Electric vehicle supply equipment and control system

Abstract

Aspects of the present invention relate to a charging gun (300) for an electric vehicle supply equipment (200), the charging gun comprising: a plurality of electronic function components (302, 304, 308) each configured to control a respective functionality of the electric vehicle supply equipment; one or more electronic characterising components (312, 314, 318), each of the plurality of electronic function components connected to the one or more electronic characterising components, the one or more electronic characterising components configured to, in response to input made to one of the plurality of electronic function components, provide an electronic signal having a unique characteristic associated with the one of the plurality of electronic function components; and a common component connection wire (310) connected to each of the plurality of electronic function components and configured to carry the electronic signal having a unique characteristic associated with the one of the plurality of electronic function components to the electric vehicle supply equipment. Also disclosed are control systems for controlling an electric vehicle supply equipment.

Description

[0001] ELECTRIC VEHICLE SUPPLY EQUIPMENT AND CONTROL SYSTEM

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present disclosure relates to a charging gun for an electric vehicle supply equipment and a control system for an electric vehicle supply equipment. Aspects of the invention relate to a charging gun, an electric vehicle supply equipment, a control system, a system, and a method.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] It is known to provide an electric vehicle supply equipment at a home address, and a vehicle can be connected to the supply equipment and receive charge therefrom to charge an energy store of the vehicle. It may be useful for a user to be able to provide an input at the charging gun of the supply equipment to control the operation of the supply equipment. It is a technical challenge to control functionality of the supply equipment via input made at the charging gun, at least in part due to design restrictions at the charging gun and the charging cable between the charging gun and the body of the supply equipment.

[0006] It is an aim of the present invention to address one or more of the disadvantages associated with the prior art.

[0007] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Aspects and embodiments of the invention provide a charging gun, an electric vehicle supply equipment, a control system, a system, and a method as claimed in the appended claims.

[0009] According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a charging gun for an electric vehicle supply equipment, the charging gun comprising: at least one electronic function component configured to control a functionality of the electric vehicle supply equipment; and at least one electronic characterising component connected to the at least one electronic function component, the at least one electronic characterising component configured to provide an electronic signal having a unique characteristic associated with the at least one electronic function components in response to input made to the at least one electronic function components. Advantageously, the signal provided by the electronic function component due to an input made to it has a characteristic unique to it so it can be unambiguously determined which electronic function component was interacted with, for example in the event that there is more than one electronic function component on the charging gun.

[0010] According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a charging gun for an electric vehicle supply equipment, the charging gun comprising: a plurality of electronic function components each configured to control a respective functionality of the electric vehicle supply equipment; one or more electronic characterising components, each of the plurality of electronic function components connected to the one or more electronic characterising components, the one or more electronic characterising components configured to, in response to input made to one of the plurality of electronic function components, provide an electronic signal having a unique characteristic associated with the one of the plurality of electronic function components; and a common component connection wire connected to each of the plurality of electronic function components and configured to configured to carry the electronic signal having a unique characteristic associated with the one of the plurality of electronic function components to the electric vehicle supply equipment. The common component connection wire may be configured to connect to a body of the electric vehicle supply equipment.

[0011] Advantageously, more than one electronic function component (such as a button, switch, or touchpad) may be included in the charging gun connected to a common component connection wire rather than individual dedicated component connection wires. Thus, increased functionality of the charging gun can be realised though the ability to use plural electronic function components. The electronic function components are all connected to a common component connection wire which carries the signals to the supply equipment; the usability to use a common wire for plural signals from the charging gun improves the characteristics of the charging cable by making use of existing space within the charging cable for the common component connection wire and avoiding the need for plural dedicated component connection wires which would result in a bulkier, heavier, and stiffer overall charging cable. This advantage is facilitated by the use of the one or more electronic characterising components (e.g. resistors, capacitors, pulse width modulators), allowing for signals from the different electronic function components at the charging gun to be provided along the same, component connection wire but having unique characteristics provided by the electronic characterising components, allowing for recognition of the function to be controlled.

[0012] The one or more electronic characterising components may comprise a dedicated electronic characterising component connected to one corresponding electronic function component of the plurality of electronic function components and may be configured to provide the unique characteristic of the corresponding connected electronic function component. The one or more electronic characterising components may comprise a shared electronic characterising component connected to a plurality of the electronic function components and configured to provide the respective unique characteristics of the plurality of connected electronic function components.

[0013] Advantageously, in some examples, each electronic function component is connected to a dedicated electronic characterising component, such as a resistor or capacitor, providing a simple electronic circuit arrangement. Advantageously, in some examples plural electronic function components may be connected to a shared electronic characterising component, for example a pulse width modulator, allowing for plural function components to have associated unique signal provided by the single electronic characterising component.

