Vehicle identification system, method and recharging station for
Contents
1. ID VALIDATOR ID REQUESTOR Delete ID Delete ID Request IDs Request ID ID GENERATOR ID STORAGE MEMORY COMMUNI D eeen de ee ee ee eb ee ee ef ee ee U S Patent Apr 9 2013 Sheet 3 of 5 US 8 417 598 B2 PRG Stand alone Recharging Station Block Diagram TRSPLAY PROCESSOR VERICLE EDENE MERRIE POWER SOURCE U S Patent Apr 9 2013 Sheet 4 of 5 US 8 417 598 B2 Fig 4 Network of Recharging Stations Block Dingram a BOWER DONS TROL PAYMENT STATERRS E U S Patent Apr 9 2013 Sheet 5 of 5 US 8 417 598 B2 Fig 5 Vehicle ID Device Block Diagram O 7C00 O 00 US 8 417 598 B2 1 VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM METHOD AND RECHARGING STATION FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims the benefit under 35 USC 119 of the filing date of U S Provisional Application Ser No 61 210 306 filed Mar 17 2009 now expired the entire con tents of which are incorporated by reference herein BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1 Field of Invention The present invention relates to battery recharging system for electric and hybrid electric vehicle More specifically it relates to the vehicle identification used in an electric vehicles recharging station 2 Description of Prior Art Periodic charging of electric vehicles is a necessity Public recharging facilities and power sta2. Int Cl Electric vehicle recharging system in public garages and GO7E 19 00 2006 01 parking facilities that utilizes a vehicle identification to pre HO02J 7 00 2006 01 vent energy theft and to provide a reliable and safe method to G2 US Ceea tn fined 705 34 320 109 Tesume recharging process without any manual authorization 58 Field of Classification Search 705 34 after recharging interrupt 320 109 See application file for complete search history 26 Claims 5 Drawing Sheets Vehicle Identification System Functional Diagram Tip i aii A aa aa pena a a i a a i E a a e a a Delete ID Request IDs ID STORAGE MEMORY sale complete U S Patent Apr 9 2013 Sheet 1 of 5 US 8 417 598 B2 FIG 1 Prior Art Example US Patent Number 4 532 418 Date of Patent Jul 30 1985 MICROPROCESSOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING AND PARKING METER SYSTEM STRUCTURE AND METHOD CARD OVERLOAD OPEN KW READER DETECTOR CIRCUIT TRANSDUCER DETECTOR PLUG CENTRAL LOCK PROCESSOR MECHANISM UNIT OPERATION NUMERIC OPERATIONAL DISPLAY DISPLAY IN USE OUT OF ORDER VIOLATION REJECT IMPROPER CHARGE CARD U S Patent Apr 9 2013 Sheet 2 of 5 US 8 417 598 B2 FIG 2 Vehicle identification System Functional Diagram Service not authorized To system waiting status s2 Stop recharging Start system VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION Service authorized
3. When using wireless communication either optical or using electromagnetic waves it is preferred to use short dis tance communication devices to ensure that the ID is received from the same vehicle that is connected to the station For example ifan RFID Radio Frequency Identification Device chip is used it should be located either in the vehicle s charg ing port or in a separate enclosure a tag attached to the vehicle and the reader of the station should be placed accord ingly It is also possible to use acoustic waves or infrared as the form of wireless communication Wired communication may be achieved through extra con tacts on the charging plug or through the main power conduc tors of the charging cable by using any form of a power line communication PLC A non electronic key is simply read by the reader and the ID information is stored by the station until the charging is complete or for a predetermined period of time if inter rupted Anelectronic key may communicate the ID information to the reader on its own e g when first connected to the station and then every say 30 seconds Alternatively it may com municate the ID in response to a query from the reader which in this case may be referred to as an interrogator An electronic key which may also be referred to as an electronic ID device may use either prerecorded fixed ID information or generate new ID information every time anew charging cycle is init
4. Identifier Module 4 implements the ID Requestor 10 and the Communicator 13 A Cable Connector 5 connects to a vehicle recharging cable to supply recharging energy from the Power Controller 7 to the vehicle It also interfaces the Vehicle Identification Module 4 to the Recharging Cable 16 for communication with the Remote ID Device 15 The Cable Connector 5 is equipped with a detector switch to detect when the recharging cable 16 is connected and disconnected This switch along with the buttons of the Manual Input Device 2 comprises a System Events module 51 The Power Controller 7 implements the Power Controller Energy Meter module 18 that connects and disconnects power from the recharging Power Source 8 to the Cable Connector 5 based on commands received from the Proces sor 1 The Power Controller also communicates the Energy Meter readings to the Processor 1 for billing The Power Controller 7 comprises a power ON OFF Switch an Energy Meter and Protection Circuitry It may also provide control of the recharging parameters such as recharging current volt age etc A Network of Recharging Stations may be implemented for large parking and garage facilities Network implementa tion is especially effective for facilities with attendants or US 8 417 598 B2 7 valet parking An example of such implementation is shown on a block diagram of FIG 4 This example assumes an attended facility with multiple entrances and exits A standard th
