FIELD OF THE INVENTION:

The present invention generally relates to the field of battery replenishment in an electric vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to a smart and secured battery replenishment with pluggable power injection from vehicle to grid module and vice versa.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:

With the advent of increasing automotive vehicles in day to day life, results in lack of fossil fuels. Due to this there is continues increase in fuel cost and the pollution created by these fuels causes a need for alternate energy source. To avoid such complications, automobile industries have taken few steps ahead for automotive with various kinds of energy resources through multiple technologies. Now, the fuels for vehicles has shift from hydrocarbons to multiple alternative resources and finally reaches to the stage of electric vehicle.

The electric vehicle uses electric motor for their propulsion that are powered by any energy sources. These electric vehicles are majorly classified into two types called hybrid electric vehicle and fully electric vehicle. The hybrid electric vehicles include on-board chargers that use power from vehicle brake and traditional motors to charge the vehicles. Vehicles that are solely electric receives electricity for charging their batteries from various resources.

Though the electric vehicles have tremendous reach in automobile industries, still some issues exist when compared to petroleum vehicles. The distance covered by electric vehicle depends highly on power stored in the battery. If higher battery capacity then the vehicle weight increases and causes the decrease in mileage. For instance, the energy stored in petrol is approximately 12000 watt-hours per kg, however energy stored in a good lithium ion battery is about 200 watt-hours per kg. This means a small petrol tank in vehicle is equivalent to 60 times by weight if replaced by lithium ion battery i.e. limited space in an electric vehicle only have small fraction of energy that is originally used.

Hence electric vehicles cannot go as far as a petrol/diesel based vehicles can. This factor is another big hindrance for electric vehicle adoption. Moreover, refuelling of petrol based vehicle can be done in minutes but electric vehicles take hours to recharge.

To overcome these challenges some techniques has developed to keep some batteries fully charged and wait for empty batteries to arrive. They swap the empty battery with fully charged one and the electric vehicle moves on. Still, there are several shortcomings in this as the current swapping stations can hold or exchange only their own brand, shape, size and specifications such as voltage and current ratings. Thus, it supports only few types of vehicles. Also, the current swapping stations have limited slots hence limited batteries only kept as reserve. As well as, they are not easily scalable as the demand grows.

Though, the electric vehicle has good adaptation rate, there is a huge demand of electricity in peak hours and the entire energy demand from fossil fuel is shifted to grid. The charging stations are relatively new in current scenario. The availability of charging stations is not as common as petrol refilling stations. They are in a stage of standalone, unmanaged or semi-managed from a central control system perspective. Hence in a stressed grid scenario these charging stations keeps drawing power from grid with a little control from central control system putting grids into risk of blackout.

Conventionally, many solutions have been proposed to charge the batteries in electric vehicle. This battery operated electric vehicles are often charged through some types of wired alternating current (AC) such as household or commercial AC power supply sources. The wired charging connections require cables or other similar connectors that are physically connected to a power supply. However, these cables and similar connectors may be inconvenient or cumbersome which results in drawbacks.

Also, current charging stations are not capable of reversing power from vehicle to grid under the grid stress scenarios. They lack in integrated cloud server where, individual, community, apartment or organizations can control, monitor, alert or do billing seamlessly. Current charging stations for electric vehicles have single power outlet from a single input source. Hence an electric vehicle occupies one charging station completely for long period. They lack power failure, recovery scenarios and emergency shutdown option in natural or manmade hazards.

To overcome these problems, the present invention has been proposed to enable battery replenishment station by pluggable power injection method from vehicle to grid. The main motivation of the present invention is to create a smart, effective and secured system for battery charging in replenishment stations. This smart battery replenishment station is a part of large network of chargers which brings security, stability and automation for the much-needed intelligence network to keep various types of heterogeneous batteries to be charged. This system provides an option to all types of batteries to seamlessly charge them in any swapping station in the network and to manage accounts effectively.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:

The objective of the present invention is to address the aforementioned problems and complications by proposing an effective system and method for swapping a battery of an electric vehicle using smart and secure battery replenishment with pluggable power injection from vehicle to grid and vice versa.