[0014] The one or more electronic characterising components may comprise one or more dedicated electronic characterising components of: resistors, capacitors, inductors, and pulse width modulators. Other components may be used as appreciated by the skilled person and included in this disclosure. Advantageously, straightforward electronic components may be used as electronic characterising components to allow for the unique characteristic to be provided.

[0015] The one or more electronic characterising components may comprise one or more shared electronic characterising components of: pulse width modulators, microprocessors, and printed circuit boards. Other components may be used as appreciated by the skilled person and included in this disclosure. Advantageously, a common electronic characterising component may be used to provide a unique characteristic of plural electronic function components.

[0016] The one or more electronic characterising components may be connected between the plurality of electronic function components and the common component connection wire.

[0017] The plurality of electronic function components may comprise: a button, a switch, a touch screen, and a fingerprint sensor. Other electronic function components (user input elements) may be used as appreciated by the skilled person and included in this disclosure. Advantageously, various different electronic function components may be implemented in the charging gun.

[0018] The charging gun may comprise a ground connection wire connected to each of the plurality of electronic function components and configured to connect to an electric vehicle supply equipment. The component connection wire may be configured to form a circuit with the ground connection wire and at least one of the plurality of electronic function components.

[0019] The respective functionality of the electric vehicle supply equipment may comprise one or more of: retraction of a charging cable to which the charging gun is attached; extension of a charging cable to which the charging gun is attached; switching on a light on a body of the electric vehicle supply equipment; switching on light at the charging gun; switching off a light on a body of the electric vehicle supply equipment; switching off light at the charging gun; switching off light at the charging gun; retrieval of a charging schedule; manually starting a charging session; manually stopping a charging session; authenticating the user; holding the charging gun and charging cable in position; and signalling to the vehicle to perform a function. Other functionality may be envisaged as appreciated by the skilled person and is included in this disclosure. Advantageously, plural different functionalities may be provided by the electronic function components of the charging gun.

[0020] According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided an electronic vehicle supply equipment comprising any charging gun as disclosed herein; a body of the electric vehicle supply equipment; and a charging cable connected between the charging gun and the body of the electric vehicle supply equipment. Advantageously, an electronic vehicle supply equipment may be provided allowing for plural electronic function components to be used in the charging gun while the charging cable is not made heavier or stiffer by the inclusion of dedicated wires connecting each of the plural electronic function components to the body of the electric vehicle supply equipment.

[0021] The common component connection wire may extend through the charging cable in a space in the charging cable between plural further wires within the charging cable. Advantageously, existing space within the charging cable may be exploited for the common component connection wire, and the overall diameter of the charging cable is not increased to accommodate the common component connection wire (or at least not significantly increased). Power cables for charging present in the charging cable have a relatively large diameter, and the common component connection wire signal cable has a much smaller diameter, so when three or more power cables are put together, a small cavity is present in the middle in which the common component connection wire cable can be located.

[0022] The electric vehicle supply equipment may comprise a sensing element configured to output, in dependence on the electronic signal, a control signal to control a function of the electric vehicle supply equipment, said function being dependent on the unique characteristic. Advantageously, the sensing element determines, from the nature of the unique characteristic, the electronic function component which the input was provided to (and what the input was). The sensing element may be a combination of plural electronic components in some examples.

[0023] According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a control system for controlling an electric vehicle supply equipment; the control system comprising one or more processors collectively configured to: receive an electronic signal comprising a unique characteristic from an electronic function component of a plurality of electronic function components of the charging gun, the electronic signal received via a common component connection wire of the electric vehicle supply equipment, the common component connection wire connected to each of the plurality of electronic function components, the electronic signal transmitted in response to an input made to the electronic function component to control a corresponding function of the electric vehicle supply equipment associated with the electronic function component; determine, in dependence on the unique characteristic of the electronic signal, a function control signal to control the corresponding function of the electric vehicle supply equipment, the unique characteristic corresponding to an electronic characterising component connected to the electronic function component; and output the function control signal to cause the electric vehicle supply equipment to control the corresponding function according to the received electronic signal.

[0024] The control system may comprise one or more controllers collectively comprising at least one electronic processor having an electrical input for receiving an input signal; and at least one memory device electrically coupled to the at least one electronic processor and having instructions stored therein; and wherein the at least one electronic processor is configured to access the at least one memory device and execute the instructions thereon so as to: receive an electronic signal comprising a unique characteristic from an electronic function component of a plurality of electronic function components of the charging gun, the electronic signal received via a common component connection wire of the electric vehicle supply equipment, the common component connection wire connected to each of the plurality of electronic function components, the electronic signal transmitted in response to an input made to the electronic function component to control a corresponding function of the electric vehicle supply equipment associated with the electronic function component; determine, in dependence on the unique characteristic of the electronic signal, a function control signal to control the corresponding function of the electric vehicle supply equipment, the unique characteristic corresponding to an electronic characterising component connected to the electronic function component; and output the function control signal to cause the electric vehicle supply equipment to control the corresponding function according to the received electronic signal. The control system may be configured to determine, in dependence on an input type characteristic of the electronic signal, the function control signal to control the corresponding function of the electric vehicle supply equipment, the input type characteristic corresponding to an input type made to the electronic function component. Therefore, the input type made and which electronic function components the input was made to may be determined and used to trigger the corresponding function. For example, a short press to a button may cause the charging cable to be released from the supply equipment housing whereas a long press to the button may cause the charging cable to unwind.

