Ceiling type electric vehicle charging system

Abstract

A ceiling type electric vehicle charging system of the present invention comprises: a management server; a main switch which is positioned on a power supply line and selectively turned on or off; a main switch control unit for turning on the main switch by using a power application signal from the management server, the power application signal being generated dependent on the reception of a charging start signal from a mobile device side; a watt-hour meter which is positioned on the power supply line and measures power usage; a data transmission unit for transmitting data measured by the watt-hour meter to the management server; a reel case which is installed on the ceiling, electrically connects the power supply line and a withdrawal cable, and includes a reeling part; the withdrawal cable which is withdrawn from the reel case and changes length by being wound around the reeling part while electrically connected to the power supply line; an attachment unit which is located on the withdrawal cable and is attached, to the outside of an electric vehicle to be charged, to constantly maintain the position of the withdrawal cable while the electric vehicle is being charged; and an outlet, which is formed at the end of the withdrawal cable, for allowing the connection of a plug of a charging cable to be directly connected to the electric vehicle to be charged.

Description

Ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system

[0001] The present invention relates to a ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system, and more particularly, to a ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system that can solve the problem of insufficient electric vehicle charging facilities in public parking lots.

[0002] Recently, due to environmental concerns and high oil prices, the development and distribution of environmentally friendly and relatively inexpensive electric vehicles (or "EVs") has been accelerating worldwide. Batteries are a core component of EVs, and battery charging is becoming a particularly critical issue. Various charging technologies and expansion of charging facilities are also being developed. Typically, charging an EV battery requires a long charging time, and in multi-family housing such as apartments, the lack of parking spaces with charging facilities creates inconveniences.

[0003] The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system that can solve the inconvenience caused by the lack of charging facilities for charging electric vehicle batteries, particularly in shared residential facilities such as apartments or public parking lots of large buildings.

[0004] Another problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system that prevents safety accidents of charging cables in an electric vehicle charging system, promotes convenience in managing charging cables, and simplifies charging charging procedures.

[0005] According to one aspect of the present invention for solving the above problem, a ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system comprises: a management server (180) that communicates with a user's mobile device; a main switch (160) located on a power supply line and selectively turned on or off; a main switch control unit (190) that turns on the main switch using a power supply signal from the management server that is generated depending on the reception of a charging start signal from the user's mobile device; a power meter (120) located on the power supply line and measuring power usage; a data transmission unit (170) located on a communication path between the power meter and the management server and transmitting data measured by the power meter to the management server; a reel case (110) that is installed on the ceiling and electrically connects the power supply line and a cable (141) below, and includes a reeling unit (111) in which the cable below is wound and received; a reeling unit that is drawn out from the reel case and is wound around the reeling unit while being electrically connected to the power supply line so that the length is variable. It is characterized by including a cable (141), an attachment part (142) positioned on the withdrawal cable and attached to the outside of an electric vehicle to be charged to maintain the position of the withdrawal cable constant during charging, and an outlet (145) formed at the end of the withdrawal cable and allowing coupling of a plug of a charging cable to be directly connected to the electric vehicle to be charged.

[0006] According to one embodiment, the ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system further includes a spring switch portion located inside the reel case and on the path of the outgoing cable, and configured to provide an off signal to the main switch side to turn the main switch to an off state when a first external force greater than a first threshold is applied to the outgoing cable.

[0007] According to one embodiment, the ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system further includes a connector (143) formed on the outgoing cable, and in which an upper part and a lower part are maintained in a state of being coupled to each other by a catch member, and when a second external force greater than a second threshold is applied to the outgoing cable, the catch member is broken and the upper part and the lower part are separated from each other.

[0008] According to one embodiment, the attachment part (142) is composed of a rubber-made suction plate, and a QR code scannable by the user's mobile device is embedded inside the suction plate, and when the QR code is scanned by the user's mobile device, a charging management app installed in the user's mobile device is executed and placed in a state where communication with the management server is possible.

[0009] According to one embodiment, the management server (180) may store the user information of the user in advance, and may accumulate and store the power usage measured according to the charging progress of the electric vehicle to be charged by matching it with the user information of the user.

[0010] According to one embodiment, the reeling portion may be formed in either a spiral or a vortex shape so as not to overlap each other when the cable is wound.

[0011] According to one embodiment, the main switch and the power meter may be provided inside the reel case or within the case of each of the main switch and the power meter and may be positioned adjacently outside the reel case.