The present invention proposes a smart battery replenishment station that permits the battery of an electric vehicles to be replaced. This battery replenishment system acts as a part of large network between chargers and people. Also, it brings secure, stable and automation for keeping various types of heterogeneous batteries. The present invention provides an option for all types of batteries to seamlessly charge them in any replenishment station in the network and manages the account details easily.

In the present invention, the system allows the authorized user to exchange the empty battery with fully charged one where IR (infrared) sensor detects the presence of battery and instructs the microcomputer to open available fully charged battery slot. Also, the system helps to stabilize the grid by drawing power as configured and inject power to grid from vehicles when required.

According to the present invention, the smart replenishment system for electric vehicles has an integrated full fledge microcomputer / onboard computer / micro controller with network module to communicate with central cloud server and a RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) module to make user authentication. Also, the system comprising relays to turn on charging, sensors and detectors for unexpected interruption management during emergency situations.

In accordance with the present invention, when a user swipes his/her ID card (RFID card) on the RFID sensor, the RFID module reads the card ID and sends information to microcomputer. The microcomputer accesses the cloud server to make authentication of user via network module. Now, the server authenticates the user against database and checks financial details via payment service. If user is not authenticated, the system does not allow the user to charge electric vehicle. If authenticated, the system asks user to insert the plug into any of the available socket. An IR detector in the network detects the socket for plug-in and sends instruction to microcomputer. The microcomputer instructs corresponding relay to turn on. Now, the relay turns it on and starts charging. A 3 phase AC to DC converter is connected to the microcomputer to charge and has a grid inversion module to make DC to AC power inversion for grid in case of power demand / peak hours.

The objective and advantages of the present invention will become more evident from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

The objective of the present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates the enlarged view of replenishment station with communication flow between full fledge microcomputer and cloud server;

FIG. 2 illustrates the front view of battery replenishment station; and

FIG. 3 illustrates the internal component’s communication flow of the present invention;

REFERENCE NUMERALS:

1: Microcomputer / microcontroller / onboard computer
2: Network module
3: Central cloud server
4: Isolated relay / AC to DC converter
5: Power drawn detecting sensor
6: Infrared sensor
7: RFID module
8: Water detector
9: Heat sensor
10: Kill switch
11: LCD touch screen
12: Server push
13: Master-slave service
14: Power splitting
15: Recovery module
16: Grid inversion module (DC to AC power inversion)
17: Grid synchronization module
18: Mini battery charger
19: Database
20: Payment service
21: A backup battery
22: Battery connector
23: Adjustable slots with separator / battery holders / slots
24: Voltage selector
25: Vertical racks
26: Additional racks
27: Hook for Rack scaling
28: Cable extender
29: Servo motor
P: Socket out

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION:

The present invention discloses a smart, effective and secured battery replenishment of an electric vehicle in a battery bank (i.e., battery replenishment station) and pluggable power injection from vehicle to grid module during peak hours / power demand.

The present invention describes the battery replenishment station that permits batteries of electric vehicles to be charged via a large much-needed intelligence network. By authenticating the user, the system provides an option for all types of batteries to seamlessly charge them in any swapping station in the network and manages the account details easily.

In the present invention, the smart battery replenishment station comprising: an integrated full fledge microcomputer, network module, a central cloud server, 3 phase AC to DC converter, sensors, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) module, water detector, kill switch, LCD touch screen, server push, master slave service, database, payment service, power bus, recovery module, grid inversion module (DC to AC), grid sync module and a backup battery, bus to battery connector, adjustable slots with separator, voltage selector, vertical racks, hook for plugin of additional racks, hook for rack scaling, cable extender for extra racks and servo motor.