[0025] The control system may be configured to determine the electronic function component to which the input was made by matching the unique characteristic of the received signal with a corresponding stored unique characteristic. The control system may be configured to determine the function of the electronic function component according to the input type made by matching the unique characteristic of the received signal with a corresponding stored unique characteristic. For example, a lookup table of unique characteristics and corresponding electronic function components and / or functions of the electronic function components may be used.

[0026] The unique characteristic of the electronic signal may comprise one or more of: a resistance in a predetermined resistance range, a current in a predetermined current range, a voltage in a predetermined voltage range, a pulse having a pulse width within a predetermined pulse width range, a pulse magnitude within a predetermined pulse magnitude range, a frequency in a predetermined frequency range, or other characteristic which will be appreciated by the skilled person.

[0027] According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a system comprising: any charging gun disclosed herein, or any electronic vehicle supply equipment disclosed herein; and any control system disclosed herein.

[0028] According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for controlling an electric vehicle supply equipment, the electric vehicle supply equipment comprising any charging gun disclosed herein, the method comprising: receiving an electronic signal from the common component connection wire, the electronic signal transmitted in response to an input made to an electronic function component of the plurality of electronic function components of the charging gun, each of the plurality of electronic function components connected to the common component connection wire, the input made to control functionality of the electric vehicle supply equipment associated with the electronic function component; determining, in dependence on a unique characteristic of the electronic signal, the electronic function component of the plurality of electronic function components to which the input was made, the unique characteristic corresponding to an electronic characterising component connected to the electronic function component; and outputting a function control signal to cause the electric vehicle supply equipment to provide the requested functionality.

[0029] According to an aspect of the present invention there are provided computer readable instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform any method disclosed herein. Within the scope of this application it is expressly intended that the various aspects, embodiments, examples and alternatives set out in the preceding paragraphs, in the claims and / or in the following description and drawings, and in particular the individual features thereof, may be taken independently or in any combination. That is, all embodiments and / or features of any embodiment can be combined in any way and / or combination, unless such features are incompatible. The applicant reserves the right to change any originally filed claim or file any new claim accordingly, including the right to amend any originally filed claim to depend from and / or incorporate any feature of any other claim although not originally claimed in that manner.

[0030] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] One or more embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0032] Figure 1 shows electric vehicle supply equipment according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0033] Figures 2A-2D show schematically examples of charging guns according to embodiments of the invention;

[0034] Figure 3 shows schematically a charging gun according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0035] Figure 4 shows schematically a charging cable according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0036] Figure 5 shows a flow chart showing a method which control systems disclosed herein are configured to perform for controlling an electric vehicle supply equipment according to an embodiment of the invention; and

[0037] Figure 6 shows a control system according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0038] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] Figure 1 shows electric vehicle supply equipment 200 according to an embodiment of the invention. An electric vehicle supply equipment 200 (or simply supply equipment) may be understood to be a “charger” or “home charger”, i.e. an apparatus which can be connected to a vehicle (and the electrical energy storage of that vehicle) for the provision of charge from the supply equipment to the vehicle, to recharge the electrical energy storage. The vehicle may be a battery electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle, for example. The supply equipment 200 as illustrated comprises a charging gun 300 connected to the body of the supply equipment 204 via a charging cable 250, which may be extended to allow the charging gun 300 to be moved over to a vehicle and connected thereto, and retracted to allow the charging gun 300 to be stored back at the supply equipment 200 with the charging cable 250 stowed away inside the body 204 of the supply equipment 200. The supply equipment 200 in some examples may comprise a display screen or other output element 202. The supply equipment 200 may comprise a control system 100 as disclosed herein. In other examples such a control system 100 as disclosed herein may be located at the charging gun 300 as an alternative.

[0040] It is known to provide an electric vehicle supply equipment 200 at a home address, and a vehicle can be connected to the supply equipment 200 and receive charge therefrom to charge an energy store of the vehicle. It is desirable to be able to provide an input at the charging gun 300 of the supply equipment 200 to control the operation of the supply equipment 200. For example, it may be useful to press a button on the charging gun 200 and cause the charging cable 250 to which the charging gun 300 is attached to retract into the body 204 of the supply equipment 200.