[0012] The present invention provides a ceiling-mounted electric vehicle charging system, thereby addressing the inconvenience caused by a lack of charging facilities for charging electric vehicle batteries due to the limited installation space in parking lots of multi-family housing facilities such as apartments or public parking lots of large buildings. Furthermore, the present invention prevents safety accidents involving charging cables in electric vehicle charging systems, facilitates charging cable management, and simplifies charging billing procedures.

[0013] FIG. 1 is a drawing for explaining a ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system (100) according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are drawings briefly showing an example of the spring switch part (130) in FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 2A is a normal state, and FIG. 2B is a drawing showing a state in which an elastic member (132) is compressed due to an external force greater than a predetermined threshold value, and a contact point is formed at the first terminal (133) and the second terminal (134).

[0015] FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic drawings showing an example of a connector (143) in FIG. 1. FIG. 3A is a normally connected state, and FIG. 3B is a drawing for explaining a situation in which an upper part (143a) and a lower part (143b) are separated due to a break in the engaging member (143c) caused by an external force exceeding a predetermined threshold value, thereby causing the electrical connection to be severed.

[0016] Figure 4 is a drawing showing a rubber material suction plate (142) as an example of an attachment part (142) in Figure 1.

[0017] FIG. 5 is an example of a roller guide (112) located around the exit (S1) through which the cable (141) is drawn out from the reel case (110) in FIG. 1.

[0018] The ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system of the present invention is installed on the ceiling of a parking space to overcome the problem that in public parking lots such as apartments or commercial facilities, electric vehicle charging facilities are only installed in specific parking lines for electric vehicle charging, making it difficult to charge due to a lack of charging facilities. In addition, unlike existing electric vehicle charging billing methods, the management server enables integrated electricity management for each user (household), thereby reducing electric vehicle charging fees. In addition, the management method using a charging management app on a user's mobile device using a QR code scan has the advantage of allowing data communication with the management server and charging the user without the need for components such as a reader, Bluetooth, or wireless LAN device for separate data transmission and reception.

[0019] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings. It should be noted that the attached drawings and the embodiments described with reference thereto are simplified and illustrated to aid those skilled in the art in understanding the present invention. Furthermore, it should be noted that in the attached drawings, components with relatively weak relevance to the concepts of the present invention have been omitted or simplified.

[0020] First, FIG. 1 is a drawing for explaining a ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system (100) according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] Referring to FIG. 1, the ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system (100) of the present invention includes a reel case (110) including a lead cable (141, 142), a reeling unit (111), a power meter (120) (for example, a digital meter, but not limited thereto), a spring switch unit (130), a main switch (160), a data transmission unit (170), a management server (180), and a main switch control unit (190).

[0022] The management server (180) is configured to be able to communicate with the user's mobile device (150). When the user sets the electric vehicle to be charged to start charging, the management server (180) receives a charging start signal from the user's mobile device (150) by touching the charging management app (not shown) of the mobile device (150) (or automatically executing the app at the same time as scanning the QR code so that automatic charging can begin after a certain delay). For example, when the user scans the QR code through the charging management app installed on the user's mobile device (150), the management server (180) recognizes the outlet (145) connected to the electric vehicle to be charged by the user and the user information (e.g., the user's mobile phone number, address, etc.) stored in advance, turns on the main switch (160) connected to the power meter (120) corresponding to the outlet (145) to supply power, measures the amount of electricity used, accumulates the amount of electricity used, calculates the corresponding fee, and charges the usage fee for each unit or at regular intervals (e.g., monthly). User information of users using the electric vehicle charging system may be stored in advance in the management server (180). As the user proceeds with the charging operation for the target electric vehicle, the power usage measured in real time is matched with the user information and accumulated and stored in the management server, so that billing can be performed at regular intervals (e.g., monthly). In addition, in order to charge the amount used at once at regular intervals (e.g., monthly) as well as per unit through the integrated collection management system, integrated billing per user (per household) can be performed by linking with a remote metering system using an existing home network.

[0023] The main switch (160) is a component located on a power supply line (200) and is selectively turned on or off. The power supply line (200) is a power line for supplying power.

[0024] The main switch control unit (190) receives a charging start signal from the user's mobile device (150), and accordingly receives a power supply signal from the management server (180), and turns on the main switch (160) based on this. In the drawing, only one charging session (charging line) is shown, but from the perspective of the management server (180) and the main switch control unit (190), several or hundreds of charging lines may be connected, and thus, by scanning the QR code, the main switch (160) located on the path to which the electric vehicle requiring charging is connected is turned on or off through the main switch control unit (190). The QR code may be located inside the attachment unit (142) as shown in FIG. 4, and this will be described later with reference to FIG. 4.

