JP6737143B2 - Charging reservation system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a charging reservation system for a charging device capable of charging a vehicle-mounted power storage device with electric power outside the vehicle.

Patent Document 1 discloses notification information (hereinafter referred to as “movement reminder information”) that prompts a user terminal related to an electric vehicle equipped with the power storage device to move the electric vehicle when charging of the power storage device mounted on the vehicle is completed with electric power outside the vehicle. The charging reservation system is disclosed.

JP, 2015-11610, A

However, even if the mobile reminder information is transmitted to the user terminal, it is considered that there are a certain number of users who ignore the mobile reminder information and continue to use the charging device. When a user who makes a reservation to use the charging device (hereinafter, also referred to as a “reserved user”) makes a reservation to use the charging device after a user who tends to ignore the moving reminder information, a user who does not ignore the moving reminder information There is a higher possibility that the reserved user will not be able to start charging at the reserved time, as compared with a case where a reservation for using the charging device is made later.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a charging reservation system that increases the possibility of starting charging at a reserved time.

A reservation system for a charging device capable of charging a vehicle-mounted power storage device with electric power outside the vehicle, the communication device transmitting and receiving a signal from a terminal, and the communication device stipulated in a charging time zone according to a signal transmitted from the terminal A management device that manages the allocation of a plurality of reserved frames that are allocated to the first vehicle, and when a request to allocate the first reserved frame to the first vehicle is made by a signal transmitted from the terminal, the management device is It is determined whether or not the second vehicle is assigned to the second reservation frame whose charging time zone is earlier than the reservation frame. When the second vehicle is assigned to the second reservation frame, the second vehicle is reserved. A reservation system for a charging device, which transmits a signal including history information of using the charging device beyond a frame to the terminal using the communication device.

According to the charging reservation system of the present invention, when the first vehicle is requested to be assigned to the first reservation frame by the signal transmitted from the terminal, the second reservation frame having a charging time zone earlier than that of the first reservation frame. If the second vehicle is assigned to the second reservation frame, and the second vehicle is assigned to the second reservation frame, the history information that the second vehicle has exceeded the reservation frame and used the charging device A signal including (hereinafter, also referred to as “reservation frame excess information”) is transmitted to the terminal using the communication device.
Therefore, when the user operates the terminal to perform the reservation operation so as to allocate the first vehicle to the first reservation frame, the user operates the second vehicle allocated to the second reservation frame whose charging time zone is earlier than the first reservation frame. It is possible to obtain over-booking limit information from the terminal.
Then, the user determines whether the second vehicle is likely to finish using the charging device within the reservation frame based on the reservation frame excess information, and may finish using the charging device within the reservation frame. You can rebook to a higher reservation frame.
As a result, the user can make a reservation after the vehicle that is likely to finish using the charging device within the reservation frame. That is, according to the present invention, the possibility of starting charging at the reserved time increases.

It is a figure which shows typically an example of the whole structure of a charging reservation system. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of a vehicle and a data center in detail. It is a flow chart which shows an example of the processing procedure which secures a charge reservation frame. It is a figure which shows an example of the reservation list displayed on the display of a target vehicle. It is a figure which shows an example of reservation frame excess information.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will not be repeated.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the overall configuration of charging reservation system 1 according to the present embodiment. The charging reservation system 1 includes a plurality of vehicles 10, a data center 30, and a plurality of (four in the example shown in FIG. 1, A to D) charging stations 40.

Each of the vehicles 10 is an electrically-powered vehicle capable of being externally charged by charging an in-vehicle battery with electric power outside the vehicle. Each of the vehicles 10 is configured to be capable of wireless communication with the data center 30. The vehicle 10 may be an electric vehicle (EV) including a motor as a driving force source or a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHV) including a motor and an engine as a driving force source. In the following, among the vehicles 10, the vehicle that is trying to reserve the charging station is also referred to as “target vehicle 11”, and the vehicles 10 other than the target vehicle 11 are also referred to as “other vehicle 12”.

Each of the charging stations 40 is a public facility that is equipped with a power supply facility for externally charging the vehicle 10 and can be used by an unspecified number of users. Each of the charging stations 40 is configured to be capable of wireless communication with the data center 30.