[0041] It poses a technical challenge to control functionality of the supply equipment 200 via input made at the charging gun 300. This is at least in part due to design restrictions at the charging gun 300 and the charging cable 250 between the charging gun 300 and the body of the supply equipment 204. The available space within the charging cable 250 in which to include additional wiring between elements at the charging gun 300 and the body 204 of the supply equipment 200 is limited. Increasing the size of the charging cable 250 to accommodate additional wiring causes problems because the charging cable becomes much heavier, and stiffer to wind and unwind, which is undesirable. Examples disclosed herein aim to solve the problem of providing functionality at the supply equipment 200 to be controlled via interaction with an input element at the charging gun 300 in a way which overcomes the challenges associated with design restrictions of the charging cable 250.

[0042] The combination of a charging gun 300 and the control system 100, or the combination of an electronic vehicle supply equipment 200 and the control system 100, may be referred to as a system. This disclosure covers the combination of an electronic vehicle supply equipment 200 comprising: any charging gun 300 as disclosed herein, a body 204 of the electric vehicle supply equipment 200, and a charging cable 250 connected between the charging gun 300 and the body of the electric vehicle supply equipment 204. Such an electronic vehicle supply equipment 200 may allow for plural electronic function components to be used in the charging gun 300 while the charging cable 250 is not made heavier or stiffer by the inclusion of dedicated wires connecting each of the plural electronic function components to the body of the electric vehicle supply equipment.

[0043] Figures 2A-2D show schematically examples of charging guns 300 according to embodiments of the invention. It will be appreciated that elements of these examples may be combined to provide other such examples without departing from the scope of this disclosure. These examples show that plural input elements 302, 304, 308 (which may be called electronic function components), such as buttons, switches, touch screens, fingerprint sensors, and / or other means for providing an input, may be present on the charging gun 300 and may be used to generate signalling which is transmitted via a common component connection wire 310 to, for example, the body 204 of the supply equipment 200. The common component connection wire 310 is configured to carry the electronic signal having a unique characteristic associated with the one of the plurality of electronic function components to the electric vehicle supply equipment.

[0044] The signalling comprises some unique characteristic associated with the electronic function component 302, 304, 308 to which the input was provided so that it is clear which electronic function component the input is made with (i.e. what the function is which is to be controlled by the signalling), even though the signalling from more than one electronic function component 302, 304, 308 is transmitted using the same common component connection wire 310. The unique characteristic is provided, at least in part, by one or more electronic characterising components 312, 314, 312a-b, 314a-b, 318, 340 connected with the electronic function components 302, 304, 308. Advantageously, various different electronic function components 302, 304, 308 may be implemented in the charging gun and signalling provided which may be transmitted via a common wire 310, to allow for plural electronic function components 302, 304, 308 to be implemented at the charging gun 300 without dedicated separate wiring being required for each electronic function component, which would make the charging cable through which the wires pass heavy or stiff.

[0045] In other words, Figures 2A-2D illustrate examples of a charging gun 300 for an electric vehicle supply equipment 200. The charging gun 300 comprises at least one electronic function component 302, 340, 308 configured to control a functionality of the electric vehicle supply equipment 200; at least one electronic characterising component 312, 314, 312a-b, 314a-b, 318, 340 connected to the at least one electronic function component 302, 304, 308, the at least one electronic characterising component 312, 314, 312a-b, 314a-b, 318, 340 configured to provide an electronic signal having a unique characteristic associated with the at least one electronic function components 302, 304, 308 in response to input made to the at least one electronic function components 302, 304, 308. Advantageously, the signal provided by the electronic function component 302, 304, 308 due to an input made to it has a characteristic unique to it, so it can be unambiguously determined which electronic function component was interacted with.

[0046] Furthermore, it will be understood that Figures 2A-2D illustrate examples of a charging gun 300 for an electric vehicle supply equipment 200. The charging gun 200 comprises a plurality of electronic function components 302, 340, 308 each configured to control a respective functionality of the electric vehicle supply equipment 200. The charging gun 200 comprises one or more electronic characterising components 312, 314, 312a-b, 314a-b, 318, 340, each of the plurality of electronic function components 312, 314, 312a-b, 314a-b, 318, 340 connected to the one or more electronic characterising components 302, 340, 308, the one or more electronic characterising components 312, 314, 312a-b, 314a-b, 318, 340 configured to, in response to input made to one of the plurality of electronic function components 302, 340, 308, provide an electronic signal having a unique characteristic associated with the one of the plurality of electronic function components 302, 340, 308. The charging gun 200 comprises a common component connection wire 310 connected to each of the plurality of electronic function components 302, 340, 308, and is configured to connect to a body 204 of the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 and carry the electronic signal having a unique characteristic associated with the one of the plurality of electronic function components 302, 304, 308 to the (body of the) electric vehicle supply equipment 300.

