DE102023000836A1 - Control device for a vehicle charging device, charging device and vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

This invention relates to a control device for a vehicle charging device, said control device comprising: a charging socket determination unit, said charging socket determination unit serving to obtain charging socket information corresponding to the geographical information of said vehicle; a control unit, said control unit serving to control the changing of said vehicle charging device to the appropriate charging socket based on said information. This invention also relates to a vehicle charging device and a vehicle. The advantages of this invention are as follows: based on geographical information, it is possible to automatically switch to the appropriate charging socket, and thanks to the three-dimensional design of the charging socket unit of the charging device, the size of the charging device in the x direction can be significantly reduced, which improves the driving experience and optimizes the vehicle design.

Description

This invention relates to a control device for a vehicle charging device, to a vehicle charging device and to a vehicle. This invention relates particularly to the field of electric vehicles.

As countries around the world attach greater importance to environmental protection, more and more electric vehicles are replacing conventional combustion vehicles in everyday life. To charge electric vehicles, they generally have a charging socket in the same place as the tank opening on combustion vehicles or at the front of the vehicle. Currently, different types of charging sockets are used in different countries, for example, the charging sockets used in China, the USA, Japan and Europe are all different. Even different regions of a country, such as mainland China and Hong Kong, use different types of charging sockets. Especially when it comes to luxury sedans, it is quite possible to use them in different countries or in different regions of a country. Current vehicles are usually only equipped with a charging socket that meets the standard of a country, which obviously cannot meet the needs of luxury sedans.

In addition, charging sockets can be divided into different types depending on the charging method. For example, charging using a DC charging station requires the use of a DC charging socket, and charging using an AC charging station requires the use of an AC charging socket. However, some vehicles generally use DC and AC charging sockets arranged side by side, which results in the charging device being very large in the x direction of the vehicle, which means that the space for boarding is extremely limited, especially as far as the third row is concerned becomes narrow.

The aim of this invention is to provide a vehicle charging device to achieve that it is possible to automatically switch to the appropriate charging socket based on geographical information and the size of the charging device thanks to the three-dimensional design of the charging socket unit of the charging device in the x direction, which improves the driving experience and optimizes the vehicle design.

• eine Ladebuchsen-Bestimmungseinheit, wobei die besagte Ladebuchsen-Bestimmungseinheit dazu dient, zu den geografischen Informationen des besagten Fahrzeugs passende Ladebuchsen-Informationen zu erhalten;
• eine Steuereinheit, wobei die besagte Steuereinheit dazu dient, auf Grundlage der besagten Informationen den Wechsel der besagten Fahrzeug-Ladevorrichtung auf die passende Ladebuchse zu steuern.

According to a first aspect of this invention there is provided a controller for a vehicle charging device, said controller comprising:

• a charging socket determination unit, said charging socket determination unit serving to obtain charging socket information corresponding to the geographical information of said vehicle;
• a control unit, said control unit serving to control the change of said vehicle charging device to the appropriate charging socket based on said information.

Here, the term vehicle charging device is to be understood as meaning the charging device installed on the vehicle, in particular the charging port installed on the vehicle, although the charging station is not included. “Switching to the appropriate charging socket” means that at this point the appropriate charging socket is then accessible to the person doing the charging and the charging plug can be plugged in, although the other charging sockets may not be visible at this point.

According to an alternative embodiment of this invention, said geographical information includes geographical information relating to the country, region and/or the specific geographical location.

According to an alternative embodiment of this invention, said geographical information includes the geographical information of the current location of said vehicle and/or the geographical information of the destination of said vehicle.

According to an alternative embodiment of this invention, said control device comprises a communication unit, wherein said charging socket determination unit can communicate with a vehicle-specific tracking device and/or an external electronic device using said communication unit in order to obtain the geographical information of said vehicle and/or said information to obtain, wherein said external electronic device is in particular a mobile phone and/or a server.