5. from the scope of the present invention Upon entering a parking facility a client or a vehicle opera tor communicates to parking personnel a desired amount of recharging energy or recharging time or payment for recharging or full battery fill up This authorization data will be used in the service authorization process For any vehicle entering the parking a new three part paper ticket is issued All ticket parts carry the same unique bar coded number A facility operator or an attendant gives one part of that ticket to 20 25 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 8 aclient keeps another part of the ticket in the office and uses the third part for vehicle authorization at the recharging sta tion After moving the car to any recharging station the attendant connects a recharging cable to the station s connector and the station generates a request for vehicle ID to be sent to the vehicle s remote ID Device Ifthe recharging station receives a vehicle ID in response to said request then the station sends this ID to the Central Unit s CVI module for identification If the ID is recognized there as previously authorized the Central Unit sends a command to the station to resume recharging If the station does not receive any ID from the connected vehicle remote ID Device or if the received ID is not recog nized by CVI as previously authorized then the station dis plays a request to scan a ticket The attendant then scans
6. it creates a problem when there is a need to move the vehicle around That can be unsafe in emergency situations The same patent discloses a charging station with the card reader and a sepa rate charge card that may be obtained through a local power company or from the operator of a parking facility such as shopping malls and garages In case of any termination of recharging during a parking period the valid charge card should be manually inserted for the second time which is impossible ifthe card owner or an attendant are not present In the event of power interruption in a large public parking facility this invention does not provide a convenient solution to continue recharging when power is restored The U S Pat No 6 081 205 to Williams teaches to use time meters for energy charges In this invention recharging is going on during certain paid time Such method also cannot prevent electric energy theft in a public garage if any unau thorized car is connected and recharged instead of the car that is billed for the energy usage 0 20 25 30 35 40 45 55 2 It is an objective of this invention to provide a reliable method to facilitate automatic continuation of the recharging process without authorization of the vehicle operator or a garage attendant after interrupt in recharging for preventing energy theft and promoting safety in public garages and park ing facilities SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The s
7. predetermined period of time Alter natively a FIFO first in first out memory may be used for ID Storage so that the most recent IDs are stored up to the device memory capacity A Stand alone Recharging Station using the proposed vehicle identification method may be built according to the block diagram of FIG 3 Here the Processor 1 comprising a microcontroller with on board memory represents the core of the system Referring to FIG 2 the Processor 1 implements the ID Generator 11 ID Storage 12 ID Validator 19 ID Comparator 14 Service Authorization module 52 and Bill ing module 17 The Manual Input Device 2 comprises a number of push buttons or equivalent user entry devices e g touch screen buttons for user selection e g 20 k WH 4 Hrs 10 20 full battery fill up or other similar buttons defining recharging duration This device also includes a Cancel button to cancel anentry and a Stop button to manually stop recharging at any moment prior to completion A Display 6 comprising a number of indicators and or a visual device LED LCD screen and such and connected to the Processor 1 communicates the system messages to the user A Payment Receptor 3 may include a cash receptor a credit card reader a barcode reader and any other device capable of reading an appropriate authorization media It may also include a receipt printer The Payment Receptor 3 is a part of the Service Authorization module 52 A Vehicle
8. 8 B2 9 If a parking facility is operated the way that a vehicle may exit it before closing sales or before recharging is completed then such parking facility should include a prepayment or payment authorization before beginning of any services If a vehicle exits parking without closing its sale then the vehicle ID stored on the network will expire after a predefined ID lifetime interval and at that time all sales linked to this ID become closed and bill is created then the vehicle ID is deleted from any storage on the network Here is another likely operational scenario for an unat tended parking facility On entrance to the unattended parking facility a client or a vehicle operator receives a ticket with a unique bar coded number A vehicle operator finds the available recharging station and connects the vehicle to it by the cable The sensor in the station s cable connector generates a Recharging Cable Connected event and the station displays a request to scan the ticket if a ticket has not already been scanned If the operator first scans the ticket the Ticket Number Obtained event is generated and the station displays a request to connect recharging cable After both these operations are completed by the vehicle s operator the station displays a request to select payment method and or payment amount as it is com mon now in gasoline stations Ifa client selects a prepayment amount and makes a pay ment then no other authorization