Referring to FIG. 1, it illustrates the enlarged view of replenishment station with communication flow between various components in a large network of battery replenishment station wherein the battery replenishment station comprising: an integrated full fledge microcomputer (1), network module (2) to communicate with central cloud server (3), 3 phase AC to DC converter (4), sensors (5) to measure power drawn, infrared based sensors (6) to detect plugin of electric vehicles, Radio Frequency Identification module (7) to identify authorized RFID cards, water detector (8) to protect from flood, heat sensor (9) to protect from overheating and fire, kill switch (10) for emergency shutdown, LCD touch screen (11) to view account details and financials, server push (12) to update software, master slave service (13) to execute remote command from server, database (19) to store the account and financial details, payment service (20), power bus (14) to socket out (P), recovery module (15) to manage power failure and recovery scenarios, grid inversion module (16) to invert DC to AC power, grid sync module (17) to synchronize frequency with grid to inject power, mini battery charger (18) to charger backup battery (21), bus to battery connector (22), adjustable slots with separator (23), voltage selector (24), vertical racks (25), hook for plugin of additional racks (26), hook for rack scaling (27), cable extender (28) for extra racks and servo motor (29).

FIG. 2 illustrates the front view of battery replenishment station. It has multiple battery holders (23) in the form of adjustable slots with separator where batteries are arranged and a hook (27) for rack scaling. In this, the RFID module (7) is connected with the microcomputer (1) of the station which is a full-fledged microcomputer provided with LCD touch screen (11). A cable extender (28) is attached to the rack unit with multiple battery holders (23).

According to FIG. 3 of the present invention, to access the charger in the battery replenishment station, initially the users need to get authentication by swiping his / her RFID card on the RFID module (7). The RFID module (7) reads the RFID card and send information to microcomputer (1) called onboard computer. This microcomputer (1) communicates with central cloud server (3) through network module (2) to get authorization information. Based on the request from the microcomputer (1), the server (3) authenticates the user ID details against the database (9) and checks the financials through payment services (20). These account details are displayed on the LCD touch screen (11) in the microcomputer (1).

By referring to FIG. 3, if the user is not authenticated, the system does not allow the user to proceed. If the user is authenticated, the system checks for best charged battery availability to offer to user and an empty slot to accept battery from user i.e. by inserting the empty battery into the available empty slots (23). Once the user inserts the empty battery, the infrared sensor (6) detects the presence of battery and instructs the microcomputer (1) to open available fully charged battery slot. The user takes out the battery and replaces into his/her vehicle. The microcomputer (1) notes all transactions by the users and uploads the data to cloud server (3) for storing, processing and payment services (20).

Still referring to FIG. 3, the microcomputer unit (1) is further used to control the charging operation of the batteries in the replenishment station. It comprises: AC to DC converter (4) to charger the batteries in the charging station, grid inversion module (16) for DC to AC power inversion to power the grid module, an extension cable (28) is used to charge the batteries in the battery bank in case of large distance between the battery in battery slot (23) and power supply, a voltage selector (24) to select the appropriate voltage range based on the specification of empty battery in the slot, a hook for rack scaling (27) to place the battery on the slot (23) and a servo motor (29) to make adjustment between the battery holding slots by sliding the separator. Also, the charging station provided with a water detector (8) to protect from flood and a kill switch (10) to make shut down during emergency situation.

According to the present invention, the replenishment system has voltage selector (24) for every slot and every slot is equipped with adjustable separator (23) so that it can hold a full battery of any make or model. The user adjusts the separator (23) and places the battery. Then he / she selects the appropriate voltage for the battery by choosing the make/model of the vehicle. Here, the system has a pre-programmed data for voltage levels for various electric vehicles’ batteries from different manufacturers.

The advantages of the present invention during the occurrence of unexpected interruptions but not limited to:
I. User attempts to unplug while charging:

a. The battery slot doors are closed by servo motors. Hence no one is able to force the battery slot doors to open easily; and
b. If slot door break is detected, the IR sensors instruct the microcomputer to raise alarm to cloud server with all diagnostic data.