According to an alternative embodiment of this invention, said control device comprises a memory unit, wherein said memory unit stores the correspondence between the geographical information and the charging sockets.

According to a second aspect of this invention there is provided a vehicle charging device, said charging device comprising: a charging socket unit, said charging socket unit having at least two charging sockets which can be switched between; the aforementioned control device.

According to an alternative embodiment of this invention, said at least two charging sockets of said charging socket unit are arranged flat or three-dimensionally. Arranged flatly means in particular that said at least two charging sockets are arranged essentially in the same plane and that the openings of the charging sockets point in the same direction. Arranged three-dimensionally means in particular that the said at least two charging sockets are not arranged in one plane and that the openings of the charging sockets point in different directions.

According to an alternative embodiment of this invention, said charging socket unit is movable, in particular rotatable and/or displaceable, relative to the body of said vehicle.

According to an alternative embodiment of this invention, said charging socket unit is movable, in particular rotatable and/or displaceable, relative to at least one other part of said charging socket unit in order to change between the charging sockets.

According to an alternative embodiment of this invention, said charging socket unit is constructed as a cube, sphere, spherical segment, cylinder or prism. This also means in particular that the charging socket unit in question mostly has these shapes.

According to an alternative embodiment of this invention, said charging socket unit has several sides, with said charging sockets being arranged in particular on one side of said several sides.

According to an alternative embodiment of this invention, said charging sockets are arranged along the circumference of said charging socket unit, in particular evenly distributed on said charging socket unit.

According to an alternative embodiment of this invention, said at least two charging sockets consist of a charging socket for AC charging and a charging socket for DC charging.

According to an alternative embodiment of this invention, said at least two charging sockets include charging sockets suitable for different countries and/or regions.

According to an alternative embodiment of this invention, said charging device comprises drive motors, said drive motors serving to drive said charging socket unit.

According to an alternative embodiment of this invention, said charging device comprises cameras, said cameras serving to detect the charging stations.

According to a third aspect of this invention, a vehicle is provided, said vehicle having the aforementioned control device or the aforementioned charging device.

• 1 zeigt in schematischer Darstellung eine 3D-Ansicht eines Beispiels für ein Fahrzeug gemäß dieser Erfindung, wobei in vergrößerter Form eine Frontansicht der Ladevorrichtung des besagten Fahrzeugs dargestellt ist.
• 2 zeigt in Form eines Blockdiagramms in schematischer Darstellung ein Beispiel für eine Fahrzeug-Ladevorrichtung gemäß dieser Erfindung.
• 3 zeigt in schematischer Darstellung eine 3D-Ansicht eines Beispiels für eine Ladebuchsen-Einheit sowie entsprechende Antriebsmotoren gemäß dieser Erfindung.

This invention is described in more detail below using figures so that the principle, the special features and the advantages can be better understood. Overview of the characters:

• 1 shows in schematic representation a 3D view of an example of a vehicle according to this invention, showing in enlarged form a front view of the loading device of said vehicle.
• 2 shows in block diagram form a schematic representation of an example of a vehicle charging device according to this invention.
• 3 shows a schematic representation of a 3D view of an example of a charging socket unit and corresponding drive motors according to this invention.

In order to explain the technical problem to be solved with this invention, the technical solution and the advantageous technical effects even more clearly, this invention is explained in more detail below with the aid of the attached figures and several exemplary embodiments. It should be noted that the description of the specific exemplary embodiments given here is only intended to explain this invention and in no way serves to limit the scope of protection of this invention.

1 shows a schematic representation of a 3D view of an example of a vehicle according to this invention, with a front view of the charging device 1 of said vehicle being shown in enlarged form. Of course, the vehicle in question can be any type of electric vehicle, for example whether it is a purely electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle. In addition, the vehicle in question is by no means limited to the sedan shown here, but can be an off-road vehicle, a commercial vehicle, a delivery van or a construction vehicle, etc. To charge the vehicle, the cover of the charging device 1 must be removed to expose the vehicle's charging sockets. In 1 The charging sockets are placed on the side surface at the rear of the vehicle, but it is also conceivable that the charging sockets are positioned at the front of the vehicle. Here it is shown as an example that a charging socket is exposed after removing the cover, but it is also conceivable that two or more charging sockets are exposed.