It is assumed that the number of vehicles 10 that can be owned by an individual is considerably larger than the number of charging stations 40 that are public facilities. Therefore, it is desired to use the public charging station 40 efficiently. As a countermeasure, the charging reservation system 1 according to the present embodiment includes a charging stand 40 (charging place) used by the vehicle 10 and a data center 30 that manages the reservation status of the charging time zone. Specifically, the data center 30 wirelessly communicates with the plurality of vehicles 10 and the plurality of charging stations 40 to reach each vehicle 10 of the charging reservation frame defined by the charging location (charging station 40) and the charging time zone. Manage the assignment of.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configurations of the vehicle 10 and the data center 30 in more detail. Vehicle 10 includes an inlet 13, a charger 14, a drive battery 15, a drive device 16, a communication device 17, an HMI (Human Machine Interface) device 18, and a control device 19. The data center 30 includes a communication device 31, a management device 32, and a memory 33.

First, the configuration of the vehicle 10 will be described. The inlet 13 is configured to be connectable to the connector 42 of the power feeding equipment 41 provided in the charging stand 40. The charger 14 is provided between the inlet 13 and the driving battery 15, converts electric power input from the charging stand 40 into electric power that can be charged into the driving battery 15, and converts the converted electric power into the driving battery 15. Output to. Drive battery 15 is a rechargeable power storage device, and is a secondary battery such as a nickel hydrogen battery or a lithium ion battery.

The drive device 16 uses the electric power supplied from the drive battery 15 to generate a vehicle drive force. The drive device 16 includes a motor generator mechanically connected to the drive wheels, and a power control unit (inverter or the like) for controlling the amount of electricity supplied to the motor generator. The output of the drive unit 16 (the amount of electricity supplied to the motor generator) is controlled by a control signal from the control unit 19. The number of motor generators included in drive device 16 may be one or two or more. When vehicle 10 is a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHV), vehicle 10 further includes an engine (not shown) in addition to drive device 16.

The communication device 17 is configured to be capable of wireless communication with the data center 30 (communication device 31). The communication device 17 is connected to the control device 19 via a communication line, and transmits the information transmitted from the control device 19 to the data center 30 and transmits the information received from the data center 30 to the control device 19. ..

The HMI device 18 is a device that provides the user with various information for supporting the driving of the vehicle 10 and that accepts user operations. The HMI device 18 includes a display, a speaker and the like provided indoors. The HMI device 18 may be a display or speaker of a navigation device (not shown), for example.

The control device 19 includes a CPU and a memory (not shown), and each device (the charger 14, the drive device 16, the communication device 17, the HMI device) of the vehicle 10 is based on the information stored in the memory and the information from each sensor. 18).

Next, the configuration of the data center 30 will be described. As described above, the data center 30 includes the communication device 31, the management device 32, and the memory 33.

The communication device 31 is configured to be capable of wireless communication with the vehicle 10 (communication device 17). The communication device 31 is also configured to be capable of wireless communication with the power supply equipment 41 of the charging stand 40. The communication device 31 is connected to the management device 32 via a communication line, and transmits the information transmitted from the management device 32 to the vehicle 10 or transmits the information received from the vehicle 10 to the management device 32.

The memory 33 stores information indicating allocation of charging reservation frames. Further, the memory 33 stores the reservation frame excess information of the vehicle assigned to the charge reservation frame, in other words, the information indicating the past record of using the charging stand 40 beyond the reservation frame. The management device 32 has a built-in CPU (not shown) and manages reservations (reception of reservations, changes, deletions, etc.) of the charging reservation frame stored in the memory 33 based on information from the communication device 31.

<Reservation for charging reservation>
Hereinafter, vehicle allocation to the charging reservation frame by the charging reservation system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described.

As described above, the charging reservation system 1 according to the present embodiment manages the allocation of charging reservation frames in the data center 30. However, it is expected that the number of externally rechargeable electric vehicles such as electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHV) will further increase in the future. Therefore, the number of charging stations 40 becomes chronically short, the queue for the use of the charging stations 40 increases, and the opportunity for external charging at the charging stations 40 is lost, resulting in a lack of electricity (driving the driving battery 15). There is a concern that this may cause an electric vehicle to stop on the road. Therefore, a charging reservation system that can use the charging stand 40 more efficiently is desired.

In order to efficiently use the charging stand 40, as notification information for urging the vehicle 10 or a user terminal related to the vehicle 10 to move the vehicle 10 from the charging stand 40 when the charging of the vehicle 10 is completed in the charging reservation frame. A charging reservation system has been devised that sends mobile reminder information.

