that can use the charge / dischargeable parking space 32 in the parking lot 30 include, for example, the electric vehicle 120 illustrated in FIG. 2. The electric vehicle 120 includes a motor 122, an inverter 123, a battery 124, a charge / discharge circuit 138, a connector 139, and an electronic control unit 130.
[0020] The motor 122 is configured as, for example, a synchronous generator motor. The rotor of the motor 122 is connected to a drive shaft 125 that is connected to drive wheels 128a and 128b via a differential gear 126. The motor 122 is driven by converting DC power from the battery 124 into three-phase AC power by the inverter 123 and applying the three-phase AC power by the inverter 123. The battery 124 is configured as a well-known lithium-ion secondary battery or nickel-metal hydride secondary battery.
[0021] The charge / discharge circuit 138 is connected to a power line whose one end is connected to the battery 124, and the other end is connected to a connector 139 for connecting to the charge / discharge device 33 or the charging device 35. The charge / discharge circuit 138 has a charge / discharge relay (not shown), and can connect to and disconnect from the battery 124 by the charge / discharge relay.
[0022] The electronic control unit 130 is configured as a microcomputer centered around a CPU (not shown). Signals from various sensors are input to the electronic control unit 130 via input ports. For example, the electronic control unit 130 inputs an ignition signal from the ignition switch 142, a shift position SP from a shift position sensor 144 that detects the position of the shift lever 143, an accelerator opening Acc from an accelerator pedal position sensor 146 that detects the depression amount of the accelerator pedal 145, a brake position BP from a brake pedal position sensor 148 that detects the depression amount of the brake pedal 147, a vehicle speed V from a vehicle speed sensor 149, etc. Further, the electronic control unit 130 inputs a rotational position θ from a rotational position sensor (not shown) that detects the rotational position of the motor 122, a battery voltage Vb from a voltage sensor (not shown) attached to the output terminal of the battery 124, a battery current Ib from a current sensor (not shown) attached to the output terminal of the battery 124, a charge / discharge voltage Vchg from a voltage sensor attached to the charge / discharge circuit 138, a charge / discharge current Ichg from a current sensor attached to the charge / discharge circuit 138, etc.
[0023] The electronic control unit 130 outputs various control signals via its output ports. For example, the electronic control unit 130 outputs display control signals to the display device 150, communication control signals to the communication device 152, and air conditioning control signals to the air conditioning device 154. The electronic control unit 130 also outputs switching control signals for switching a switching element (not shown) to the inverter 123 for driving the motor 122, drive control signals to a system main relay (not shown) installed near the battery 124, and drive control signals to a charge / discharge relay (not shown) installed in the charge / discharge circuit 138. The electronic control unit 130 communicates with the navigation system 156, which displays various information and provides route guidance. The electronic control unit 130 is connected to a signal line 140 for communicating with the charge / discharge device 38 when the charge / discharge device 38 is connected via a connector 139.
[0024] Next, the operation of the parking management system 20 of the embodiment configured in this way, particularly the operation when the pallet 40 is moved, will be described. Figure 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the pallet movement process performed by the electronic control unit 60. This pallet movement process is performed repeatedly at predetermined intervals.
[0025] When the pallet movement process is executed, the electronic control unit 60 first inputs information on available spaces in the charge / discharge parking spaces 32 of the parking lot 30 (step S100), and determines whether or not there are available spaces in the charge / discharge parking spaces 32 (step S110). In this embodiment, when parking in each parking space or making a parking reservation, the electronic control unit 60 inputs vehicle information such as the scheduled entry date and time to the parking lot 30, the scheduled exit date and time, the vehicle type, whether or not it is an electric vehicle, whether or not power supply to the designated facility 10 is permitted, and whether or not it is charging, and assigns a parking space to the vehicle. The electronic control unit 60 stores the vehicle information and the space information of the assigned parking space as parking information. The electronic control unit 60 obtains information on available spaces in the charge / discharge parking spaces 32 of the parking lot 30 by searching for available spaces in the charge / discharge parking spaces 32 from the parking information. For electric vehicles that are permitted to supply power to the designated facility 10, the charge / discharge parking spaces 32, charging parking spaces 34, and general parking spaces 36 are assigned preferentially in that order. For electric vehicles that are not permitted to supply power to the designated facility 10, charging-enabled parking spaces 34 and general parking spaces 36 are allocated preferentially. For vehicles that are not electric vehicles, general parking spaces 36 are allocated. If the electronic control unit 60 determines in step S110 that there are no available spaces in the charging-discharging parking spaces 32, it terminates this process without moving the pallet 40.
