Methods and systems for distributing electricity to multiple loads based on a scheduler and ammeter measurements

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12528372-B2
Application number	US-202318538316-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 13, 2023
Priority date	Aug 23, 2016
Publication date	Jan 20, 2026
Grant date	Jan 20, 2026

Abstract

The present invention discloses methods and systems for scheduling and distributing power for electric vehicle chargers, through enabling and disabling a plurality of relays at a system. One of the criteria to allow an authenticated user to use an electric vehicle charger is whether there is enough electricity capacity. When the user is allowed to use a scheduled electric vehicle charger, its location is then sent to the user. Alert messages can be generated if charging does not begin within a first time limit and the cancellation of a reservation will take place if the second time limit is reached.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A method performed at an electric vehicle (EV) charger, comprising:
(a) enabling a plurality of relays; (b) creating a time scheduler; (c) monitoring time and a respective amount of current passing through each relay in the plurality of relays, wherein the time is monitored for determining whether more electricity should be provided to a load at the time; (d) disabling at least one relay in the plurality of relays if an amount of current passes through the at least one relay is more than a threshold; and (e) after a period of time, re-enabling the at least one relay.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprises:
resetting the amount of current allowed to be drawn by the at least one relay.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the time is measured by the time scheduler.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the threshold is determined according to the time scheduler.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprises:
disabling the at least one relay after step (e) if the amount of current is measured more than an expected amount.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the respective amount of current is retrieved through a current measurement device coupled to a power supply enabler.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of relays includes a first relay and a second relay.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the second relay is controlled by the first relay.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the time scheduler is retrieved by a power controller from a user input interface.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the time scheduler comprises an identity column, a time column, a user column, a priority column, and a load column.

11 . An electric vehicle (EV) charger, comprising:
at least one processing unit; and at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing program instructions executable by the at least one processing unit for:
(a) enabling a plurality of relays;
(b) creating a time scheduler;
(c) monitoring time and a respective amount of current passes through each relay in the plurality of relays; wherein the time is monitored for determining whether more electricity should be provided to a load at the time;
(d) disabling at least one relay in the plurality of relays if an amount of current passing through the at least one relay is more than a threshold; and
(e) after a period of time, re-enabling the at least one relay.

12 . The EV charger of claim 11 , wherein the at least one storage medium comprises further program instructions executable by the at least one processing unit for:
resetting the amount of current allowed to be drawn by the at least one relay.

13 . The EV charger of claim 11 , wherein the time is measured by the time scheduler.

14 . The EV charger of claim 11 , wherein the threshold is determined according to the time scheduler.

15 . The EV charger of claim 11 , wherein the at least one storage medium comprises further program instructions executable by the at least one processing unit for:
disabling the at least one relay after step (e) if the amount of current is measured more than an expected amount.

16 . The EV charger of claim 11 , wherein the respective amount of current is retrieved through a current measurement device coupled to a power supply enabler.

17 . The EV charger of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of relays includes a first relay and a second relay.

18 . The EV charger of claim 17 , wherein the second relay is controlled by the first relay.

19 . The EV charger of claim 11 , wherein the time scheduler is retrieved by a power controller from a user input interface.

20 . The EV charger of claim 11 , wherein the time scheduler comprises an identity column, a time column, a user column, a priority column, and a load column.

Assignees

• Pismo Labs Technology Ltd

Inventors

• Chan Alex Wing Hong
• Chong Ming Pui
• Lam King Shan
• Kwok Chi Leong

Classifications

• G06Q10/02

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

• G05B15/02

  electric · CPC title

• B60Y2300/91

  Battery charging · CPC title

• B60Y2200/91

  Electric vehicles · CPC title

• H02J2105/37

  exchanging power with electric vehicles [EV] or with hybrid electric vehicles [HEV] · CPC title