9. A functional diagram on FIG 2 illustrates the Vehicle Identification System implemented in this embodiment The System Events logical module 51 in response to cer tain external and internal system events generates requests to start system or to stop recharging for a Vehicle Identification logical module 50 The following events may trigger the Start System request Recharging Cable Connected Power Restored Service Authorized Ticket Number Obtained 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 4 The following events may trigger the Stop Recharging request Recharging Cable Disconnected Loss of Power in the Power Source Circuit Recharging Error Safety system calls short circuit ground fault overvolt age overcurrent etc Battery Is Full STOP button pressed The Vehicle Identification logical module 50 comprises an ID Requestor 10 ID Generator 11 ID Storage 12 ID Com parator 14 ID Validator 19 and a Communicator 13 which communicates through the communication link 16 with a Remote ID Device 15 A Billing logical module 17 associates an ID received from the Vehicle Identification module 50 with the electric energy usage from a Power Controller Energy Meter 18 and a current time stamp and provides a Power On Power Off command to the Power Controller Energy Meter 18 which responds to the command by turning the power on or off at the vehicle recharging cable When a recharging cable plug connects wit
10. US008417598B2 a United States Patent 10 Patent No US 8 417 598 B2 Pinkusevich et al 45 Date of Patent Apr 9 2013 54 VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM 56 References Cited METHOD AND RECHARGING STATION FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 6 263 319 B1 7 2001 Leatherman s i 705 30 76 Inventors Igor Pinkusevich Aventura FL US 6 763 299 B2 7 2004 Jones ou 701 465 Lenny Novikov Cliffside Park NJ US 6 930 410 B2 8 2005 Ikeda etal 307 140 2005 0165639 A1 7 2005 Ross etal veces 705 14 x ere 2005 0270178 A1 12 2005 Ioli 00 340 932 2 Notice Subject to any disclaimer the term of this 3007 0288294 ALS 122007 Olsena OO 705 9 patent is extended or adjusted under 35 2009 0079388 A1 3 2009 Reddy 320 109 U S C 154 b by 389 days 2009 0289113 A1 11 2009 Vilnai etal 235 381 2010 0057282 A1 3 2010 Katrak etal oc 701 22 21 Appl No 12 725 441 2010 0065344 A1 3 2010 Collings II 180 2 1 2010 0228415 A1 9 2010 Paul oessssesesrsrers 701 22 aA 2011 0071932 A1 3 2011 Agassi etal esses 705 34 22 Filed Mar 16 2010 2011 0288909 A1 11 2011 Hedley etal vices 705 13 65 Prior Publication Data cited by examiner US 2010 0241542 A1 Sep 23 2010 Related U S Application Data 60 Provisional application No 61 210 306 filed on Mar Primary Examiner Matthew Gart Assistant Examiner Ashford S Hayles 17 2009 57 ABSTRACT 51
11. ation requesting device to a remote responding device arranged in association with a vehicle a step for creating a vehicle identification message by the remote responding device after and in response to said request said creating step including creating the vehicle identification message to include an identification that expires after a predetermined time period or once recharging of the vehicle is complete a step for communicating said vehicle identification mes sage from the remote responding device to the vehicle identification requesting device a step for storing a vehicle identification message in mes sage storage for further reference a step for generating another request for vehicle identifi cation by the vehicle identification requesting device when vehicle identification is required and a step for identifying a vehicle by comparing the received vehicle identification message with one stored as refer ence and generating a pass signal if both these messages identify the same vehicle 3 The vehicle identification system of claim 1 wherein said remote responding means further comprise data input means for creating a vehicle identification message 4 The vehicle identification system of claim 1 wherein said communication means further comprise at least one wire 5 The vehicle identification system of claim 1 wherein said communication means further comprise a wireless trans mitter and receiver 6 The vehicle identifi
12. cation system of claim 5 wherein said wireless transmitter and receiver use electromagnetic waves for communication 7 The vehicle identification system of claim 5 wherein said wireless transmitter and receiver use acoustic waves for communication 8 The vehicle identification system of claim 5 wherein said wireless transmitter and receiver use visible light for communication 9 A vehicle identification system for electric vehicles com prising an enclosure vehicle identification requesting means within said enclo sure for creating a vehicle identification request vehicle identification message generating means within said enclosure for creating a vehicle identification mes sage said vehicle identification generating means being configured to create the vehicle identification message including an identification that expires after a predeter mined time period or once recharging of the vehicle is complete remote responding means positioned outside of said enclo sure for storing said vehicle identification message and returning it after and in response to receipt of said vehicle identification request US 8 417 598 B2 11 communication means for communicating between said vehicle identification requesting means and said remote responding means to enable transfer of the vehicle iden tification message from said vehicle identification mes sage generating means to said remote responding means subsequent transfer of said