There are currently different types of charging sockets. For example, the charging sockets used in different countries are different or even the charging sockets used in different regions of a country differ from one another. In addition, there are also differences within a country or region related to the charging station used, such as DC charging sockets and AC charging sockets. For this reason, an intelligent charging device 1 is needed, which is equipped with several charging sockets to adapt to different situations and can intelligently select the correct charging socket from these charging sockets.

In 2 is shown in block diagram form a schematic representation of an example of a vehicle charging device 1 according to this invention. Said charging device 1 comprises a charging socket unit 13, said charging socket unit 13 having at least two charging sockets that can be switched between. Said charging device 1 also includes a control device 11. Said control device 11 is in particular an ECU. Said control device 11 includes a charging socket determination unit 112, said charging socket determination unit 112 serving to obtain charging socket information that matches the geographical information of said vehicle. The said information expresses in particular which charging socket of the several charging sockets that can be made available for use by the charging device 1 matches the geographical information. Said control device 11 also includes a control unit 116, said control unit 116 serving to control the change of said vehicle charging device 1 to the appropriate charging socket based on said information. Said change can take place automatically, in particular without the driver having to operate it, or a control element, for example a button in the vehicle, can be provided so that when the driver has pressed this button, the collection of geographical information is started and the charging socket is changed intelligently.

According to an exemplary embodiment of this invention, said geographical information includes geographical information relating to the country, region and/or the specific geographical location. The geographical information in question indicates, for example, the country, the region and/or the specific location, so that this information can be used to determine which charging socket to switch to. The specific location can, for example, be map data, with the said map data relating to both the vehicle itself and the nearest e-charging station. It is conceivable that the said information additionally includes information about the type of charging stations provided for use at the nearest e-charging station, such information being able to state, for example, whether the charging stations are AC charging stations or DC charging stations. For example, if the charging socket unit 13 includes a charging socket for the USA and a charging socket for China, if the geographical information indicates USA, a switch to the charging socket for the USA occurs automatically. Or even in the case that the charging socket unit 13 includes an AC charging socket and a DC charging socket for use in the USA and an AC charging socket and a DC charging socket for use in China, this occurs when the geographical information indicates China and that there are only DC charging stations in the current commercial parking lot, automatically switching to the one for using a DC charging station in China, and if the geographical information, on the other hand, shows China and that the current location is your own garage, automatically switching to the one about using an AC charging station in China. If the geographical information indicates that the e-charging station has both AC charging stations and DC charging stations, the control device 11 can, for example, automatically select the correct charging socket based on the current geographical location and additional other information, or the driver confirms the correct charging socket , whereby, for example, fast charging should usually take place in a commercial parking lot or at a special e-charging station (particularly during the day), so that the direct current charging mode is preferably selected and switched to the direct current charging socket, and In the parking garage of the residential complex or in your own garage (especially in the evening), the AC charging mode, which results in less wear and tear on the battery, can be considered and switched to the AC charging socket.

According to an exemplary embodiment of this invention, said geographical information includes the geographical information of the current location of said vehicle and/or the geographical information of the destination of said vehicle. In addition to directly obtaining the geographical information for the current location, for example in relation to vehicles with navigation or vehicles that are transported to a specific country or region, it is also possible to obtain the geographical information in connection with the destination of the vehicle to use and to determine which charging socket the change should take place based on the destination of the vehicle.