[0047] Advantageously, more than one electronic function component 302, 304, 308 (such as a button, switch, or touchpad) may be included in the charging gun 200 connected to a common component connection wire 310 rather than individual dedicated component connection wires. Thus, increased functionality of the charging gun 200 can be realised though the ability to use plural electronic function components 302, 340, 308. The electronic function components 302, 340, 308 are all connected to a common component connection wire 310, which improves the characteristics of the charging cable 250 connected to the charging gun 300 by making use of existing space within the charging cable 250 for the common component connection wire and avoiding the need for plural dedicated component connection wires which would result in a bulkier, heavier, and stiffer overall charging cable 250 (see Figure 4 for further discussion). This advantage is facilitated by the use of the one or more electronic characterising components 312, 314, 312a-b, 314a-b, 318, 340 (e.g. resistors, capacitors, pulse width modulators), allowing for signals from the different electronic function components 302, 340, 308 to be provided along the same component connection wire 310 but having a unique characteristics provided by the electronic characterising components 312, 314, 312a-b, 314a-b, 318, 340, allowing for recognition of the electronic function component 302, 340, 308 which gave rise to the signal.

[0048] In some examples, it will be appreciated that the provided functionality resulting from user input made to an electronic function component of the charging gun 300 may be effected at the charging gun 300 (the charging gun 300 itself may be considered to be part of the supply equipment 200). Examples include illumination and / or extinguishing a light source on the charging gun 300, causing a locking mechanism of the charging gun 300 to lock and / or unlock (for example, to / from a vehicle when the charging gun 300 is connected to the vehicle), or other such functionality.

[0049] Figure 2A illustrates a charging gun 300 comprising two electronic function components 302, 304 (for example, switches), and each electronic function component 302, 304 is connected to a respective electronic characterising component 312, 314 (e.g. a resistor). In this example each electronic function components 302, 304 is connected to a ground wire 320 at one side, and to its electronic characterising component 312, 314 at the other side. The electronic characterising components 312, 314 in turn are connected to the common component connection wire 310. The charging gun 300 may thus comprise a ground connection wire connected to each of the plurality of electronic function components 302, 304, 308 and configured to connect to an electric vehicle supply equipment 200. The common component connection wire 310 may be configured to form a circuit with the ground connection wire 320 and at least one of the plurality of electronic function components 302, 304, 308.

[0050] To provide the unique electronic characteristic of a signal from each of the electronic function components 302, 304, the electronic characterising components 312, 314 provide a different characterising property or parameterto a signal transmitted from each electronic function component 302, 304 to the common component connection wire 310. For example, if the electronic characterising components 312, 314 are resistors, each would have a different resistance value. For example, if the electronic characterising components 312, 314 are capacitors, each would have a different capacitance value.

[0051] Figure 2B illustrates a charging gun 300 comprising two electronic function components 302, 304 as in Figure 2A. In addition, Figure 2B includes an additional electronic component 306 such as an LED which is connected to the ground wire 320 and a furthersignal connection wire 322 (e.g. a positive connection). Also in the example of Figure 2B, each electronic function component 302, 304 is connected to a respective electronic characterising component which comprises plural subcomponents, in this example a resistor 312a, 314a and a capacitor 312b, 314b.

[0052] Figures 2A and 2B both provide examples of a charging gun 300 in which the one or more electronic characterising components 312, 314 may comprise a dedicated electronic characterising component connected to one corresponding electronic function component 302, 304 of the plurality of electronic function components and configured to provide the unique characteristic of the corresponding connected electronic function component. Advantageously, in some examples, each electronic function component is connected to a dedicated electronic characterising component, such as a resistor or capacitor, providing a simple electronic circuit arrangement.

[0053] Figure 2C illustrates a charging gun 300 comprising electronic function components 302, 304, 308, and an additional electronic component 306, connected to a common electronic characterising component 340, which in this example is a pulse width modulation (PLM) module 340 (“common" in this sense means that the common electronic characterising component 340 is connected to more than one electronic function component and is therefore a common component connected to each of them). In this example, each electronic signal provided by one of the electronic function components 302, 304, 308 is processed by the PLM module 340 to provide an electronic signal in the common component connection wire 310 having a unique characteristic of a characteristic of a pulse width modulated signal. For example each electronic function component 302, 304, 308 may provide a signal to the PLM module 340 which is processed to have a corresponding pulse width, pulse separation, pulse amplitude, pulse frequency, or other wave characteristic of the resulting pulsed wave output by the PLM module 340. Another example common electronic characterising component 340 which may be used is a microprocessor or printed circuit board for example, which is able to apply some processing to a signal received from an electronic function component to provide it with a unique characteristic.

[0054] Figure 2C provides an example of a charging gun in which the one or more electronic characterising components 340 may comprise a shared electronic characterising component 340 connected to a plurality of the electronic function components 302, 304, 308 and configured to provide the respective unique characteristics of the plurality of connected electronic function components. Advantageously, in some examples plural electronic function components may be connected to a shared electronic characterising component, for example a pulse width modulator, allowing for plural function components to have associated unique signal provided by the single electronic characterising component.