[0025] The power meter (120) is a component located on a power supply line (200) to measure power usage so that the data can be sent to the management server (180) via the data transmission unit (170) and accumulated and stored. As mentioned above, the power meter (120) may be a digital meter, but is not limited thereto.

[0026] The data transmission unit (170) is a component located on the communication path between the power meter (120) and the management server (180) and transmits data measured by the power meter (120) to the management server (180). The data transmission unit (170) may include, for example, a distributor control unit (DCU) (171) for receiving power usage data (remote metering data) measured by the power meter (120) and an interface unit (172) for transmitting remote metering data received from the DCU to the management server (180), but is not limited to such a configuration example.

[0027] The reel case (110) is a component installed on the ceiling of a parking lot. The reel case (110) includes a reeling part (111) in which an outgoing cable (141) is wound and received. The reel case (110) is a component that electrically connects a power supply line (200) and an outgoing cable (141). Although not depicted in detail in the drawing, one end of the power supply line (200) (i.e., the end that extends to the right of the power meter (120) in the drawing and is inserted into the reel case (110)) may be configured such that it is connected to the center of the reeling part (111) in a plug-type manner, and the outgoing cable (141) is wound around it by the reeling part (111). Of course, one end of the outgoing cable (141) is electrically connected to one end of the power supply line (200) that is connected in the plug-type manner. The reeling portion (111) may be formed in either a spiral or a vortex shape with a separator plate (not shown) formed in the middle to prevent the cable (141) from overlapping and overlapping when being wound. For example, as shown in Fig. 1, the middle separator plate is formed in a spiral shape (or a cochlear shape) so that the cable (141) is separated from the cable when being wound and wound independently, thereby compensating for the disadvantage of causing a problem in the covering due to a rise in the temperature of the cable during charging, which may result in a leakage or short circuit. In addition, since the reeling portion (111) is formed in a spiral or vortex shape and the cable (141) is wound between them, the load is distributed inside the reel case (110), and overheating is prevented, thereby extending the life of the reel case. The basic operation of the reeling unit (111) can be implemented in a manner such that, for example, the cable (141) is released when pulled, and retracted when pulled slightly hard and then released. In addition, a stopper (not shown) may be further provided inside the reel case (110) to adjust the maximum length of the cable (141) that can be pulled out.That is, since the height from the ground to the ceiling of the parking lot may vary depending on the building, the maximum length at which the cable (141) can be pulled out can be preset using a stopper (not shown). For example, the cable (141) can be fastened to fit into the stopper so that when the cable (141) is pulled out to a certain length, it is caught inside the reel case (110) so that it cannot be pulled out any further, thereby allowing the maximum pull-out length to be adjusted. In addition, in order to allow the total available length of the cable (141) to be adjusted, the number of turns of the cochlear structure (the number of turns of the cable (141)) and the winding interval can be adjusted.

[0028] In addition, the reel case (110) may further be provided with a roller guide (112, FIG. 5) to prevent the covering of the outgoing cable (141) from being peeled off due to friction with the reel case (110) at the outlet portion of the outgoing cable. FIG. 5 ((b) of FIG. 5 is a simplified illustration of the side of (a) of FIG. 5) is an example of a roller guide (112) located around the outlet (S1) through which the outgoing cable (141) is drawn out from the reel case (110). In FIG. 5, rollers (R1 to R4) are arranged on four sides to protect the outgoing cable (141), but roller guides may be arranged on three sides or five or more sides.

[0029] In addition, although FIG. 1 illustrates that the main switch (160) and the power meter (120) are located outside the reel case (110), the power meter (120) and the main switch (160) may be located inside the reel case (110). In the case where they are located outside, the power meter (120) and the main switch (160) are located adjacent to the reel case (110). In addition, the power meter (120) and the main switch (160) may be provided inside each case (not shown).

[0030] The extension cable (141) is pulled out from the reel case (110) and is wound around the reeling part (111) while being electrically connected to the power supply line (200) so that its length is variable. That is, in order for a user to start charging an electric vehicle (not shown) to be charged, the extension cable (141) is pulled out to an appropriate length and used.

[0031] The attachment part (142) is located on the outgoing cable (141). Here, “on the outgoing cable (141)” means the middle point on the entire path of the long outgoing cable (141). The attachment part (142) can overcome the disadvantage of the outgoing cable (141) sagging due to gravity during charging, which may damage the reel case (110) or the outgoing cable (141), or the outgoing cable sagging due to the weight of the charging cable and the outgoing cable when a separate charging cable (not shown) is plugged into the outlet (145) located at the end, and touching the floor of the parking lot. The attachment part (142) may be, for example, a rubber suction plate in the shape of a hollow truncated cone as illustrated in FIG. 4, but is not limited thereto. The attachment part (142) is attached to the window or body of the electric vehicle to be charged.

