EV Charging Cable Reclosing Control for Fault Recovery

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing electric vehicle charging cable control devices require manual user intervention to resume charging after faults, leading to inconvenience and potential safety risks when faults persist.

Innovation Solution

An auto-re-closing device with a fault sensor and microcontroller unit that stops charging when a fault occurs multiple times within a predetermined time and retries charging when the fault is determined to be fixed, ensuring safety and user convenience.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the charging cable control device stops charging immediately when a fault occurs, then safety is improved, but user convenience deteriorates due to frequent manual intervention required

Engineering Contradiction:
ImprovesafetyVSAvoiduser convenience
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The charging cable control device automatically detects faults, stops charging, determines whether the fault is temporary or persistent, and resumes charging without user intervention when the fault is temporary. This self-service mechanism eliminates the need for users to manually check and retry charging, resolving the contradiction between safety and user convenience.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The device implements a feedback mechanism where the controller continuously monitors charging status, detects faults, determines fault types (temporary vs. persistent), and automatically adjusts charging operation accordingly. This closed-loop feedback system enables automatic recovery from temporary faults while maintaining safety, improving both reliability and ease of operation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Reliability

If the charging cable control device requires manual user intervention to resume charging after a fault, then safety is improved by preventing automatic retry on persistent faults, but productivity deteriorates due to charging interruptions

Engineering Contradiction:
ImprovesafetyVSAvoidcharging efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The controller automatically determines whether a fault is temporary or persistent and autonomously decides whether to resume charging, eliminating the need for manual user intervention. This self-service capability maintains safety by preventing automatic retry on persistent faults while improving productivity by automatically resuming charging on temporary faults without user action.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The device dynamically adjusts its charging resumption behavior based on fault characteristics. Instead of a fixed manual-intervention requirement, the system adapts its operation mode based on real-time fault assessment, automatically retrying when safe and maintaining stop when persistent faults are detected, thus balancing safety and charging efficiency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

3Ease of operation

If the charging cable control device automatically retries charging after a fault, then user convenience is improved, but safety deteriorates due to potential damage from persistent faults

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveuser convenienceVSAvoidsafety
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The controller implements intelligent feedback-based decision making that assesses fault characteristics before automatically retrying charging. By analyzing whether the fault is temporary or persistent through monitoring and determination logic, the system only automatically retries when safe, preventing damage from persistent faults while maintaining user convenience through automatic recovery from temporary faults.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The device dynamically adjusts its automatic retry behavior based on real-time fault assessment. Instead of a fixed automatic retry mechanism, the system adaptively decides whether to resume charging based on the nature of the detected fault, enabling automatic convenience when safe while preventing unsafe automatic retries, thus resolving the contradiction between user convenience and safety.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentEP3392074B1Automatic reclosing device and method for electrical vehicle charging cable control device
Publication Date: 2023.11.15 YURA CORP CO LTD
  • EP3392074B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3392074B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3392074B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

The present invention discloses an auto re-closing device and method for an electric vehicle charging cable control device. The present invention is directed to an auto re-closing device and method for an electric vehicle charging cable control device, which are capable of stopping charging when a fault occurs and retrying to resume charging when charging is stopped.