However, even if the movement reminder information is transmitted to the vehicle 10 or the user terminal of the vehicle 10, it is considered that there are a certain number of users who ignore the movement reminder information and continue to use the charging stand 40. Then, when the user makes a reservation for the charging stand 40 and makes a reservation for the charging stand 40 after the user who tends to ignore the moving reminder information, the user makes the reservation for the charging stand 40 after the user who does not ignore the moving reminder information. Compared with the case, it is more likely that the reserved user cannot start charging at the reserved time.

In view of this point, in the charging reservation system 1 according to the present embodiment, when a reservation is made to the first reservation frame of the target vehicle 11, the management device 32 causes the second reservation frame having a charging time zone earlier than the first reservation frame. It is determined whether or not there is a reservation for another vehicle 12. Then, when there is a reservation of another vehicle 12 in the second reservation frame, the history information that the other vehicle 12 used the charging stand 40 beyond the reservation frame, that is, the reservation excess information is targeted by using the communication device 31. The information is transmitted to the vehicle 11 or the user terminal (for example, a smartphone) of the target vehicle 11 or the target person 11.

As a result, the user can obtain, from the terminal or the target person 11, the reservation frame excess information of the other vehicle 12 reserved in the second reservation frame whose charging time zone is earlier than the first reservation frame. Then, the user determines whether or not there is a high possibility that the other vehicle 12 will finish using the charging stand 40 within the reservation frame based on the reservation frame excess information, and finishes using the charging stand 40 within the reservation frame. The target vehicle 11 can be rebooked in a highly-reserved reservation frame. As a result, the user can make a reservation after the other vehicle 12 that is likely to finish using the charging stand 40 within the reservation frame. That is, the charging reservation system 1 according to the present embodiment can increase the possibility of starting charging in the reserved reservation frame, as compared with the conventional charging reservation system.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a reservation processing procedure for reservation, which is executed by the target vehicle 11 and the data center 30 in cooperation with each other. Information transmission between the target vehicle 11 and the data center 30 shown in FIG. 3 is performed using wireless communication.

<<Processing of target vehicle>>
First, an example of a processing procedure executed by the target vehicle 11 (more specifically, the control device 19 of the target vehicle 11) will be described.

In step 10 (hereinafter, step is abbreviated as “S”) 10, the target vehicle 11 transmits a signal (hereinafter referred to as “reservation list transmission request”) requesting to transmit a reservation list indicating the reservation status of the reservation frame as data. Send to center 30. The reservation list delivery request includes information for specifying the delivery request area (hereinafter also referred to as “delivery request area information”). For example, when the planned traveling route is determined for the target vehicle 11, the current position and the planned traveling route are used as the transmission request area information. In addition, the target vehicle 11 sets the current position as the transmission request area information when the planned traveling route is not determined. The current position is measured by a navigation device (not shown). The planned traveling route is set by the navigation device in response to the user's request.

As will be described later, when the data center 30 receives the reservation list sending request from the target vehicle 11, the data center 30 transmits information indicating the reservation list (see FIG. 4) to the target vehicle 11.

Upon receiving the information indicating the reservation list from the data center 30, the target vehicle 11 displays the received reservation list (see FIG. 4) on the display of the HMI device 18 (S11). At this time, the target vehicle 11 includes another vehicle reservation frame (reservation frame already allocated to the other vehicle 12) and a reservation frame not allocated to any vehicle (hereinafter also referred to as “vacant reservation frame”). A reservation frame in which the target vehicle 11 has already been reserved (hereinafter, also referred to as “target vehicle reservation frame”) is displayed so that the user of the target vehicle 11 can distinguish it. The user of the target vehicle 11 can select the reservation frame that he/she wants to use, for example, by touching the display screen while checking the displayed reservation list.

The target vehicle 11 determines whether the reservation frame has been selected by the user (S12). When the reservation frame is not selected (NO in S12), the target vehicle 11 returns the process to S12 and waits for the reservation frame to be selected. It should be noted that, if the reservation frame is not selected even after the lapse of a predetermined time, the process may be forcibly ended.

When the reservation frame is selected (YES in S12), the target vehicle 11 transmits a reservation request for the reservation frame selected by the user (hereinafter also referred to as "request reservation frame") to the data center 30 (S13). .. After that, as will be described later in detail in step 21, the data center 30 is reserved in the reservation frame (hereinafter, also referred to as “previous reservation frame”) stored in the memory 33 and having a charging time zone one earlier than the requested reservation frame. The vehicle reservation frame excess information is transmitted to the target vehicle 11.