13. cation that expires after a predetermined time period or once recharging of a vehicle is complete a step for storing a vehicle identification message in mes sage storage for further reference 30 a step for communicating said vehicle identification mes sage to a remote responding device arranged in associa tion with the vehicle a step for storing the vehicle identification message in the remote responding device 35 a step for generating a request for vehicle identification using a vehicle identification requesting device when vehicle identification is required a step for communicating said request from the vehicle identification requesting device to the remote respond ing device a step for communicating another vehicle identification message derived from said vehicle identification mes sage from the remote responding device to the vehicle identification requesting device after and in response to 45 receipt of said request by the remote responding device and a step for identifying a vehicle by comparing the received vehicle identification message with one stored as the reference and generating a pass signal if both these mes 50 sages identify the same vehicle 11 An electric vehicle identification device associated with a vehicle comprising message generating means within or on the vehicle for generating a vehicle identification message said mes 55 sage generating means being configured to generate the vehicle identif
14. e for receiving the vehicle identification request cre ated by said vehicle identification requesting means and creating a vehicle identification message after and in response to receipt of said vehicle identification request said remote responding means being configured to cre ate the vehicle identification message including an iden tification that expires after a predetermined time period or once recharging of the vehicle is complete communication means for communicating between said vehicle identification requesting means and said remote responding means to enable transfer of the vehicle iden tification message from said remote responding means to said vehicle identification requesting means 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 10 message storage means positioned within said enclosure for storing the vehicle identification message for refer ence and comparison means within said enclosure for comparing a vehicle identification message received from a vehicle via said communication means with said vehicle identi fication message previously stored for reference in said message storage means and generating a pass signal when both these messages identify the same vehicle 2 A vehicle identification method for electric vehicles comprising a step for generating a request for vehicle identification using a vehicle identification requesting device a step for communicating said request from vehicle iden tific
15. ed after a predetermined period of time from the last use If an expired ID is found the ID Validator 19 deletes the expired ID from the ID Storage 12 and sends an ID to Close Sale message to the Billing 17 which closes all the sales associated with this ID As follows from the description above a service authori zation is necessary in order to start recharging Generally an authorization to get services is the association of the vehicle with the amount and or method of payment for these services selected by a client To authorize recharging a client may use cash payment credit card payment or any media issued by a garage authority such as a plastic card with a magnetic strip a plastic card with a memory chip a plug in into the station key chain device and other methods where the client account information is encoded on the media The station may accept one of the above authorization methods to authorize recharg ing from a stand alone station or a network station in an attended garage however the familiar paper ticket procedure can also be used A service authorization with paper ticket can be implemented as a reading of the unique number from a ticket bar code scanned in the station bar code reader Such paper ticket may contain up to 3 parts with the same bar code One part of the ticket is for keeping in the garage office another part is for the client and the 3 part is for scanning it in the station and keeping in the veh
16. essage to include prerecorded fixed identification information or new identification information generated each time a charging cycle is initiated 16 The vehicle identification system of claim 1 wherein said remote responding means create the vehicle identifica tion message including an identification that expires after a predetermined time period 17 The vehicle identification system of claim 1 wherein said remote responding means create the vehicle identifica tion message including an identification that expires once recharging of the vehicle is complete 18 The vehicle identification system of claim 5 wherein said wireless transmitter and receiver use infrared communi cations 19 The vehicle identification system of claim 9 wherein 40 said remote responding means are configured to receive an assigned identification from an identification generating means in said enclosure via said communications means store the assigned identification and then create the vehicle identification message based on the stored assigned identifi cation 20 The vehicle identification system of claim 9 wherein said remote responding means further comprise data input means for creating a vehicle identification message 21 The vehicle identification system of claim 9 wherein said communication means further comprise at least one wire 22 The vehicle identification system of claim 9 wherein said communication means further comprise a wireless tran
