Carrier for exchangeable batteries for use by electric vehicles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9597973-B2
Application number	US-201615191506-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 23, 2016
Priority date	Apr 22, 2011
Publication date	Mar 21, 2017
Grant date	Mar 21, 2017

Abstract

Battery carriers that provide replaceable and exchangeable batteries and systems are provided. One example battery carrier is for batteries used in electric vehicles. The battery carrier includes a housing having a plurality of slots, and each of the slots is configured to receive a battery that is configured for hand-insertion and hand-removal from the battery carrier. Each slot and each battery has a form factor that is dimensioned to at least partially fit within ones of the slots. A plurality of electrical connectors is also provided. Each electrical connector is disposed inside respective ones of the slots and each electrical connector is configured to mate with an electrical connector of the battery when present in a slot of the plurality of slots and each electrical connector is configured to provide power transfer between a power source to which the battery carrier is connected and a battery when present in one of the slots. Further provided is electronics integrated with the battery carrier. The electronics include communications logic for connecting to a network and logic for communicating with batteries when present in slots of the battery carrier to identify a level of charge. The communications logic is configured to communicate with a server that obtains information regarding the level of charge of batteries present in the battery carrier. The server is configured to process requests from user accounts to find batteries having availability for use by an electric vehicle. The server is configured to enable reservation for at least one battery of the battery carrier via a user account.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for managing a supply of batteries for powering an electric vehicle, comprising:
(a) a battery carrier for holding a plurality of batteries, the battery carrier being connectable to a power source, the plurality of batteries being rechargeable and being replaceable into and out of the battery carrier, the battery carrier including,
(i) slots for receiving the plurality of batteries;
(ii) electronics, the electronics including logic for communicating over a network and logic for interfacing with batteries when present in the slots of the battery carrier,

(b) a server that communicates over the network with the electronics of the battery carrier, the server being part of a cloud system that manages access to user accounts, the user accounts being accessible via applications executed on user devices,
the cloud system being configured to collect information regarding batteries in the slots of the battery carrier and information regarding a charge level of said batteries in the slots,
the cloud system is configured to respond to a request from a user account to identify batteries that are available in the battery carrier based on information obtained by the server from the electronics of the battery carrier,
the cloud system being configured to identify the battery carrier and identify availability of batteries of the battery carrier.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the application is a mobile application and user devices include mobile devices or electronics of the electric vehicle.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the request from the user account is in response to a user input or is automatically made based on a detected status of batteries in the electric vehicle needing charge at a particular point in time.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the application is one of a mobile app, a web application, or an application of the electric vehicle.

5. The system of claim 1 ,
wherein cloud system is configured to receive data regarding operation of the electric vehicle, the operation includes charge level of batteries in the electric vehicle, the data being usable to determine an approximate range of distance achievable using the batteries currently installed in the electric vehicle,
the cloud system is further configured to communicate with a plurality of other battery carriers or kiosks of batteries located in distinct geo-locations,
the cloud system is further configured to identify options for obtaining batteries from one or more of the battery carrier or ones of the plurality of other battery carriers or kiosks of batteries.

6. The system of claim 1 , the cloud system is further configured to communicate with a plurality of other battery carriers located in distinct geo-locations,
the cloud system is further configured to identify options for obtaining batteries from one or more of the battery carrier or ones of the plurality of other battery carriers or kiosks of batteries, the options being provided along with information related to one or more of discounts available, gifts available, or loyalty points available.

7. The system of claim 1 , the cloud system is further configured to communicate with a plurality of other battery carriers located in distinct geo-locations or kiosks of batteries,
the cloud system is further configured to identify options for obtaining batteries from one or more of the battery carrier or ones of the plurality of other battery carriers or kiosks of batteries, at least one of the options include enabling making a reservation for at least one of the batteries.

8. The system of claim 1 , the cloud system is further configured to communicate with a plurality of other battery carriers located in distinct geo-locations,
the cloud system is further configured to identify options for obtaining batteries from one or more of the battery carrier or ones of the plurality of other battery carriers,
wherein the cloud system is configured to communicate route options leading to the identified options from a current geo-location, the route options being associated with a map or a distance, or a reservation option, or a discount option, or combinations of two or more thereof.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein each route option having the discount option includes identification of a type of discount in fee, or a discount in goods, or a discount in services or a combination of two or more thereof, and
wherein the electric vehicle is one of a two-wheel vehicle, or a three-wheel vehicle, or a four-wheel vehicle, or a motorcycle, or a car, or a truck, or a pickup, or a utility car, or a delivery vehicle, or an industrial vehicle.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the battery carrier is part of a network of battery carriers or kiosks, wherein each of the battery carriers has a geographic address in a country, or in a particular county, or in a particular state, or in a particular city, or on particular street addresses, or combinations of two or more thereof;
wherein the server is configured to utilize a mapping function to enable access to generate a map that shows locations of select ones of battery carriers and pricing or availability of batteries.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the server enables access or linking to the user account from a mobile application to communicate with a social network, wherein the social network enables posting or making comments and/or likes regarding the battery carrier.

12. The system of claim 1 , further comprising,
wherein the server is configured to process information regarding use of batteries over a period of time, or a history battery use, or loyalty points available or used, or gifts available or used, or deals of a day, or discounts used or available, or rewards, or history of used batteries, or carbon footprint from using particular batteries, or a travel range or distance provided by one or more batteries, or payment data, or payment history, or account administration, or customization functions, or suggested speeds to conserve energy, or mapping functions, or social networking functions, or traffic information, or combinations of two or more thereof.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the battery carrier is portable, or is connectable to a home having the power source, or is connectable to a business having the power source, or is connectable to a retail store having the power source.

14. A battery carrier for charging batteries used in electric vehicles, comprising,
a housing including a plurality of slots, each of the slots is configured to receive a battery that is configured for hand-insertion and hand-removal from the battery carrier, wherein each slot, and each battery has a form factor that is dimensioned to at least partially fit within ones of the slots; and
a plurality of electrical connectors, each electrical connector being disposed inside respective ones of the slots and each electrical connector is configured to mate with an electrical connector of the battery when present in a slot of the plurality of slots and each electrical connector is configured to provide power transfer between a power source to which the battery carrier is connected and a battery when present in one of the slots; and
electronics integrated with the battery carrier, the electronics include communications logic for connecting to a network and logic for communicating with batteries when present in slots of the battery carrier to identify a level of charge, the communications logic is configured to communicate with a server that obtains information regarding the level of charge of batteries present in the battery carrier,
wherein the server

Assignees

• Penilla Angel A
• Penilla Albert S

Inventors

• Penilla Angel A
• Penilla Albert S

Classifications

• H02J7/751

  concerning the insertion or the connection of the batteries · CPC title

• G06F3/04845

  for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour · CPC title

• G06F3/1454

  involving copying of the display data of a local workstation or window to a remote workstation or window so that an actual copy of the data is displayed simultaneously on two or more displays, e.g. teledisplay · CPC title

• G06F9/451 Primary

  Execution arrangements for user interfaces · CPC title

• B60L53/80

  Exchanging energy storage elements, e.g. removable batteries · CPC title