The target vehicle 11 displays the received reservation frame excess information of the vehicle reserved in the immediately preceding reservation frame on the display of the HMI device 18 (S14). The user of the target vehicle 11 confirms the reservation frame excess information of the reserved vehicle in the displayed last reservation frame (the reservation frame immediately before the reservation frame requested by the user), and selects the reservation frame to be used, for example. It can be reselected by touching the display screen. That is, the user is highly likely to use the charging stand 40 beyond the reservation frame based on the reservation frame excess information (the past results of using the charging stand 40 beyond the reservation frame). If so, the user can change the reservation frame. In other words, considering the possibility that the vehicle assigned to the last reservation frame will continue to use the charging stand 40 even during the charging time zone of the reservation frame that the user reserves, the user selects the reservation frame selected in step 12 and Can select another reservation frame or keep the reservation frame selected in step 12 (S15).

When another reservation frame is selected and the reservation frame is changed from the reservation frame selected in step 12, that is, when the affirmative determination is made in step 15, the target vehicle 11 executes the process of step 12 again. On the other hand, when the reservation frame is maintained, that is, when the determination in step 15 is negative, the target vehicle 11 transmits the reservation frame maintenance information to the data center 30 (S16). After that, as will be described in detail later, the data center 30 that has received the reservation frame maintenance information changes the reservation list stored in the memory 33 according to the reservation maintenance information from the target vehicle 11, and shows the changed reservation list. The information is transmitted to the target vehicle 11. In other words, the data center 30 that has received the reservation frame maintenance information transmits to the target vehicle 11 information indicating a reservation list in which the free reservation frame selected by the user is changed to the target vehicle reservation frame that has already been reserved. To do.

The target vehicle 11 displays the information indicating the received reservation frame list on the display of the HMI device 18. The user of the target vehicle 11 can check the displayed reservation list after the change and confirm that the reservation frame selected by the user is assigned to the target vehicle 11.

<<Data center processing>>
Next, an example of a processing procedure executed by the data center 30 (more specifically, the management device 32 of the data center 30) will be described.

When the data center 30 receives the reservation list sending request from the target vehicle 11, the data center 30 identifies the sending area from the sending request area information included in the reservation list sending request, and the reservation list of the charging station 40 existing in the sending area (see FIG. 4). ) Is transmitted to the target vehicle 11 (S20). When the sending request area information received from the target vehicle 11 includes the current position of the target vehicle 11 and the planned travel route, the data center 30 plans to travel within a predetermined distance (for example, several kilometers) from the current position. The area along the route is specified as the sending area. Further, when the delivery request area information received from the target vehicle 11 includes only the current position of the target vehicle 11, the data center 30 specifies an area within a predetermined distance from the current position as the delivery area.

After that, when the data center 30 receives the allocation request for the requested reservation frame from the target vehicle 11, the previous reservation frame, which is the reservation frame whose charging time zone is one earlier than the requested reservation frame, in other words, the reservation frame requested by the user. It is determined whether or not the reservation frame in the time zone immediately before is already reserved by the other vehicle 12 (S20).

If the last reservation frame has been reserved by another vehicle 12, that is, if the affirmative judgment is made in S21, the information indicating the reservation frame excess history of the other vehicle 12 stored in the memory 33 of the data center 30 is stored in the data center. 30 transmits to the target vehicle 11 (S21). If the last reservation frame has not been reserved by another vehicle 12, that is, if the determination in S21 is negative, the data center 30 targets the information stored in the memory 33 of the data center 30 indicating that there is no reservation frame excess history. It transmits to the vehicle 11 (S23).

Then, after receiving the reservation frame maintenance information transmitted from the target vehicle 11, the data center 30 changes the reservation list in which the vacant reservation frame selected by the user is changed to the target vehicle reservation frame that has already been reserved. The information shown is transmitted to the target vehicle 11 (S24).

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a reservation list displayed on the display of the target vehicle 11. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the reservation frame includes four charging stations A to D that are present in the planned travel route of the target vehicle 11 in the order closer to the current position, and three time zones T1 to T3 at each charging station. It is prescribed. In FIG. 4, “OK” indicates an empty reservation frame, “reserved (target vehicle)” indicates a target vehicle reservation frame, and “reserved (other vehicle)” indicates another vehicle reservation frame.

