FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system and method for charging the battery of a motor vehicle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Generally, in vehicles a switching means is used to charge the battery pack, in which the charger adaptor is there in the charger side and charger socket is situated in the vehicle and hence the charger adaptor has to be connected to the charger socket for charging the battery and hence the charger should be carried by the rider always, if rider wants to charge the vehicle.

Also in a patent holding number US4139071 a method and system is disclosed for charging in which the vehicle has at least two of the spaced wheels, for example the front steered wheels, being provided with suitable electrically conductive tires mounted on a non-conducting wheel structure. A rolling sliding assembly mounted on a fixed part of the vehicle making electrical contact with an annular connector rotating in electrical contact with the tire completes an electrical circuit from the two contact assembly strips, through suitable controls, to operate the vehicle. The battery pack is automatically recharged, from energy derived from the contact assembly strips during operation over the road way through the conductive tires and during parking on short lengths of contact assembly strips imbedded in vehicle parking space paving.

Looking into all available vehicle charging methods and system, a requirement for a convenient means of charging vehicle battery is felt, so that charging of vehicle at places without electrical strip roads is possible and the use of separate adapter can be avoided. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention related to a charging system and method for an electric vehicle which has conductive wheels through which a AC/DC charge can be conducted and multiple solenoids with a connecting rod which establishes connection with the conductive wheel as soon as the solenoid is activated by the activation unit and charges the battery of the electric vehicle.

Above mentioned system also has an external charging station which supplies DC charge to the conductive wheels through the charging plates as said charging plates comes in contact with the conductive wheel and at stationary condition, activation unit of the vehicle activates all solenoids of the vehicle and solenoid connecting rod makes contact with the conductive wheel hence DC supply reaches to the battery through the activation unit which also works as controlling unit for the battery.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWING

The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawing which is incorporated in and constitute embodiments of the invention, illustrate several aspects of the invention and together with a description of the embodiments serve to explain the principles of the invention and thus, not limited of the present invention and a brief description of the drawing is as follows:

Figure 1 is the front view of the vehicle showing the non charging arrangement of the embodiments of the invention.

Figure 2 is the front view of the vehicle showing the charging arrangement of the embodiments of the invention.

Figure 3 is the rear view of the vehicle showing the non charging arrangement of the embodiments of the invention.

Figure 4 is the rear view of the vehicle showing the charging arrangement of the embodiments of the invention.

Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing the use of claimed invention in one type of vehicle arrangement.

Figure 6 is another schematic representation of the embodiments of the invention depicting its use for a different type of vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The embodiments disclosed below are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed in the following detailed description. Rather, the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art may utilize their teachings. The invention may have application to all types of motor vehicles.

Figure 1 is an exemplary representation of the embodiments of the claimed invention. Front conductive wheel (103) is supported by the front suspension system (102) and a front solenoid (101) is fixed on the front suspension system (102) and above the conductive wheel (103).

Further, as shown in Figure 2, said front solenoid (101) establishes the connection of the front solenoid (101) with the front conductive wheel (103) through front solenoid connecting rod (104), in stable condition and on activation by the solenoid activation unit (200/207 as in Figure 5 and Figure 6) (not shown in figure 1).

In case of the rear portion of the vehicle, as shown in Figure 3, rear conductive wheel (201) is supported by the rear suspension system (202) and the solenoid (203) is fixed with the rear suspension system (202) on the side of the rear conductive wheel (201).

Further, as shown in Figure 4, rear solenoid (101) establishes the connection of the rear solenoid (101) with the rear conductive wheel (103) through rear solenoid connecting rod (104), in stable condition and on activation by the solenoid activation unit (200/207 as in Figure 5 and Figure 6) (not shown in figure 3).

Figure 5 is an exemplary representation one of the possible enabling configurations for the charging system explained in above description wherein, the front and rear conductive wheels (103, 201) are placed on the front and recharging plates (105, 205) provided at an external charging station (100).

The vehicle remains at stable condition during charging so that the activation unit (200/207) can enable the front and rear solenoids (101, 203) simultaneously such that front and rear solenoid unit connecting rods (104,201) can establish the connection with the front and rear conductive wheels (103, 201) respectively. As soon as, said connection is established DC supply from the charging station (100) reaches to the activation unit (200/207) which also acts as a controller unit (200/207) for charging the battery (110).

Figure 5 and Figure 6 are showing two different arrangements for the activation cum controller unit (200/207). In activation unit (200), as shown in figure 5, charging switch (107) is controlling the activation of the solenoids (101,203) and the diode (109) and controller unit (106) is taking care of the battery (110) voltage.

The configuration shown in figure 5 is an example of the off board charger type vehicle whereas figure 6 is depicting the activation unit (207) with an inverter (111) and onboard charger (112) for the battery (110).

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS

1) A charging system for an electric vehicle comprising:

a) atleast a suspension system supporting atleast a conductive wheel;

b) at least one solenoid housing a slide-able connecting rod, secured over said suspension system and neighbouring the conductive wheel;

c) a solenoid activation unit connected to a battery and solenoid on opposite ends; and

d) a charging station comprises atleast a supply plate fixed on ground level, configured to charge the electric vehicle on activation of said activation unit on predefined conditions.

2) The charging system, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the activation of the activation unit defines power flow from the battery in order to activate connecting rod of the solenoid such that the connection of battery and the conductive wheel is established to facilitate charging of the vehicle when in contact with the supply plate on predefined conditions.

3) The charging system, as claimed in claim 1 and 2, wherein the predefined condition comprises still position of the vehicle for continuous connection of said connecting rod and the conductive wheel and to ensure continuous ground terminal availability for charging of the vehicle.

4) A charging method for an electric vehicle comprising:

a) atleast a suspension system supporting atleast a conductive wheel;

b) at least one solenoid housing a slide-able connecting rod, secured over said suspension system and neigh bouring the conductive wheel such that a solenoid activation unit is connected to a battery and the solenoid on opposite ends and said connecting rod comes in contact with the conductive wheel on activation of said activation unit; c) a charging station comprises atleast a supply plate fixed on ground level, configured to charge the electric vehicle on activation of activation unit on predefined conditions.

5) The charging system, as claimed in claim 4, wherein the activation of the activation unit defines power flow from the battery in order to activate connecting rod of the solenoid such that the connection of battery and the conductive wheel is established to facilitate charging of the vehicle when in contact with the supply plate on predefined conditions.

6) The charging system, as claimed in claim 4 and 5, wherein the predefined condition comprises still position of the vehicle for continuous connection of said connecting rod and the conductive wheel and to ensure continuous ground terminal availability for charging of the vehicle.