[0032] The outlet (145) is formed at the end of the lead cable (141) and is a component for allowing the connection of a plug of a charging cable (not shown) for direct connection to an electric vehicle to be charged.

[0033] In the present invention, the spring switch unit (130) is located inside near the inlet where the cable (141) is drawn out from the reel case (100), and when an external force exceeding a predetermined threshold is applied, power to the reel case (100) is cut off. This will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 2a and 2b.

[0034] That is, FIGS. 2A and 2B are drawings briefly showing an example of the spring switch unit (130) in FIG. 1. FIG. 2A is a drawing showing a case where an external force within a normal range is applied to pull out the pull-out cable (141) in the relationship between the spring switch unit (130) and the pull-out cable (141), and FIG. 2B is a drawing showing a state where an elastic member (132) is compressed due to an external force exceeding a predetermined threshold value, and a contact point is formed at the first terminal (133) and the second terminal (134).

[0035] Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B together with FIG. 1, the spring switch unit (130) is located inside the reel case (110) near the entrance where the outgoing cable (141) comes out, and is located on the path of the outgoing cable (141). When a first external force exceeding a predetermined threshold (herein referred to as the 'first threshold') is applied to the outgoing cable (141), an off signal is provided to the main switch (160) to turn the main switch (160) to the off state. As a result, the power supplied to the rear end of the power meter (120) (such as the reel case (110) and the outgoing cable (141)) is cut off, thereby preventing an electrical safety accident. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 131 is a component coupled to the outside of the outgoing cable (141) and is a component for pushing the first terminal (133) when an external force exceeding the first threshold is applied downward. Here, the external force applied to the lead cable (141) refers to a force that pulls the lead cable (141) downward, for example, a force or load applied from the outside, such as when the user moves the car and a force is applied to the lead cable (141) while the electric vehicle is being charged (i.e., in this state, the plug of the charging cable for directly connecting to the electric vehicle is plugged into the outlet (145), or a person is hanging on the lead cable (141). The first threshold value can be determined, for example, by the elastic force of the elastic member (132).

[0036] Accordingly, when such a situation occurs, the spring switch unit (130) of the present invention cuts off the power, and as a result, data transmission to the management server (180) via the data transmission unit (170) is also stopped, so that the accumulation of the user's power is also stopped. In order to switch back to a charging state when the external force is removed, the user can resume charging, for example, through a charging management app running on the mobile device (150).

[0037] FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic drawings illustrating an example of a connector (143) in FIG. 1. FIG. 3A is a normally connected state, and FIG. 3B is a drawing for explaining a situation in which an upper part (143a) and a lower part (143b) are separated due to a break in the engaging member (143c) caused by an external force exceeding a predetermined threshold value, thereby causing the electrical connection to be severed.

[0038] Referring to FIGS. 3a and 3b together with FIG. 1, the ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system (100) of the present invention further includes a connector (143) along with the spring switch unit (130) described above, thereby doubly preventing safety accidents caused by hanging on the lead cable (141) or moving the electric vehicle during charging. The connector (143) is composed of an upper part (143a), a lower part (143b), and a hooking member (143c), and protrusions (143a2, 143b2) for hooking the hooking member (143c) are formed on the main bodies (143a1, 143b1) of the upper part (143a) and the lower part (143b), respectively. As illustrated in FIG. 3a, in a normal case, the upper part (143a) and the lower part (143b) are maintained in a state of being coupled to each other by a catch member (143c) so that a charging path can be formed to the battery of the electric vehicle through the take-out cable (141). However, when, for example, a situation occurs in which the electric vehicle is moving while hanging on the take-out cable (141) or plugged in, and a second external force exceeding a certain force (herein referred to as a second threshold value to distinguish it from the first threshold value described above) is applied to the take-out cable (141), the catch member (143c) is broken, as illustrated in FIG. 3b, so that the upper part (143a) and the lower part (143b) are separated from each other.