According to an exemplary embodiment of this invention, said control device 11 comprises a communication unit 110, wherein said charging socket determination unit 112 can communicate with a vehicle-specific locating device 2 and/or an external electronic device 3 using said communication unit 110 in order to obtain the geographical information of said vehicle and/or to obtain information about the appropriate charging socket. The external electronic device in question is in particular a mobile phone and/or a server. It is conceivable that the control device 11 itself does not have a device for collecting geographical information, but that the corresponding geographical information comes from other available devices, such as an on-board tracking device 2 (e.g. GPS) or an external electronic device 3 (e.g. mobile phone of the driver). For example, there is an app on the driver's cell phone, whereby the said app finds out the current location/current destination, consisting of country, region and location, as well as what type of charging station is provided at the e-charging station closest to this location can. It is conceivable that the control device 11 itself determines the appropriate charging socket based on the geographical information received. Here, the control device 11 therefore also includes, for example, a control unit 114, the correspondence between the geographical information and the charging sockets being stored in said storage unit 114. Based on the said correspondence, the charging socket determination unit 112 of the control device 11 determines the appropriate charging socket based on the geographical information received. However, it is also conceivable that the appropriate charging socket is determined directly by the app on the mobile phone based on the geographical information and the corresponding information is sent via the communication unit 110 of the control device 11 to the charging socket determination unit 112 of the control device 11. It is also conceivable that the control device 11 itself has a locating device.

In 3 is a schematic representation of a 3D view of an example of a charging socket unit 13 and corresponding drive motors 12 according to this invention.

According to an exemplary embodiment of this invention, said at least two charging sockets of said charging socket unit 13 are flat or three-dimensional (see 3 ) arranged. A three-dimensional arrangement of the charging sockets in particular significantly reduces the size of the charging socket unit 13. This is particularly advantageous in the case of vehicles with 7 seats. In a vehicle with 7 seats, for example, the middle row of seats must be tilted forward in order to get into the third row, with the small size of the charging socket unit 13, especially in the x direction along the vehicle, providing passengers with more space to get in can be.

According to an exemplary embodiment of this invention, said charging socket unit 13 is as in 3 can be seen, movable, in particular rotatable and / or displaceable, relative to the body of the vehicle in question. The said charging socket unit 13 is in particular movably mounted on a support attached to the vehicle body, and the charging sockets are therefore fixedly attached to the charging socket unit 13, so that when the charging socket unit 13 moves relative to the body, the You can switch to the appropriate charging socket.

According to an exemplary embodiment of this invention, said charging socket unit 13 is movable, in particular rotatable and/or displaceable, relative to at least another part of said charging socket unit in order to change between the charging sockets. Here, the at least one other part of said charging socket unit 13 is in particular the base of said charging socket unit 13, said base being attached, for example, to the body and the charging sockets are consequently movably mounted on this base. In this way, through the By moving the charging sockets relative to the base, the change to the appropriate charging socket takes place.

For the purpose of changing the charging sockets, the charging device 1 includes in particular drive motors 12. 3 shows an exemplary representation: Two drive motors 12 are provided for said charging socket unit 13, with said two drive motors 12 serving to set the charging socket unit 13 in rotation in order to expose the appropriate charging socket. The drive axes of the two drive motors 12 are perpendicular to one another. However, other numbers and arrangements of the drive motors 12 are also conceivable. In addition, the edges of said charging socket unit 13 are in particular rounded, so that it is effectively prevented from getting caught with adjacent parts during rotation and the size of the charging socket unit 13 is efficiently reduced.

According to an exemplary embodiment of this invention, said charging socket unit 13 is designed as a cube (as in 3 to see), sphere, spherical segment, cylinder or prism constructed. Any other three-dimensional geometric shapes are also conceivable. In the case of a spherical segment, cylinder or prism, for example, only one drive motor 12 can be provided.

According to an exemplary embodiment of this invention, said charging socket unit 13 has several sides, with said charging sockets being arranged in particular on one side of said several sides. The number of sides that the charging socket unit 13 has can be determined depending on the number of charging sockets to be provided. In 3 There is only one charging socket arranged on one side, whereby this charging socket can be used, for example, for both direct current charging and alternating current charging. However, it is also conceivable to simultaneously arrange separate charging sockets for DC charging and AC charging for the same country or region on one side.