17. ging structure with a lock mechanism on recharging cable plug FIG 2 Vehicle Identification system functional diagram FIG 3 Stand alone recharging station block diagram FIG 4 Network of recharging stations block diagram FIG 5 Vehicle ID device block diagram DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The description of the preferred embodiment is intended for illustration and not for limitation purposes and it is under stood that those skilled in art can find different implementa tions of this invention without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention In the most basic form of the preferred embodiment the vehicle is equipped with a unique key and the station is equipped with a reader to receive identification information from this key Every time a vehicle is connected to a recharg ing station the recharging station obtains vehicle ID infor mation from the key and ifthis ID is recognized as previously associated with valid authorization the recharging process resumes If the ID is not recognized the recharging station requests a payment or any other form of recharging authori zation When authorization is received the vehicle ID is stored by the recharging station in association with this autho rization US 8 417 598 B2 3 The key may be provided in a form of a mechanical key any form of a magnetic or optical media or an electronic device communicating to the reader through wires or wire lessly
18. h a recharging station receptacle or when the power is restored after an outage the System Events module 51 generates a Start System request to the ID Requestor 10 The ID Requestor 10 sends the ID request to the Remote ID Device 15 located in the vehicle or attached to the vehicle using Communicator 13 via the communication link 16 In this particular example the com municator comprises a PLC modem and the communication link is a conductor of the charging cable If the vehicle has been previously connected to a station and the Remote ID Device 15 still carries a valid not expired ID this device sends the ID back to the Communicator 13 through the communication link 16 The Communicator 13 sends the received ID to the ID Comparator 14 which com pares it to every ID found in the ID Storage 12 If a match is found the ID Comparator 14 sends this ID to the Billing module 17 to ensure that the energy usage for recharging is added to the previous charges associated with this ID Then the Billing module 17 generates a Power On command for the Power Controller Energy Meter 18 which in turn switches on electric current from the power source via the recharging cable to the vehicle battery and recharging process resumes The electric energy used for recharging is recorded in the Billing module 17 where it is also associated with a vehicle ID If the ID match is not found the ID Comparator 14 sends a request to the Service Authorization module 52 t
19. iated The ID information may include any relevant data regarding charging requirements such as recommended charging mode a current battery charge level vehicle or battery model etc Alternatively the ID may be generated and assigned to the vehicle by the station upon charge initialization and then requested back periodically or after the recharging interrupt In this case the assigned ID is stored by the vehicle s ID device The assigned ID may contain a time stamp a station ID a requested or prepaid amount of energy and any other relevant information Regardless of the origin of the ID infor mation it should not uncontrollably change during the entire recharging period even with recharging interrupts until it expires after a predetermined time period or the recharging is complete The following detailed description of the preferred embodiment demonstrates a use of an electronic ID device with ID assigned to it by a recharging station The power line communication PLC is used for information exchange between a station and a remote ID device While the following description assumes a charging cable attached to the vehicle plugging into a receptacle located in the recharging station it stays valid with the appropriate adjustments for a situation when the charging cable permanently attached to the recharg ing station gets plugged into a recharging receptacle located on the vehicle and for any possible variations in between
20. ication message including an identifica tion that expires after a predetermined time period or once recharging of the vehicle is complete memory means within or on the vehicle for storing at least one said vehicle identification message and communication means at least partly within or on the vehicle for communicating another vehicle identifica tion message derived from said at least one identifica tion message stored in said memory means to anelectric 65 vehicle recharging station koko okok
