Battery reservation device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10643272-B2
Application number	US-201615759226-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 2, 2016
Priority date	Nov 17, 2015
Publication date	May 5, 2020
Grant date	May 5, 2020

Abstract

A battery reservation device (10) comprises a required charge amount acquisition component (11), a remaining battery charge acquisition component (12), a charging speed acquisition component (14), and an exchange completion time calculator (16). The required charge amount acquisition component (11) inputs the amount of battery charging needed by the user. The remaining battery charge acquisition component (12) acquires the remaining battery charge at the present time for each of the battery packs (1) at a plurality of battery stations (30). The charging speed acquisition component (14) acquires the charging speeds at the plurality of battery stations (30). The exchange completion time calculator (16) calculates the exchange completion time for the battery packs (1) at the plurality of battery stations (30) on the basis of the acquired required charge amount, the remaining battery charge at the present time, and the battery charging speed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A battery reservation device that accepts reservations for batteries that supply power to a specific power consumption element and that are exchangeable at a battery station, the device comprising a processor configured with a program to perform operations comprising:
acquiring a required charge amount comprising a required amount of battery a user needs;
acquiring a remaining battery charge at a present time for each battery in a plurality of the battery stations;
acquiring a charging speed at each of the plurality of battery stations;
calculating travel times to each of the plurality of battery stations on the basis of distances from a current position of the power consumption element to the plurality of battery stations; and
calculating, for each of the plurality of battery stations, an exchange completion time for the batteries in the battery station on the basis of the required charge amount, the remaining battery charge, the travel time to the battery station, and the charging speed, and
wherein the processor is configured with the program such that calculating the exchange completion time comprises calculating the exchange completion time at a battery station on the basis of the required charge amount, the remaining battery charge, and the charging speed, and
in response to a charging completion time exceeding the travel time, a difference between the travel time and the charging completion time is calculated as the exchange completion time, and in response to the charging completion time is equal to or less than the travel time, the exchange completion time being calculated as 0.

2. The remaining battery charge according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured with the program to perform operations further comprising:
controlling a display component so as to display the calculated battery exchange completion time.

3. The battery reservation device according to claim 2 ,
wherein the processor is configured with the program to perform operations further comprising causing the display component to display the plurality of battery stations as reservation destination candidates from the one with the shortest battery exchange completion time.

4. The battery reservation device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the power consumption element comprises a vehicle.

5. A battery reservation device that accepts reservations for batteries that supply power to a specific power consumption element and that are exchangeable at a battery station, the device comprising a processor configured with a program to perform operations comprising:
acquiring a required charge amount comprising a required amount of battery a user needs;
acquiring a remaining battery charge at a present time for each battery in a plurality of the battery stations;
acquiring a charging speed at each of the plurality of battery stations;
calculating travel times to each of the plurality of battery stations on the basis of distances from a current position of the power consumption element to the plurality of battery stations;
calculating, for each of the plurality of battery stations, an exchange completion time for the batteries in the battery station on the basis of the required charge amount, the remaining battery charge, the travel time, and
acquiring a waiting time from a clock time at which the power consumption element is considered to have arrived at the battery station until battery exchange is begun at the battery station,
wherein calculating the exchange completion time comprises calculating exchange completion time on the basis of the waiting time, the required charge amount, the remaining battery charge, and the charging speed, and
wherein the processor is configured with the program to perform operations further comprising calculating a charging completion time at a battery station on the basis of the required charge amount, the remaining battery charge, and the charging speed, and
wherein in response to the charging completion time exceeding the waiting time, the charging completion time is calculated as the exchange completion time, and in response to the charging completion time being equal to or less than the waiting time, the waiting time is calculated as the exchange completion time.

6. A battery reservation device that accepts reservations for batteries that supply power to a specific power consumption element and that are exchangeable at a battery station, the device comprising a processor configured with a program to perform operations comprising:
acquiring a required charge amount comprising a required amount of battery a user needs;
acquiring a remaining battery charge at a present time for each battery in a plurality of the battery stations;
acquiring a charging speed at each of the plurality of battery stations;
calculating travel times to each of the plurality of battery stations on the basis of distances from a current position of the power consumption element to the plurality of battery stations; and
calculating, for each of the plurality of battery stations, an exchange completion time for the batteries in the battery station on the basis of the required charge amount, the remaining battery charge, the travel time, and
acquiring a waiting time from a clock time at which the power consumption element is considered to have arrived at the battery station until battery exchange is begun at the battery station,
wherein calculating the exchange completion time comprises calculating the exchange completion time on the basis of the travel time, the waiting time, the required charge amount, the remaining battery charge, and the charging speed, and
wherein the processor is configured with the program to perform operations further comprising calculating a charging completion time at a battery station on the basis of the required charge amount, the remaining battery charge, and the charging speed, and
in response to the charging completion time exceeding a sum of the travel time and the waiting time, the processor calculates a difference between the travel time and the charging completion time as the exchange completion time, and in response to the charging completion time being equal to or less than the sum of the travel time and the waiting time, the waiting time is calculated as the exchange completion time.

7. The battery reservation device according to claim 5 ,
wherein the processor is configured with the program to perform operations further comprising calculating the waiting time on the basis of a current situation of crowding at the battery station and/or statistical data indicating an extent of crowding in the past.

Assignees

• Omron Tateisi Electronics Co

Inventors

• Takatsuka Hiromasa
• Wada Junichi
• KASAI Kazuki

Classifications

• G06Q30/0645 Primary

  Rental transactions; Leasing transactions · CPC title

• G01C21/26

  specially adapted for navigation in a road network · CPC title

• G06Q10/02

  Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events · CPC title

• H02J7/00

  Circuit arrangements for charging or discharging batteries or for supplying loads from batteries · CPC title

• B60L53/31

  Charging columns specially adapted for electric vehicles · CPC title