[0026] When the electronic control unit 60 determines in step S110 that there is an empty space in the chargeable parking space 32, it determines whether the empty space is the first parking space 32a (step S120). When the electronic control unit 60 determines that the empty space in the chargeable parking space 32 is the first parking space 32a, it moves the pallet 40 with the vehicle in the second parking space 32b of the chargeable parking space 32 to the empty space in the first parking space 32a (step S130). The reason for moving the pallet 40 with the vehicle in the second parking space 32b to the empty space in the first parking space 32a is to allow more electric vehicles to be parked in the first parking space 32a, which is closer to the designated facility 10, and to reduce power loss when supplying power from the batteries mounted on the electric vehicles to the designated facility 10. As a result of moving the pallet 40 in this way, an empty space will be created in the second parking space 32b.
[0027] When the electronic control unit 60 determines in step S120 that the available space in the chargeable parking space 32 is not the first parking space 32a, or when it moves the pallet 40 with a vehicle in the second parking space 32b to the available space in the first parking space 32a in step S130, it extracts a pallet 40 with a vehicle that is permitted to supply power to the designated facility 10 from among the pallets 40 with vehicles parked in other parking spaces (step S140). This process can be performed by searching the parked vehicle information for pallets with vehicles that are assigned to a chargeable parking space 34 or a general parking space 36 and are permitted to supply power to the designated facility 10.
[0028] The electronic control unit 60 determines whether there are any vehicle-mounted pallets 40 parked in other parking spaces that are equipped with vehicles authorized to supply power to a predetermined facility 10 (step S150). If the electronic control unit 60 determines that there is a pallet 40 equipped with such a vehicle, it moves that vehicle-mounted pallet 40 to an empty space in the second parking space 32b of the charge / discharge parking space 32 (step S160) and terminates this process. The reason for moving the pallet 40 to an empty space in the second parking space 32b of the charge / discharge parking space 32 is to allow more electric vehicles to be parked in the charge / discharge parking space 32 and to supply power from the batteries installed in more electric vehicles to the predetermined facility 10. On the other hand, if the electronic control unit 60 determines that there is no pallet 40 equipped with such a vehicle, it terminates this process without moving the pallet 40.
[0029] In the parking management system 20 of the embodiment described above, when an empty space becomes available in the first parking space 32a of the chargeable parking space 32, the pallet 40 with a vehicle in the second parking space 32b of the chargeable parking space 32 is moved to the empty space in the first parking space 32a. This allows more electric vehicles to be parked in the first parking space 32a, which is closer to the designated facility 10, thereby reducing power loss when supplying power from the batteries mounted on the electric vehicles to the designated facility 10.
[0030] In the parking management system 20 of this embodiment, when a vacant space becomes available in the second parking space 32b of the chargeable / dischargeable parking space 32, a pallet 40 from another parking space that is equipped with a vehicle authorized to supply power to a predetermined facility 10 is moved to the second parking space 32b. This allows more electric vehicles to be parked in the chargeable / dischargeable parking space 32, and more power from the batteries installed in electric vehicles can be supplied to the predetermined facility 10.
[0031] In the parking management system 20 of this embodiment, the charging and discharging parking space 32 is divided into a first parking space 32a and a second parking space 32b, but this division may not be performed. In this case, in the pallet movement process, when an empty space becomes available in the charging and discharging parking space 32, a pallet 40 from another parking space that is equipped with a vehicle authorized to supply power to a predetermined facility 10 may be moved to the charging and discharging parking space 32.
[0032] In the parking management system 20 of this embodiment, when a vacant space becomes available in the second parking space 32b of the chargeable parking space 32, a pallet 40 from another parking space that is equipped with a vehicle permitted to supply power to a predetermined facility 10 is moved to the second parking space 32b. However, when a vacant space becomes available in the chargeable parking space 32, a pallet 40 from the rechargeable parking space 34 that is equipped with a vehicle permitted to supply power to a predetermined facility 10 may be moved to the chargeable parking space 32, or a pallet 40 from the rechargeable parking space 34 that is equipped with a vehicle that satisfies other power supply conditions in addition to the condition of permitted to supply power to a predetermined facility 10 may be moved to the chargeable parking space 32. Other power supply conditions include, for example, a condition that the battery capacity is above a predetermined value or a condition that the remaining battery capacity is above a predetermined value.