21. icle or by attendant Other variants of a vehicle service authorization can also be imple mented There are different payment and billing scenarios which could be described but omitted here because they are not directly related to the present invention Such scenarios include a service authorization in some form in garages with or without parking attendants with a prepayment or a pay ment at garage exit with billing by garage authority or by electric utility company 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 6 An ID Device located within the vehicle or built in into the vehicle s charging cable can communicate via such cable to a recharging station Referring to FIG 5 the ID device includes an ID Storage 22 for storing vehicle electronic ID and a Communicator 21 for communicating with the charging sta tion The ID Storage 22 is preferably a non volatile memory type so that the loss of power does not affect the stored ID The Communicator 21 is needed for receiving an ID gener ated and sent by a recharging station as well as receiving requests from a recharging station to submit the stored ID sending the stored ID back to the station and deleting that stored ID on the station request The ID Device may store a number of different IDs received from various stations In case the vehicle gets disconnected prior to the end of the recharging period an optional ID Expirator 23 is included to delete a stored ID after a
22. is required to start recharg ing Ifa client has successfully authorized a credit card charge or a client account charge then further definition of recharg ing duration is needed and the station displays a request to enter either the amount of recharging energy recharging time or battery capacity to fill up That authorization data becomes associated with the ticket number and stored in the Billing module The station then generates the Service Authorized event that triggers Start System command as in FIG 2 which in turn triggers ID Requestor and a request for vehicle ID is sent to the connected vehicle All other ID related steps are described above On exit of unattended parking facility if the credit card or client account charge was previously authorized the vehicle operator must scan his ticket in the payment station ticket reader to complete sales At that moment a bill is created and the vehicle ID which was stored in the recharging station in the remote ID device or in the central unit is deleted from the network Other implementations of the vehicle ID method in the network are certainly possible without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention What is claimed is 1 A vehicle identification system for electric vehicles com prising an enclosure vehicle identification requesting means within said enclo sure for creating a vehicle identification request remote responding means positioned outside of said enclo sur
23. its or the amount of prepayment for the service The Battery Full event triggers a Stop Recharging request from the Systems Events module 51 to the ID Vali dator 19 of the Vehicle Identification module 50 The ID Validator 19 sends the current ID to the Billing module 17 to close the sale associated with this ID and generates a com mand Delete ID to the Remote ID Device 15 and also deletes this ID from the ID Storage 12 When a request for a specific amount of energy or pay ment is fulfilled the Billing Module 17 closes the sale asso ciated with this ID and sends a message Recharging Com plete to the ID Validator 19 which generates a command Delete ID to the Remote ID Device 15 and also deletes this ID from the ID Storage 12 If a Stop button not shown is pressed before the comple tion of the recharging process the System Events module 51 sends a command Stop Recharging to the ID Validator 19 which generates a command Delete ID to the Remote ID Device 15 and also deletes this ID from the ID Storage 12 The ID Validator 19 also sends an ID to Close Sale message to the Billing 17 which closes the sale for this ID If the vehicle is unplugged prior to completion of recharg ing the system disconnects the power and goes into a Ready mode waiting for the cable plug in The ID Validator 19 periodically checks time stamps of all the IDs stored in the ID Storage 12 An ID is considered expir
24. o provide an authorization When the authorization is provided e g in a form of a payment a charge card a ticket read etc the module 52 sends a request to the ID Generator 11 to generate anew ID When generated the new unique ID is stored in the ID Storage 12 transferred to the Billing Module 17 and communicated to the Remote ID Device 15 via the Commu nicator 13 and the communication link 16 This new ID will be stored in the Remote ID Device 15 until it is deleted by the recharging station or expires after a predetermined period of time say 12 hours If no ID is received from ID Device the Communicator 13 sends a No ID message to the Service Authorization module 52 and then the sequence of events described in the ID match not found case above is repeated This way if the connected for recharging vehicle does not have a Remote ID Device installed the system will require authorization every time itis connected which ensures full compatibility of any vehicle with the recharging station US 8 417 598 B2 5 At any moment when the requested service authorization is not received the system goes into a waiting mode The recharging is considered completed when the client recharging service request set during service authorization is satisfied Such client request may include recharging until the battery is full or the specific amount of recharging energy expressed either in time units or energy units or any other un