According to an exemplary embodiment of this invention, said charging sockets are arranged along the circumference of said charging socket unit 13, in particular evenly distributed on said charging socket unit 13. This applies, for example, to charging socket units 13 in the form of a spherical segment, cylinder or prism.

According to an exemplary embodiment of this invention, said at least two charging sockets consist of a charging socket for AC charging and a charging socket for DC charging; and/or said at least two charging sockets include charging sockets suitable for different countries and/or regions. This means that vehicles produced in China, for example, can easily be used in both China and Europe.

According to an exemplary embodiment of this invention, said charging device 1 comprises cameras, said cameras serving to detect the charging stations. For example, cameras can be used to verify whether the charging socket determined based on geographical information is correct or to simplify the process of determining the appropriate charging socket. For example, it is conceivable to simply use the geographical information to determine which charging socket should be used for which country or region, and then use the cameras to determine whether the DC charging socket or the AC charging socket is for this country or region is to be chosen.

While specific embodiments of this invention have been described in detail herein, these are presented for purposes of illustration only and should not be construed as limiting the scope of this invention. Provided that the spirit and scope of this invention are not departed from, all kinds of substitutions, changes and modifications may be devised.

Claims (10)

Control device (11) for a vehicle charging device (1), said control device (11) comprising the following: a charging socket determination unit (112), said charging socket determination unit (112) serving to obtain charging socket information corresponding to the geographical information of said vehicle; a control unit (116), said control unit (116) serving to control the change of said vehicle charging device (1) to the appropriate charging socket based on said information. Control unit (11). Claim 1 , wherein said geographical information includes geographical information relating to the country, region and/or specific geographical location; the said geographical information is the geographical information of the current location of said vehicle and/or the geographical information of the destination of said vehicle. Control unit (11). Claim 1 or 2 , wherein said control device (11) comprises the following: a communication unit (110), said charging socket determination unit (112) using said communication unit (110) with an on-board tracking device (2) and/or an external electronic device (3) can communicate in order to obtain the geographical information of said vehicle and/or said information, said external electronic device being in particular a mobile phone and/or a server; and/or a storage unit (114), wherein said storage unit (114) stores the correspondence between the geographical information and the charging sockets. Vehicle charging device (1), said vehicle charging device (1) comprising: a charging socket unit (13), said charging socket unit (13) having at least two charging sockets that can be switched between; a charging socket (11) according to any of the Claims 1 until 3 . Loading device (1). Claim 4 , wherein said at least two charging sockets of said charging socket unit (13) are arranged flat or three-dimensionally; and/or said charging socket unit (13) is movable, in particular rotatable and/or displaceable, relative to the body of said vehicle; and/or said charging socket unit is movable, in particular rotatable and/or displaceable, relative to at least one other part of said charging socket unit (13) in order to switch between the charging sockets. Loading device (1). Claim 5 , wherein said charging socket unit (13) is constructed as a cube, sphere, spherical segment, cylinder or prism; and/or said charging socket unit (13) has a plurality of sides, said charging sockets being arranged in particular on one side of said plurality of sides; and/or said charging sockets are arranged along the circumference of said charging socket unit (13), in particular evenly distributed on said charging socket unit (13). Loading device (1) according to any of the Claims 4 until 6 , wherein said at least two charging sockets consist of a charging socket for AC charging and a charging socket for DC charging. Loading device (1) according to any of the Claims 4 until 7 , wherein said at least two charging sockets include charging sockets suitable for different countries and / or regions. Loading device (1) according to any of the Claims 4 until 8th , wherein said charging device (1) comprises at least the following: drive motors (12), said drive motors (12) serving to drive said charging socket unit (13) for changing the charging sockets; and/or cameras, said cameras being used to detect the charging stations. Vehicle, said vehicle having a said control device (11) according to any one of Claims 1 until 3 or via a loading device (1) according to any of the Claims 4 until 9 has.

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