[0033] In the parking management system 20 of this embodiment, a charging / discharging parking space 32 equipped with a charging / discharging device 33 is placed in the area of the parking lot 30 closest to the designated facility 10, a rechargeable parking space 34 equipped with a charging device 35 is placed in the area of the parking lot 30 next closest to the designated facility 10, and a general parking space 36 is placed in the area of the parking lot 30 furthest from the designated facility 10. However, as shown in the modified example in Figure 4, a charging / discharging parking space 32B equipped with a charging / discharging device 33B is placed in the lower floor of the multi-story parking garage 30B closest to the designated facility 10, a rechargeable parking space 34B equipped with a charging device 35B is placed in the middle floor of the multi-story parking garage 30B next closest to the designated facility 10, and a general parking space 36B is placed in the upper floor of the multi-story parking garage 30B furthest from the designated facility 10. Furthermore, a first parking space 32aB may be placed on the lower level of the chargeable / dischargeable parking space 32B of the multi-story parking garage 30B, and a second parking space 32bB may be placed on the upper level.
[0034] In the parking reservation management device 20 of this embodiment, an electric vehicle 120 that drives a motor 122 using power from a battery 124 is assumed as a vehicle that can utilize the rechargeable parking space 32 of the parking lot 30. However, any vehicle equipped with a rechargeable battery is acceptable. For example, it could be a hybrid vehicle equipped with an engine, motor and battery, or a fuel cell vehicle equipped with a fuel cell and battery, or any other vehicle with various configurations.
[0035] The correspondence between the main elements of the embodiment and the main elements of the invention described in the section on means for solving the problem will be explained. In the embodiment, the pallet 40 corresponds to "pallet", the charge / discharge parking space 32 corresponds to "charge / discharge parking space", the charge / discharge device 33 corresponds to "charge / discharge device", and the electronic control unit 60 corresponds to "control device".
[0036] Furthermore, the correspondence between the main elements of the embodiment and the main elements of the invention described in the section on means for solving the problem is merely an example to specifically explain the form in which the embodiment implements the invention described in the section on means for solving the problem, and does not limit the elements of the invention described in the section on means for solving the problem. In other words, the interpretation of the invention described in the section on means for solving the problem should be based on the description in that section, and the embodiment is merely one specific example of the invention described in the section on means for solving the problem.
[0037] Although the present disclosure has been described above using embodiments, the present disclosure is not limited in any way to these embodiments, and can of course be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist of the present disclosure. [Industrial applicability]
[0038] This disclosure can be used in industries such as the manufacturing of parking management systems. [Explanation of symbols]
[0039] 10 Designated facilities, 12 Other power sources, 20 Parking management system, 30 Parking lot, 30B Multi-story parking garage, 32,32B Chargeable parking spaces, 32a,32aB First parking spaces, 32b,32bB Second parking spaces, 33,33B Charge / discharge devices, 34,34B Rechargeable parking spaces, 35,35B Charging devices, 36,36B General parking spaces, 40 Pallets, 50 Power circuits, 52,54,56,58 Power lines, 60 Electronic control units.
Claims
1. Multiple pallets that can be moved between parking spaces with a vehicle loaded on them, Multiple charging and discharging devices are installed in the charging and discharging parking spaces within the parking area and are capable of supplying power to designated facilities. Multiple charging devices installed in a charging-only parking space, A control device that controls the movement of the pallet and controls the charging and discharging device, A parking management system comprising, The control device inputs in advance whether or not to allow power supply to the designated facility when parking in the parking space, and for power-supplyable pallets that are equipped with electric vehicles for which power supply to the designated facility is permitted, it preferentially allocates them to the charge / dischargeable parking space, the charging-enabled parking space, and the general parking space where neither charging nor power supply is possible, in that order, and for pallets equipped with electric vehicles for which power supply to the designated facility is not permitted, it preferentially allocates them to the charging-enabled parking space and the general parking space, in that order, in that order, A parking management system characterized by the following features.
2. A parking management system according to claim 1, The charging and discharging parking space comprises a first parking space with a short power supply line to the predetermined facility, and a second parking space with a longer power supply line to the predetermined facility compared to the first parking space. The control device prioritizes moving the power-supplyable pallet to the first parking space. Parking management system.
3. A parking management system according to claim 2, The aforementioned charging and discharging parking space is provided in part of a multi-story parking space or in part of a planar parking space. Parking management system.
4. A parking management system according to claim 1, The control device, when the power supply pallet is in the general parking space or the rechargeable parking space, moves the power supply pallet to the chargeable parking space. Parking management system.
5. A parking management system according to claim 4, The aforementioned charging and discharging parking space is located at a position that is close to the aforementioned designated facility. Parking management system.
6. A parking management system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, The control device prioritizes moving pallets that are equipped with electric vehicles whose onboard battery meets the power supply conditions necessary for supplying power to the predetermined facility to the charging and discharging parking space. Parking management system.