25. olution for above issues is to associate the authoriza tion for electric energy usage with a vehicle that receives such energy for recharging Present invention resolves the above mentioned issues by implementing a vehicle identification system The presented vehicle identification system and method enable a recharging station to identify an electric vehicle connected to it for recharging and resume recharging after any recharging interrupt It is understood that recharging authorization is essential for keeping track of energy usage and receiving an appropri ate payment for the amount ofelectric energy used in recharg ing and for other services which may include parking and any other associated sales The variety of billing payment arrangements which can be implemented in electric vehicle recharging is beyond the scope of the present invention and omitted for clarity Hereinafter an electric or electric hybrid vehicle or any other type of vehicle that use an external source of electric energy for recharging its batteries is referred to as a vehicle the recharging station is referred to as a station identifica tion as ID and any event of the recharging interrupt due to either power outage or disconnection and subsequent recon nection of the charging cable is referred to as a recharging interrupt BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG 1 Prior art example shows U S Pat No 4 532 418 diagram of rechar
26. ree part paper ticket processing is selected for compatibil ity with existing parking facilities practice The network of recharging stations comprises a Central Unit a number of Recharging Stations and a number of Payment Stations interconnected in a network Recharging Stations in a network include a Network Inter face Device 101 to enable network communication and sub stitute the Payment Receptor 3 with a Ticket Reader 9 The Processor 1 no longer implements the ID handling and stor age functions billing and authorization These functions ID Generator 11 ID Comparator 14 ID Validator 19 ID Storage 12 Billing 17 and Service Autho rization 52 are implemented in a Central Unit which may be located in a central office of the facility The Central Unit comprises a Processor 30 which controls operation of the entire network a Manual Input Device 32 for user manual data input a Ticket Reader 35 for reading a number from a parking ticket a Display 36 for showing visual information to the user a Central Vehicle Identifier CVI module 33 for identification of a vehicle connected to any station on the network and a Central Billing Module 34 CBM for central billing and payment processing Both CVI and CBM can be implemented as software or hardware modules CVI here further comprises a central ID Storage 37 CIS for storage of any ID generated by any station on the network and a central ID Comparator 38 CIC for comparing incoming
27. rgy usage together with vehicle ID are sent to CMB Since recharging process is finished CMB sends a command to Central ID Validator to delete this vehicle ID from the Central ID Storage and also sends the Delete ID command to the recharging station The station in response of Delete ID command communicates an instruction to delete this ID to the remote ID Device of the connected vehicle Before leaving the facility a garage attendant or a vehicle operator scans the vehicle ticket again At that moment all sales associated with this ticket in CBM become closed the vehicle ID that becomes deleted from any storage on the network if it has not been deleted before and a combined bill for all services is generated The vehicle is released from the facility only after the payment is received or charged to the client account by the Payment Station If the vehicle ID lifetime interval expires prior to comple tion of recharging the ID Validator module of the CVI deletes this ID from the Central ID Storage CIS and sends it to the CBM for closing all sales associated with this ID This may happen if located in the garage a vehicle has not been recon nected to any recharging station to complete recharging after it was interrupted Similarly to the stand alone station application if the ID cannot be deleted from a remote ID Device on request then this ID will expire after the ID lifetime interval and then will be deleted from ID device US 8 417 59
28. s mitter and receiver 23 The vehicle identification system of claim 22 wherein said wireless transmitter and receiver use electromagnetic waves for communication 24 The vehicle identification system of claim 22 wherein said wireless transmitter and receiver use acoustic waves for communication 25 The vehicle identification system of claim 22 wherein 60 said wireless transmitter and receiver use visible light for communication 26 The vehicle identification system of claim 22 wherein said wireless transmitter and receiver use infrared communi cations vehicle identification message from said remote responding means to said vehicle identification request 10 ing means in response to said request message storage means positioned within said enclosure for storing the vehicle identification message for refer ence and comparison means within said enclosure for comparing a 15 received vehicle identification message received from a vehicle via said communication means with said vehicle identification message previously stored for reference in said message storage means and generating a pass signal when both these messages identify the same vehicle 20 10 A vehicle identification method for electric vehicles comprising astep for generating a vehicle identification message using a vehicle identification generating device said generat ing step including generating the vehicle identification 25 message to include an identifi