[0055] Figure 2D illustrates the charging gun 300 comprising three electronic function components 302, 304, 308 each connected to a respective electronic characterising component 312, 314, 318. An additional electronic component 306 e.g. an LED, is also included connected between the ground wire 320 and the common component connection wire 310. The electronic function components 302, 304 may be buttons, switches, or the like. The electronic function component 308 may be a different type of function component, for example a touch panel or fingerprint sensor. That is, different types of electronic function components may be included in the circuit in the charging gun 300.

[0056] Also present in the example of Figure 2D is a sensing element 330. The sensing element 330 may be located at the body of the electric vehicle supply equipment 200; i.e., wherein the charging gun is located at a distal end of the charging cable 250, the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 and sensing element 330 may be located at the opposite proximal end of the charging cable 350. The sensing element 330 is configured to receive unique signalling via the common component connection wire 310 and output, in dependence on the electronic signal, a control signal to control a function of the electric vehicle supply equipment 200, said function being dependent on the unique characteristic. Advantageously, the sensing element 330 determines, from the nature of the unique characteristic, the electronic function component 302, 304, 308 which the input was provided to (and in some examples, what the input was, e.g. a long press or short press, or a single press or double press). The sensing element may be a combination of plural electronic components in some examples.

[0057] In Figures 2A-2D the electronic characterising components 312, 314, 318, 340 are connected between the respective electronic function components 312, 314, 308 and the common component connection wire 310. However, it will be appreciated that in other examples, the electronic characterising component may be connected between the ground wire 320 and the corresponding electronic characterising component and still act to provide a unique characteristic of a signal provided by that electronic function component.

[0058] The example electronic characterising components 312, 314, 312a-b, 314a-b, 318 shown in Figures 2A, 2B and 2D may be one or more dedicated electronic characterising components of: resistors, capacitors, inductors, pulse width modulators, or other suitable component. Advantageously, straightforward electronic components may be used as electronic characterising components to allow for the unique characteristic to be provided. The one or more electronic characterising components 340, as shown in the example of Figure 2C, may comprise one or more shared electronic characterising components of: pulse width modulators, printed circuit boards, or microprocessors. Advantageously, a common electronic characterising component may be used to provide a unique characteristic of plural electronic function components. Some examples may comprise a combination of one or more dedicated electronic characterising components and one more shared electronic characterising components.

[0059] The respective functionality of the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 which may be controlled by input made to the electric function components may comprise one or more of: retraction of a charging cable 250 to which the charging gun 300 is attached; extension of a charging cable 250 to which the charging gun 300 is attached; switching on a light on a body 204 of the electric vehicle supply equipment 200; switching on light at the charging gun 300; switching off a light on a body 204 of the electric vehicle supply equipment 200; switching off light at the charging gun 300; retrieval of a charging schedule at the supply equipment 200; manually starting a charging session from the charging gun, manually stopping a charging session from the charging gun, authenticating the user (e.g. via a fingerprint sensor or other authentication means), holding the charging gun and charging cable in position (i.e. the charging cable cannot retract or extend), indicating when the charging gun and charging cable are held in position (i.e. indicating that the charging cable cannot retract or extend), signalling to the vehicle to opening the vehicle charging port door, signalling to the vehicle to perform another functionality, or other automation functionality as will be appreciated by the skilled person. Advantageously, plural different functionalities may be provided by the electronic function components of the charging gun 300.

[0060] Figure 3 shows schematically a charging gun 300 according to an embodiment of the invention. This example is similar to that of Figure 2C in which two electronic function components 302, 304 are connected to a shared electronic characterising component 340 which in turn is connected to the common component connection wire 310 which extends along the connected charging cable 250 back to the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 (not shown). Figure 4 shows schematically a charging cable 250 according to an embodiment of the invention. The cross section through the charging cable 250 as illustrated, with power cables 340b and other cables 340a, 340c illustrated. The illustrated arrangement of cables 340a-c already in the charging cable 250 leave a space centrally along the charging cable 250 which may be used to accommodate the common component connection wire 310 advantageously without increasing the overall cross-section of the charging cable 250. That is, the common component connection wire 310 may extend through the charging cable 250 in a space in the charging cable 250 between plural further wires 340a-c within the charging cable 350. Advantageously, existing space within the charging cable 350 may be exploited for the common component connection wire. It will be appreciated that other geometries may exist which give rise to a space along the length of the charging cable 250 which can be exploited for housing the common component connection wire 310. For example, three relatively large power cables 340b, when co-aligned, leave a triangular- type space therebetween, which may be used to house the common component connection wire 310.