In the example shown in FIG. 4, the reservation slots of the charging station B and the charging station C in the time zone T2 are already reserved in the on-vehicle vehicle 12. Further, the target vehicle 11 reserves the reservation frame for the time zone T3 of the charging stand D. In such a situation, the user of the target vehicle 11 may want to change the reservation from the current reservation frame to either the time zone T3 of the charging station B or the charging station C closer to the current value. In such a case, for example, by transmitting the time zone T3 of the charging station B as a request reservation frame to the data center 30 by wireless communication, as shown in FIG. 5, the immediately previous reservation frame (time zone T2 of the charging station B). It is possible to obtain the information indicating the reservation frame excess history of the other vehicle 12 that has reserved (denoted as reservation frame excess information B). In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, the last reservation frame (the time zone T2 of the charging station C) is reserved by wirelessly transmitting the time zone T3 of the charging station C to the data center 30 as a request reservation frame. Information (represented as reservation frame excess information C) indicating the reservation frame excess history of the vehicle 12C can be obtained. Then, the user can compare the reservation frame excess information B and the reservation frame excess information C, and can set the reservation frame having a high possibility that the charging stand can be used more reliably in the desired time period as the reservation request frame. .. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the reservation frame excess information B has a smaller number of times of exceeding the reservation time than the reservation frame excess information C. Therefore, the user can use the charging stand in the desired time zone by reserving the reservation frame of the charging time zone T3 of the charging stand B, as compared with reserving the reservation frame of the charging time zone T3 of the stand C. More likely.

As described above, in the charging reservation system 1, when the reservation is made in the first reservation frame (request reservation frame) of the target vehicle 11, the data center 30 causes the second reservation frame whose charging time zone is earlier than the first reservation frame. It is determined whether or not there is a reservation for another vehicle 12 in the (previous reservation frame). Then, when there is a reservation of another vehicle 12 in the second reservation frame, a signal (reservation frame excess information) including history information of the other vehicle 12 exceeding the reservation frame and using the charging stand 40 is transmitted to the communication device 31. It transmits using the target vehicle 11 or the user terminal (for example, smart phone) which concerns on the target vehicle 11.
As a result, the user can obtain the reservation frame excess information of the other vehicle 12 reserved in the second reservation frame whose charging time zone is earlier than the first reservation frame from the terminal. Then, the user determines whether or not there is a high possibility that the other vehicle 12 will finish using the charging stand 40 within the reservation frame based on the reservation frame excess information, and finishes using the charging stand 40 within the reservation frame. The target vehicle 11 can be rebooked in a highly-reserved reservation frame. As a result, the user can make a reservation after the other vehicle 12 that is likely to finish using the charging stand 40 within the reservation frame. Therefore, the charging reservation system 1 according to the present embodiment can increase the possibility of starting charging in the reserved reservation frame, as compared with the conventional charging reservation system.

In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the charging list and the charging time zone are included in the reservation list displayed on the display of the target vehicle 11 has been described (see FIG. 4 ). However, the reservation list may include other information.

For example, the reservation list may include information indicating reservation frame excess information for each charging station. In this way, the user of the target vehicle 11 can avoid making a reservation at the charging station, which tends to have many vehicles that exceed the reservation frame as a whole. For example, a user who uses the charging station B tends to use the reservation frame beyond the limit, and when the charging station C does not have such a tendency, the user reserves the reservation frame by making a reservation to the charging station C. It is possible to increase the possibility of starting charging in.

The terminal described in claim 1 is the target vehicle 11 or a user terminal related to the target vehicle 11 in the present embodiment. Further, the communication device and the management device described in claim 1 are the communication device 31 and the management device 32, respectively, which form the data center 30 in the present embodiment.

The embodiments disclosed this time are to be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present disclosure is shown not by the above description but by the claims, and is intended to include meanings equivalent to the claims and all modifications within the scope.

1 Charging Reservation System 10 Vehicle 11 Target Vehicle 12 Other Company 13 Inlet 14 Charger 15 Driving Battery 16 Driving Device 17 Communication Device 18 HMI Device 19 Control Device 30 Data Center 31 Communication Device 32 Management Device 33 Memory 40 Charging Stand 41 Power Supply Facility 42 connector

Claims (1)

A reservation system for a charging device capable of charging a vehicle-mounted power storage device with electric power outside the vehicle,
A communication device for receiving information from the terminal,
According to a signal received from the terminal by the communication device, a management device that manages reservations for a plurality of reservation frames defined in a charging time period,
When a reservation request for the first reservation frame is made to the first vehicle by a signal transmitted from the terminal,
The management device determines whether the second vehicle is reserved in the second reservation frame whose charging time zone is earlier than the first reservation frame, and when the second vehicle is reserved in the second reservation frame, A charging device reservation system, wherein the second vehicle transmits information indicating a history of using the charging device beyond the reservation frame to the terminal using the communication device.

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