II. Power failure:

a. The system’s electronic components are backed up by a battery (21) with mini battery charger (18);
b. Main supply goes off and hence the power sensors (5) detects and instructs the microcomputer (1); and
c. Microcomputer (1) writes users data, charging time, power consumed and state information to a local file and waits for power to come back.

III. Physical damage:

a. Every component continuously synchronized with microcomputer (1);
b. When the system gets damaged intentionally or unintentionally, these synchronization breaks, the microcomputer (1) will shut down the output socket first; and
c. Sends the information to cloud server (3) and then shutdown itself.

IV. Hacking attempt:

a. The charging station runs on highly secure 2-way SSL certificate-based communication with server. Every instruction from server to client or vice versa is verified against digital signatures; and
b. Any tampering with communication alters the signature and system will not acknowledge the instructions and raises an alarm to central server.

While the foregoing written description of the invention enables one of ordinary skill to make and use what is considered presently to be the best mode thereof, those of ordinary skill will understand and appreciate the existence of variations, combinations, and equivalents of the specific embodiment, method, and examples herein. The invention should therefore not be limited by the above described embodiment, method, and examples, but by all embodiments and methods within the scope of the invention as claimed.

We Claim:

1. A battery replenishment system with pluggable power injection for heterogeneous batteries comprising:
a. a main controller, wherein said main controller comprises:
i. an integrated full fledge microcomputer (1) to access user account and financial details;
ii. a radio frequency identification module (7) to get user authentication by swiping said user’s RFID card, wherein said RFID module has a RFID sensor to read said card details;
iii. a LCD touch screen (11) to view said account details and financials;
iv. a 3-phase AC to DC converter (4) to inject power through power bus;
v. one or more Infrared detectors (6) to detect available socket for plug-in;
vi. a power splitting unit (14) to one or more socket out (P);
vii. a grid inversion module (16) to invert DC to AC power;
viii. a grid sync module (17) to synchronize the frequency with grid to inject power; and
ix. a network module (2) to make communication among components in the network;
b. a central cloud server (3) to access user data through said network module (2); and
c. a battery bank with multiple adjustable slots with separator (23) to hold batteries wherein said battery bank further comprising: a bus to battery connector (22), a voltage selector (24) to each slot (23), One or more vertical racks (25), One or more hook for plugin of additional racks (26), a hook for rack scaling (27), a cable extender (28) for extra racks and a servo motor (29) to adjust said separator of battery holding slots.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said system further comprising: one or more sensors (5) to measure power drawn, a water detector (8) for protection from flooding, a heat sensor (9) to protect from overheating and fire, a kill switch (10) for emergency shutdown, a recovery module (15) to access power in case of power failure and recovery scenarios and a backup battery (21) with mini battery charger (18) to inject power to electronic components in said system.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said grid sync module (17) is used for synchronizing power frequency from battery to grid to inject power during power demand or peak hours.

4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said central cloud server (3) maintains data from: said heat sensor (9), a server push (12) for software updates, a master slave service (13) for remote command execution from server, a database (19) to store user information and a payment service (20) for transactions and financials.

5. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said voltage selector (24) is equipped with each adjustable slot with separator (23) to hold a battery of any model.

6. A method for swapping empty battery of an electric vehicle with fully charged one from replenishment station comprising the steps of:
a. swiping user’s ID card (RFID based) on RFID sensor (7);
b. reading said card ID and sending said information to microcomputer (1);
c. accessing cloud server (3) via network module (2) to ensure user authentication;
d. authenticating said user against database (19) and checks financials via payment service (20), wherein, if authentication fails, the system does not allow to proceed;
e. checking for a fully charged battery to offer to user and an empty slot to accept battery from user;
f. detecting the presence of empty battery on said slot to instructs said microcomputer (1) to open available fully charged battery slot;
g. replacing said empty battery with fully charged one in an electric vehicle by taking out from battery slot (23); and
h. uploading all transaction data by the users to cloud server for storing, processing and payments.