29. the ticket and the station receives the ticket number generates a new ID and links this new ID to the obtained ticket number Then the request for authorization data associated with this ticket number is sent to CBM Such authorization data can include authorized by the vehicle operator amount of energy to be used in recharging or the recharging time or the recharg ing capacity or the amount of payment and or method of payment Authorization data and the ticket number may be entered at the vehicle entrance into the garage If the autho rization data has already been associated with the ticket num ber and stored in CMB then in response to the recharging station request it is sent back to the station to define normal completion of the recharging process Otherwise the atten dant using Manual Input device of the recharging station enters the data authorized by vehicle operator e g recharging energy in kWHr recharging time recharging battery capac ity amount and method of payment or other data that may defy recharging duration Such authorization data together with the ticket number and generated new ID are linked together The newly generated ID is sent to the vehicle s remote ID Device as well as to the Central ID Storage of CVI for further reference and to Central Billing Module CBM for billing After that the recharging begins When the recharging is successfully completed or stopped by pressing a Stop button the amount of ene
30. tions in garages and park ing places such as garages of apartment buildings and shop ping mall parking facilities are not currently available This problem severely limits the realistic use of electric automo biles Unlike conventional fuel operated vehicles which can be refueled in minutes it takes hours to recharge electric auto mobile batteries It is unlikely that a garage attendant or a vehicle operator stays with the vehicle throughout the entire recharging process That opens possibilities for energy theft In an attended parking facility the garage personnel may need to disconnect a car from the recharging station and move it around Then the car should be connected to the same or to another station to continue recharging Severe power outages can occur during the charging period They may also create a problem in recharging con tinuation due to expired authorization There is a need fora reliable method to prevent energy theft in recharging facilities There is also a need for automatic continuation of the recharging process after any recharging interrupt so that no manual authorization of recharging after such interrupt would be necessary Solutions available in the prior art do not address these issues The U S Pat No 4 532 418 to Meese offers using a mechanical lock to prevent disconnecting an electric car from arecharging station until recharging is complete as shown in FIG 1 While this solution prevents energy theft
31. vehicle ID with ID stored in CIS This variant of CVI implements the idea that new IDs are generated and deleted by a Vehicle Identifier module of a station connected to a vehicle and not by the central unit CVI The Central Unit is connected to the network with a Network Interface Device Another variant of CVI can be also implemented where in addition to CIS and CIC the following modules can be included a central ID Generator for generating new IDs a central ID Validator for deleting expired IDs and deleting IDs on the recharging complete and the sale closed events This variant of the CVI reflects the idea that a central vehicle identification module will generate store assign and delete all IDs in the network The Payment Station in the FIG 4 comprises a Processor 40 a Display 46 for providing visual information to the user a Manual Input Device 42 for selecting the amount of energy for recharging and other tasks that require manual input a Payment Receptor 43 such as a cash receptor credit card reader charge card reader or any other payment or billing authorization card reader to pay for services a ticket reader for reading a ticket that linked to the services provided to a vehicle Other variants of implementation of the network of recharging stations are certainly possible and implied by this invention Following is the example of network operation while it is understood that other scenarios are possible without deviat ing
32. vehicle identification request and a subsequent transfer of another vehicle identification message derived from the received 5 12 12 An electric vehicle identification device associated with a vehicle that communicates with an electric vehicle recharging station comprising communication means within or on the vehicle for receiv ing at least one vehicle identification message from the electric vehicle recharging station at a beginning of recharging memory means within or on the vehicle for storing of at least one said vehicle identification message received from the recharging station responding means for returning another vehicle identifica tion message derived from the at least one said vehicle identification message stored in said memory means in response to a vehicle identification request received from the recharging station and identification message expiration means for removing or causing removal of said at least one identification mes sage from the memory means after a predetermined period of time or once recharging of the vehicle is com plete 13 The vehicle identification system of claim 1 wherein said remote responding means are attached to a vehicle 14 The vehicle identification system of claim 1 wherein said remote responding means are located in a vehicle 15 The vehicle identification system of claim 1 wherein said remote responding means are configured to create the vehicle identification m
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