Methods and systems for automatic electric vehicle identification and charging via wireless charging pads

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9371007-B1
Application number	US-201414316559-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Jun 26, 2014
Priority date	Apr 22, 2011
Publication date	Jun 21, 2016
Grant date	Jun 21, 2016

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for enabling automatic vehicle charging via wireless charging pads, using a cloud system having one or more servers connected to the Internet. The method includes receiving, at a server, an identification of an electric vehicle that is associated to a user account that is pre-authorized to obtain charge from a charging units (CUs) associated with a network of CUs. The method also includes receiving, at the server, data indicative that the electric vehicle is positioned at least partially over the a charging pad of a CU of the network of CUs. The server sends data to the CU so that the charging pad transfers charge to the electric vehicle automatically if the user account is pre-authorized to obtain the charge from the CU, and the transfer of charge from the charging pad to the electric vehicle occurs without user input at the CU and without user interface input associated with the CU to cause or initiate the transfer of charge. In one example, based on the location of the CU and preferences associated with the user account and merchants local to the CU, certain ones of the discounts are automatically selected and sent to the user, the vehicle display, vehicle computer, user smartphone, user smartwatch, or the like.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method executed by one or more servers of a cloud system, comprising,
receiving by one of the servers, from time to time, discounts published by merchants for presentation to a network of charging units (CUs), each of the CUs being associated to a geo-location;
receiving by one of the servers, an identification of an electric vehicle that is associated to a user account, the identification of the electric vehicle is made upon detecting that the electric vehicle has parked over a charging pad of a particular CU, the charging pad being at a geo-location of the particular CU;
identifying by one of the servers, at least one discount to be presented to a device of the electric vehicle, the identifying being a result of filtering discounts based on user preferences associated with the user account and a proximity of a merchant location to the particular CU having the charging pad over which the vehicle has parked; and
sending by one of the servers, the at least one discount to the device of the electric vehicle upon receiving an indication that charge is transferred from the charging pad to a battery of the electric vehicle, the method being executed by a processor of one or more of the servers.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sending of the at least one discount to the user account is for access by a portable device, the discount being usable at the merchant location; and
wherein the filtering further excludes discounts for merchants that are beyond the proximity of the particular CU, and wherein the particular CU and the proximity are defined by the merchant when posting the discount.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising,
receiving by the one or more servers, data being indicative of identification of the electric vehicle as associated with the user account;
sending by the one or more servers, data to enable the transfer of charge to the battery of the electric vehicle upon processing data that indicates that the electric vehicle is associated with the user account and the user account is pre-authorized with payment data to enable the transfer of charge;
wherein enabling the transfer of charge occurs automatically when the electric vehicle is identified to be parked over the charging pad of the particular CU and the electric vehicle is authorized to receive the charge based on the pre-authorization in the user account.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more servers have access to the network of charging units, the cloud system configured to,
manage received discounts published by the merchants, the discounts being published with an identification of a geo-location or CUs for which the discounts are to be published and an expiration time for the discounts;
manage receiving data to identify presence of electric vehicles over one or more charging pads;
manage confirming that user accounts associated with electric vehicles present over charging pads are authorized with payment data to enable automatic charging, without user input at the charging pad or charging pad system;
manage enabling the charging pads to transfer charge to electric vehicles; and
manage server data for the user accounts to enable access to users of the user accounts to administer their accounts regarding their use of charge from charging pads over a period of time.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user preferences associated with the user account are received as explicit preferences or are learned from use with the user account based on past actions made via the user account.

6. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein additional discounts are sent to the device of the electric vehicle, wherein selection of one of the discounts and use of the discounts are tracked to build learned preferences for the user account; and
wherein preferences for the user account are compared to other user accounts to identify similarities in preferences and/or actual use of discounts previously sent, the similarities being used to refine selection of discounts for the user account.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the discount is validated or used when redeemed at the merchant location, the discount being accessible via a mobile device by access to the user account over the Internet, and wherein the discount is a reduced price of a good or service offered at the merchant location or a reduction in price for charge obtained by the electric vehicle at the particular CU.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the discount is conditioned on transfer of an amount of charge to the electric vehicle as obtained from one of the CUs, or conditioned on confirmation of purchase of a good or service from the merchant location.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the proximity of the merchant location to the particular CU is within walking distance that is less than one mile.

10. A method, comprising,
receiving from time to time, at a server, discounts published by merchants for presentation to a network of charging units (CUs), each of the CUs being associated to a geo-location;
receiving, at the server, an identification of an electric vehicle that is associated to a user account and that is pre-authorized to obtain charge from CUs of the network of CUs;
receiving, at the server, data indicative that the electric vehicle is positioned substantially over a charging pad of a charging unit (CU) of the network of CUs;
sending data, by the server, to the CU so that the charging pad transfers charge to the electric vehicle automatically if the user account is pre-authorized to obtain the charge from the CU, the transfer of charge from the charging pad to the electric vehicle occurring without user input at or direction to the CU to initiate a transaction to cause the transfer of charge; and
sending, by the server, a discount selected from published discounts for the user account associated with the electric vehicle, the discount being provided by a merchant having a merchant location that is proximate to the CU, wherein the discount is further selected based on user preferences associated with the user account, the method being executed by a processor.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising,
sending the at least one discount to the user account for access by a portable device, the discount being usable at the merchant location.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising,
implementing the server or multiple servers of a cloud system, the servers having access to the network of charging units, the cloud system configured to,
manage received discounts published by the merchants, the discounts being published with an identification of a geo-location or CUs for which the discounts are to be published and an expiration time for the discounts;
manage receiving data to identify presence of electric vehicles over one or more charging pads;
manage confirming that user accounts associated with electric vehicles present over charging pads are authorized with payment data to enable automatic charging, without direct user input at the charging pad or charging pad system;
manage enabling the charging pads to transfer charge to electric vehicles; and
manage server data for the user accounts to enable access to users of the user accounts to administer their accounts regarding their use of charge from charging pads over a period of time, wherein the access is by way of an application of a mobile device or a website or a computer of the electric vehicle, or a combination thereof.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein selecting the discount includes excluding discounts for merchants that are beyond a proximity of the CU, wherein the proximity is defined by t

Assignees

• Penilla Angel A
• Penilla Albert S

Inventors

• Penilla Angel A
• Penilla Albert S

Classifications

• Y02T90/12

  Electric charging stations · CPC title

• G06Q20/145

  Payments according to the detected use or quantity · CPC title

• G06Q50/06

  Energy or water supply · CPC title

• G06Q30/0232

  Frequent usage rewards other than merchandise, cash or travel · CPC title

• Y04S30/14

  Details associated with the interoperability, e.g. vehicle recognition, authentication, identification or billing · CPC title