[0061] Figure 5 shows a flow chart showing a method 500 which control systems 100 disclosed herein are configured to perform for controlling an electric vehicle supply equipment 200 according to an embodiment of the invention, wherein the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 comprises a charging gun 300 as disclosed herein. The method 500 may be performed by the control system 100 illustrated in Figure 6. In particular, the memory 130 may comprise computer-readable instructions which, when executed by the processor 120, perform the method 500 according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0062] The method 500 comprises receiving 502 an electronic signal 510 comprising a unique characteristic from an electronic function component of a plurality of electronic function components of the charging gun, the electronic signal received via a common component connection wire of the electric vehicle supply equipment, the common component connection wire connected to each of the plurality of electronic function components, the electronic signal transmitted in response to an input made to the electronic function component to control a corresponding function of the electric vehicle supply equipment associated with the electronic function component. The method 500 comprises determining 504, in dependence on the unique characteristic of the electronic signal, a function control signal to control the corresponding function of the electric vehicle supply equipment, the unique characteristic corresponding to an electronic characterising component connected to the electronic function component. The method 500 comprises outputting 506 the function control signal 320 to cause the electric vehicle supply equipment to control the corresponding function according to the received electronic signal.

[0063] Figure 6 shows a control system 100 according to an embodiment of the invention. The control system 100 comprises one or more controller 110. The control system 100 is configured to receive an electronic signal 165 comprising a unique characteristic from an electronic function component 302 of a plurality of electronic function components of the charging gun. The electronic signal 165 is received via a common component connection wire of the electric vehicle supply equipment. The common component connection wire is connected to each of the plurality of electronic function components 302. The electronic signal 165 is transmitted in response to an input made to the electronic function component 302 to control a corresponding function of the electric vehicle supply equipment associated with the electronic function component data 135. The control system 100 is configured to determine, in dependence on the unique characteristic of the electronic signal 165, a function control signal to control the corresponding function of the electric vehicle supply equipment 200. The unique characteristic corresponds to an electronic characterising component connected to the electronic function component as discussed above in relation to Figures 2A-2D, for example.

[0064] The control system 100 is configured to then output a function control signal 155 to cause the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 to control the corresponding function according to the received electronic signal.

[0065] The control system 100 as illustrated in Figure 1 comprises one controller 110, although it will be appreciated that this is merely illustrative. The controller 1 10 comprises processing means 120 and memory means 130. The processing means 120 may be one or more electronic processing device 120 which operably executes computer-readable instructions. The memory means 130 may be one or more memory device 130. The memory means 130 is electrically coupled to the processing means 120. The memory means 130 is configured to store instructions, and the processing means 120 is configured to access the memory means 130 and execute the instructions stored thereon.

[0066] The controller 110 comprises an input means 140 and an output means 150. The input means 140 may comprise an electrical input 140 of the controller 110. The output means 150 may comprise an electrical output 340 of the controller 305. The input 140 is arranged to receive the electronic signal 165 from the electronic function component 302. The electronic signal 165 is indicative of an input made to the electronic function component to control a corresponding function of the electric vehicle supply equipment associated with the electronic function component. The output 150 is arranged to output a function control signal 155 to cause the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 to control the corresponding function.

[0067] The control system 100 may be configured to determine, in dependence on an input type characteristic of the electronic signal 165, the function control signal 155 to control the corresponding function of the electric vehicle supply equipment 200. The input type characteristic corresponds to an input type made to the electronic function component 302. Therefore, the input type made and which electronic function components the input was made to triggers the corresponding function. For example, a short press on a charging cable control input element (as an electronic function component) may cause the charging cable to be extended at a first slow speed, whereas a long press on the charging cable control input element may cause a charging cable to extend at a second faster speed. As another example, one tap on an LED control input element (e.g. a button or touchpad) may cause an LED to be illuminated first level of brightness, whereas two taps on the LED control input element may cause the LED to illuminate at a second brighter level of illumination. As another example, a cable control rocker switch may, if pushed the left, cause the cable to extend, whereas if pushed to the right, cause the cable to be retracted.

[0068] The control system may be configured to determine the electronic function component to which the input was made by matching the unique characteristic of the received signal with a corresponding stored unique characteristic. The control system may be configured to determine the function of the electronic function component according to the input type made by matching the unique characteristic of the received signal with a corresponding stored unique characteristic. For example, a lookup table of unique characteristics and corresponding electronic function components and / or functions of the electronic function components may be used.

[0069] It will be appreciated that various changes and modifications can be made to the present invention without departing from the scope of the present application.

Claims

CLAIMS1 . A charging gun for an electric vehicle supply equipment, the charging gun comprising: a plurality of electronic function components each configured to control a respective functionality of the electric vehicle supply equipment; one or more electronic characterising components, each of the plurality of electronic function components connected to the one or more electronic characterising components, the one or more electronic characterising components configured to, in response to input made to one of the plurality of electronic function components, provide an electronic signal having a unique characteristic associated with the one of the plurality of electronic function components; and a common component connection wire connected to each of the plurality of electronic function components and configured to carry the electronic signal having a unique characteristic associated with the one of the plurality of electronic function components to the electric vehicle supply equipment.

