Charging station having dynamic charging current distribution

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11264798-B2
Application number	US-201816633924-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 26, 2018
Priority date	Jul 26, 2017
Publication date	Mar 1, 2022
Grant date	Mar 1, 2022

Abstract

A charging station for charging a plurality of electric vehicles, in particular electric automobiles, comprising: a supply device, in particular for connection to an electricity supply grid for supplying the charging station with electric power, a plurality of charging terminals for charging in each case at least one electric vehicle, and each charging terminal comprises a supply input for drawing electric power from the supply device, a charging output with one or more charging connections for outputting a respective charging current for charging a respective connected electric vehicle, and at least one DC chopper arranged between the supply input and the charging output in order to generate a respective chopper current from the electric power of the supply device, or as an alternative at least one chopper terminal arranged between the supply input and the charging output in order to provide a chopper current generated outside the charging terminal by a DC chopper, in particular chopper current generated in the supply device, wherein in each case each charging current is formed from a chopper current or a plurality of chopper currents, and wherein the charging terminals are connected to one another at exchange connections via electrical exchange lines in order thereby to exchange chopper currents with one another.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A charging station for charging a plurality of electric vehicles, the charging station comprising:
a supply device configured to couple to an electricity supply grid for supplying the charging station with electric power; and
a plurality of charging terminals, each charging terminal configured to charge at least one electric vehicle, wherein said each charging terminal comprises:
a supply input configured to receive electric power from the supply device,
a charging output with one or more charging connections for outputting a respective charging current in order to charge a respective connected electric vehicle, and
at least one DC chopper arranged between the supply input and the charging output, the at least one DC chopper being configured to at least one of: generate a respective chopper current from the electric power or provide a chopper current generated outside each said charging terminal by a DC chopper,
wherein each charging current is formed from the chopper current or a plurality of chopper currents, and
wherein the plurality of charging terminals are connected to one another at exchange connections via electrical exchange lines to exchange chopper currents with one another.

2. The charging station as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the charging station has at least one auxiliary current terminal for providing one or more additional chopper currents to at least one charging terminal, wherein the at least one auxiliary current terminal does not have a charging output, and each auxiliary current terminal of the at least one auxiliary current terminal comprises:
a supply input corresponding to the supply input of a respective charging terminal for drawing electric power from the supply device,
at least one exchange connection corresponding to an exchange connection of a charging terminal for transmitting chopper currents to at least one charging terminal of the plurality of charging terminals, and
at least one DC chopper arranged between the supply input and the at least one exchange connection and corresponding to the DC chopper of the said at least one charging terminal to generate a respective chopper current from the electric power of the supply device.

3. The charging station as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the charging station has at least one supply terminal for receiving electric power from the supply device and for forwarding the electric power to the plurality of charging terminals, and wherein each supply terminal comprises:
a main supply input connected to the supply device via a main supply line to draw electric power from the supply device,
at least one supply output to forward the electric power to the plurality of charging terminals, and
exchange connections corresponding to the exchange connections of the plurality of charging terminals and, if applicable, the at least one auxiliary current terminal are present at a first connection area and a second connection area of the at least one supply terminal to be connected at at least one connection area, to a respective adjacent charging terminal and/or the at least one auxiliary current terminal to be able to route at least one chopper current through the at least one supply terminal.

4. The charging station as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the plurality of charging terminals comprise:
structurally identical supply inputs such that, in each case, two of the structurally identical supply inputs are connected to one another to forward respective electric supply current or a portion thereof from the supply input to an adjacent supply input such that each charging terminal receives supply current from an adjacent charging terminal, the at least one auxiliary current terminal, or the at least one supply terminal, and
wherein the supply inputs and/or the exchange connections each have structurally identical connection means to interchangeably connect, in each case selectively, two charging terminals of the plurality of charging terminals to one another.

5. The charging station as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the structurally identical connection means are plug connectors, wherein the two charging terminals are the at least one auxiliary current terminal and the at least one supply terminal such that all of the two charging terminals connected to one another as a whole form a modular structure.

6. The charging station as claimed in claim 2 , wherein:
each charging terminal has at least one controllable switch, wherein said at least one controllable switch is from a list comprising:
an exchange switch electrically connected to a respective exchange connection to control an exchange of at least one chopper current via the exchange switch with an adjacent charging terminal or an auxiliary current terminal,
a charging switch electrically connected to a respective charging connection to control an output of a charging current to the charging connection, and
a bridge switch electrically connected to two DC choppers or two chopper terminals in a charging terminal to control a superimposition of the chopper currents of the two DC choppers or the two chopper terminals.

7. The charging station as claimed in claim 6 , the charging station comprising:
a first connection area and a second connection area at each charging terminal, each of the first connection area and the second connection area having a plurality of exchange connections,
a set of longitudinal lines, wherein each longitudinal line is configured to provide an exchange connection of one of the connection areas to electrically connect a respective exchange connection of the first connection area to a respective exchange connection of the second connection area such that, with m exchange connections of the first connection area, m longitudinal lines that run electrically in parallel with one another, and
wherein a charging connection is assigned to each DC chopper or chopper terminal, and a transverse line is provided for each DC chopper or each chopper terminal to connect said each DC chopper or the chopper terminal to the charging connection such that with n DC choppers or n chopper terminals, n transverse lines are provided,
wherein each longitudinal line is connected directly to at least one of the n transverse lines via a connection node, and/or
wherein exactly n−1 bridge switches are provided to electrically connect, in each case, two transverse lines, and/or
wherein each transverse line to the charging switch has no further switching means, and/or
wherein one longitudinal line more than transverse lines is provided in each charging terminal such that the following applies: m=n+1,
wherein a longitudinal line in the charging terminal:
is connected directly to two transverse lines via a respective connection node, with a bridge switch between the two connection nodes, or
is connected to just one transverse line via a connection node, without having a bridge switch in the charging terminal.

8. The charging station as claimed in claim 2 , comprising at least one chopper terminal arranged between the supply input and the at least one exchange connection and corresponding to the chopper terminal of the charging terminal to provide a chopper current generated outside the at least one auxiliary current terminal by a DC chopper.

9. The charging station as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the DC chopper or the chopper terminal of the at least one auxiliary current terminal is connected to all of the exchange connections of the at least one auxiliary current terminal to provide the chopper current to all of the electrical exchange lines.

10. The charging station as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising at least one control unit,
wherein the at least on

Assignees

• Wobben Properties Gmbh

Inventors

• Brombach Johannes
• Strafiel Christian
• Gertjegerdes Stefan

Classifications

• H02J7/50

  acting upon multiple batteries simultaneously or sequentially · CPC title

• H02J7/00

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

• H02J2207/20

  Charging or discharging characterised by the power electronics converter · CPC title

• H02J7/02

  for charging batteries from AC mains by converters · CPC title

• B60L53/67

  Controlling two or more charging stations · CPC title