[0039] FIG. 4 is a drawing showing a rubber suction cup (142) as an example of the attachment part (142) in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 4, in the ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system (100, FIG. 1) of the present invention, the attachment part (142) may be configured as a rubber suction cup. As mentioned above, when charging is in progress, the attachment part (142) causes the outgoing cable (141) to sag due to gravity, and furthermore, since a separate charging cable (not shown) is further connected to the outlet (145) located at the end, there is a concern that the outgoing cable (141) may sag due to the load in this state and touch the floor of the parking lot, which may cause a safety accident. Therefore, for this purpose, by configuring the attachment part in the form of, for example, a suction cup (142), it can be fixed by suction to the window or body of the electric vehicle. A QR code is embedded inside the suction cup (142) so that the user can scan it with a mobile device (150) to initiate the charging process. The ceiling-mounted electric vehicle charging system of the present invention is used in a form in which the reel case (110) is installed on the ceiling and the extension cable (141) is extended toward the floor. Therefore, for example, if a QR code is attached to the extension case, it is difficult for the user to smoothly scan it using a mobile device. Otherwise, if it is attached or connected to the covering of the extension cable (141) or attached to an outlet, the QR code may be easily damaged due to external exposure or frequent use. Therefore, to solve this problem, the QR code is placed inside the suction plate (142).

[0040] Furthermore, the charging management app may also be equipped with a function that allows the user to know the parking location of the electric vehicle by scanning a QR code using a mobile device (150).

[0041] Below, an example of a charging situation from the management server (180) perspective is described.

[0042] For example, when charging is completed (the completion of charging is indicated to the user through a charging management app on the user's mobile device) or when power is cut off or the supply is interrupted due to a specific event (e.g., an external force), the management server (180) may process a billing process. The management server (180) may ask the user through the charging management app whether to resume charging or to stop charging and proceed with payment. The user may scan a QR code to request resumption or stop charging through the charging management app, thereby proceeding with the payment process according to the billing process.

[0043] Additionally, if a visitor to the parking lot wishes to charge using the charging system, they can do so using the mobile device of the person they are visiting (i.e., a user whose information is registered with the management server). Furthermore, the charging management app may further incorporate a visitor mode feature, allowing visitors to charge by scanning a QR code located in the desired charging area. Additionally, using the instant payment mode, they can pay the amount with their own credit card.

[0044] The ceiling-mounted electric vehicle charging system of the present invention has been described above with examples. It should be noted that the above description does not exhaustively cover all embodiments of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the claims below.

Claims

1. As a ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system, A management server (180) that communicates with the user's mobile device; A main switch (160) located on the power supply line and selectively turned on or off; A main switch control unit (190) that turns on the main switch by using a power supply signal from the management server that is generated based on the reception of a charging start signal from the user's mobile device; A power meter (120) located on the power supply line to measure power usage; A data transmission unit (170) located on a communication path between the power meter and the management server, which transmits data measured by the power meter to the management server; A reel case (110) installed on the ceiling and electrically connecting the power supply line and the downstream cable (141), and including a reeling part (111) inside which the downstream cable is wound and received; A cable (141) drawn out from the reel case and wound around the reeling section while being electrically connected to the power supply line, the length of which is variable; An attachment (142) located on the above-mentioned outgoing cable and attached to the outside of the electric vehicle to be charged to maintain the position of the outgoing cable constant during charging; and A ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system, characterized in that it includes an outlet (145) formed at the end of the above-mentioned lead cable and allowing the connection of a plug of a charging cable for direct connection to an electric vehicle to be charged.

2. In claim 1, the ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system, A ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system, characterized in that it further includes a spring switch unit (130) located inside the reel case and on the path of the outgoing cable, for providing an off signal to the main switch side to turn the main switch to an off state when a first external force greater than a first threshold value is applied to the outgoing cable.

3. In claim 2, the ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system, A ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system, characterized in that it further includes a connector (143) in which the upper part and the lower part are connected to each other by a catch member, and when a second external force greater than a second threshold is applied to the pull-out cable, the catch member is broken and the upper part and the lower part are separated from each other.

4. In claim 1, The above attachment part (142) is composed of a suction plate made of rubber material, Inside the above suction cup, a QR code that can be scanned by the user's mobile device is embedded, A ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system, characterized in that when the QR code is scanned by the user's mobile device, a charging management app installed on the user's mobile device is executed and placed in a state where communication with the management server is possible.

5. In claim 1, The user information of the user is stored in advance in the above management server (180), A ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system characterized in that the power usage measured according to the charging progress of the electric vehicle to be charged is accumulated and stored by matching it with the user information of the user.

6. In claim 1, A ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system, characterized in that the reeling portion is formed in either a spiral or a vortex shape with a separator formed in the middle so that the reeling portion does not overlap each other when the cable is wound.

7. In claim 1, A ceiling-type electric vehicle charging system, characterized in that the main switch and the power meter are located inside the reel case or are provided within the case of each of the main switch and the power meter and are located adjacently outside the reel case.

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