2. The charging gun of claim 1 , wherein the one or more electronic characterising components comprise one or more of: a dedicated electronic characterising component connected to one corresponding electronic function component of the plurality of electronic function components and configured to provide the unique characteristic of the corresponding connected electronic function component; and a shared electronic characterising component connected to a plurality of the electronic function components and configured to provide the respective unique characteristics of the plurality of connected electronic function components.

3. The charging gun of any preceding claim, wherein the one or more electronic characterising components comprise one or more dedicated electronic characterising components of: resistors, capacitors, inductors, and pulse width modulators.

4. The charging gun of any preceding claim, wherein the one or more electronic characterising components comprise one or more shared electronic characterising components of: pulse width modulators, microprocessors, and printed circuit boards.

5. The charging gun of any preceding claim, comprising a ground connection wire connected to each of the plurality of electronic function components and configured to connect to a body of the electric vehicle supply equipment.

6. The charging gun of any preceding claim, wherein the plurality of electronic function components comprises: a button, a switch, a touch screen, and a fingerprint sensor.

7. The charging gun of any preceding claim, wherein the respective functionality of the electric vehicle supply equipment comprises one or more of: retraction of a charging cable to which the charging gun is attached; extension of a charging cable to which the charging gun is attached;switching on a light on a body of the electric vehicle supply equipment; switching on light at the charging gun; switching off a light on a body of the electric vehicle supply equipment; switching off light at the charging gun; retrieval of a charging schedule; manually starting a charging session; manually stopping a charging session; authenticating the user; holding the charging gun and charging cable in position; and signalling to the vehicle to perform a function.

8. An electronic vehicle supply equipment comprising: the charging gun of any of claims 1 to 7; a body of the electric vehicle supply equipment; and a charging cable connected between the charging gun and the body of the electric vehicle supply equipment.

9. The electronic vehicle supply equipment of claim 8, wherein the common component connection wire extends through the charging cable in a space in the charging cable between plural further wires within the charging cable.

10. The electronic vehicle supply equipment of claim 8 or claim 9, comprising a sensing element configured to output, in dependence on the electronic signal, a function control signal to control a function of the electric vehicle supply equipment, said function being dependent on the unique characteristic.11 . A control system for controlling an electric vehicle supply equipment; the control system comprising one or more processors collectively configured to: receive an electronic signal comprising a unique characteristic from an electronic function component of a plurality of electronic function components of the charging gun, the electronic signal received via a common component connection wire of the electric vehicle supply equipment, the common component connection wire connected to each of the plurality of electronic function components, the electronic signal transmitted in response to an input made to the electronic function component to control a corresponding function of the electric vehicle supply equipment associated with the electronic function component; determine, in dependence on the unique characteristic of the electronic signal, a function control signal to control the corresponding function of the electric vehicle supply equipment, the unique characteristic corresponding to an electronic characterising component connected to the electronic function component; and output the function control signal to cause the electric vehicle supply equipment to control the corresponding function according to the received electronic signal.

12. The control system of claim 11 , configured to:determine, in dependence on an input type characteristic of the electronic signal, the function control signal to control the corresponding function of the electric vehicle supply equipment, the input type characteristic corresponding to an input type made to the electronic function component.

13. The control system of claim 11 or claim 12, wherein the unique characteristic of the electronic signal comprises one or more of: a resistance in a predetermined resistance range; a current in a predetermined current range; a voltage in a predetermined voltage range; a pulse having a pulse width within a predetermined pulse width range; a pulse magnitude within a predetermined pulse magnitude range; and a frequency in a predetermined frequency range.

14. A system comprising: the charging gun of any of claims 1 to 8 or the system of any of claims 9 to 10; and the control system of any of claims 11 to 13.

15. A method for controlling an electric vehicle supply equipment, the electric vehicle supply equipment comprising a charging gun according to any of claims 1 to 8, the method comprising: receiving an electronic signal comprising a unique characteristic from an electronic function component of a plurality of electronic function components of the charging gun, the electronic signal received via a common component connection wire of the electric vehicle supply equipment, the common component connection wire connected to each of the plurality of electronic function components, the electronic signal transmitted in response to an input made to the electronic function component to control a corresponding function of the electric vehicle supply equipment associated with the electronic function component; determining, in dependence on the unique characteristic of the electronic signal, a function control signal to control the corresponding function of the electric vehicle supply equipment, the unique characteristic corresponding to an electronic characterising component connected to the electronic function component; and outputting the function control signal to cause the electric vehicle supply equipment to control the corresponding function according to the received electronic signal.17

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