Battery management system, battery management device, battery management program, battery management method, and battery

Abstract

The objective of this invention is to provide a battery management system that utilizes a small and inexpensive battery station, suitable even for small-scale shops. The solution lies in a battery comprising: a position detection unit that detects the battery's position using a position information detection function; and a remaining charge detection unit that detects the battery's remaining charge. The battery wirelessly transmits its position information and remaining charge information to a server. A power connector unit controls the power supply for charging the battery based on instructions from the server, and transmits its position information and the power supplied for charging the battery to the server. The server associates the battery's position information and remaining charge information based on the information transmitted from the battery and outputs the association.

Claims

1. A battery management system comprising: a battery having wireless communication and location information detection functions, and used to drive an electric vehicle; a power connector having wireless communication functions and connected to a power source for charging the battery; and a server connectable to the battery, the power connector, a user terminal used by a user of the battery, and an installer terminal used by an installer of the power connector; wherein the battery comprises: a location detection unit that detects the location of the battery using the location information detection function; a remaining charge detection unit that detects the remaining charge of the battery; and a first transmission unit that transmits the location information of the battery and remaining charge information indicating the remaining charge of the battery to the server via wireless communication; the power connector comprising: a charging control unit that controls the power supply for charging the battery according to an instruction transmitted from the server; and a second transmission unit that transmits power supply information from the power connector to the server, the power supply information indicating the amount of power supplied for charging the battery; the server comprising: The acquisition unit acquires information transmitted from the first transmission unit of the battery; and the output unit establishes a correlation between the battery's location information and the battery's remaining power information based on the information acquired by the acquisition unit and outputs the information.

2. As in request item 1, the battery management system, wherein, The aforementioned acquisition unit of the server further acquires the power supply information sent from the second transmission unit of the power connector unit. The server further has a calculation unit that calculates the amount to be paid to the installer as consideration for using the power connector unit for charging based on the power supply information acquired by the acquisition unit.

3. The battery management system as requested in item 1 or 2, wherein, The user terminal obtains the battery's location information and remaining battery power information from the server's output unit, establishes a correspondence between them on a map, and outputs them.

4. The battery management system as requested in item 1 or 2, wherein, The battery is assigned a first identification code, which is obtained by encoding the first identification information of the battery. When the user uses the battery, the user terminal obtains the first identification information from the first identification code and sends it to the server. When the user charges the battery, the user terminal obtains the first identification information from the first identification code and sends it to the server.

5. The battery management system as requested in item 1 or 2, wherein, The power connector is provided with a second identification code, which is used to identify the second identification information of the power connector. When the user uses the power connector, the user's terminal obtains the second identification information from the second identification code and sends it to the server.

6. As in request item 4, the battery management system, wherein, The power connector transmits second identification information for identification via near-field communication. When the battery receives the second identification information from the power connector, it transmits the second identification information to the server via the first transmitter. When the server receives the second identification information from the battery, it associates the battery's location information with its remaining power information and outputs it. When it does not receive the second identification information from the battery, it does not output the battery's location information or remaining power information.

7. The battery management system as requested in item 1 or 2, wherein, The aforementioned power connector further has a location information detection function, which sends the location information of the power connector detected by the location information detection function to the aforementioned server. The aforementioned output unit of the aforementioned server outputs the location information of the power connector sent by the aforementioned power connector. The aforementioned user terminal establishes a correspondence between the location information output by the aforementioned output unit of the aforementioned server on a map and outputs it.

8. The battery management system as requested in item 1 or 2, wherein, The battery can switch between a charging management state and an available state; in the charging management state, it can charge but cannot output power; in the available state, it can output power. The first transmitting unit then sends the charging state information indicating the charging state to the server.

9. As in request item 8, the battery management system, wherein, When the output unit of the aforementioned server outputs the location information of the aforementioned battery and the remaining power information of the aforementioned battery, it outputs the information of the aforementioned battery whose charging state is charging management state, but does not output the information of the aforementioned battery whose charging state is available state.

10. The battery management system as requested in item 1 or 2, wherein, The battery can switch between a lendable state (available to the user) and a non-lendable state (not available to the user); the first transmitting unit then sends lending status information indicating the lending state to the server.

11. As in request item 10, the battery management system, wherein, When the output unit of the aforementioned server outputs the location information and the remaining power information of the battery, it outputs information about the battery whose lending status is available for lending, and does not output information about the battery whose lending status is not available for lending.

12. The battery management system as requested in item 1 or 2, wherein, The aforementioned server further includes a management unit that associates and manages the mileage with the relevant information of the aforementioned user; the mileage can be used as consideration for the aforementioned user to utilize the aforementioned battery.

13. The battery management system as described in request item 12, wherein, The aforementioned management department confirms the status of the subscription contracts used by the aforementioned users to regularly purchase the aforementioned mileage, and in the event that the aforementioned subscription contracts are invalid or the remaining amount of the aforementioned mileage is lower than a certain amount, it will be unable to control the charging method of the aforementioned battery.

14. The battery management system as described in request item 12, wherein, The aforementioned management department deducts the aforementioned mileage from the user's mileage based on the amount of battery usage.

15. The battery management system as described in request item 14, wherein, When the management department replaces the first battery used by the user with a second battery that has been charged by the installer, it calculates the amount of battery usage by the user based on the difference in remaining charge between the second battery and the first battery.

16. The battery management system as described in request item 15, wherein, The aforementioned management department confirms the status of the subscription contracts used by the aforementioned users to periodically purchase the aforementioned mileage, and controls the power output of the aforementioned second battery in a manner that prevents the aforementioned subscription contracts from being invalid or the remaining amount of the aforementioned mileage from falling below a certain amount.

17. A battery management device that can be connected to a battery, a power connector, a user terminal, and an installer terminal; the battery has wireless communication capabilities and is used to drive an electric vehicle; the power connector has wireless communication capabilities and is connected to a power source for charging the battery; the user terminal is used by a user of the battery; the installer terminal is used by an installer who installs the power connector; and the battery management device comprises: an acquisition unit that acquires location information of the battery and remaining power information indicating the remaining power of the battery, transmitted by the battery via wireless communication; an instruction unit that sends an instruction to the power connector to control the power supply for charging the battery; and an output unit that associates the location information of the battery with the remaining power information of the battery based on the information acquired by the acquisition unit and outputs the result.

18. A battery management program for enabling a computer to function as the battery management device of request item 17.

19. A battery management method, performed by an information processing device connectable from a battery, a power connector, a user terminal, and an installer terminal; the battery has wireless communication capabilities and is used to drive an electric vehicle; the power connector has wireless communication capabilities and is connected to a power source for charging the battery; the user terminal is used by a user of the battery, and the installer terminal is used by an installer who installs the power connector; the battery management method includes: The acquisition step involves acquiring the battery's location information and remaining battery power information transmitted by the battery via wireless communication; the transmission step involves sending an instruction to the power connector to control the power supply for charging the battery; and the output step involves establishing a correlation between the battery's location information and the battery's remaining battery power information based on the information acquired in the acquisition step and outputting the information.

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