Method and charging station for traction battery of an electric vehicle with automatic, motorized positioning of station-side coupler to inductively charge through the vehicle license plate

摘要

A charging station for charging a vehicle includes a charger, a camera, a positioner, and a controller. The charger has a transformer part by which electrical energy can be transferred to a corresponding transformer part arranged behind the vehicle license plate when the charger is in a position relative to the license plate at which the transformer parts sandwich the license plate. The camera generates positional information indicative of positioning between the charger and the license plate. The positioner can move the charger within a range of motion. When the license plate is within the range of motion, the positioner moves the charger based on the positional information to the position at which the transformer parts sandwich the license plate. The controller uses the positional information to generate instructions indicative on how to drive the vehicle to a position in which the license plate is within the range of motion.

主权项

1. A charging station for inductively charging the traction battery of an electrically driven vehicle, the charging station comprising:
a charging coupler having a charging station-side transformer part by which electrical energy can be transferred to a vehicle-side transformer part arranged on the vehicle behind a license plate of the vehicle when the charging coupler is in a position relative to the license plate at which the transformer parts sandwich the license plate; a camera configured to generate positional information indicative of positioning of the charging coupler and the license plate relative to one another; a motorized positioner configured to move the charging coupler within a range of motion, wherein when the license plate is within the range of motion of the charging coupler the positioner is further configured to move the charging coupler based on the positional information to move the charging coupler to the position relative to the license plate at which the transformer parts sandwich the license plate; and an approach controller configured to generate driving instructions based on the positional information, the driving instructions being indicative on how to drive the vehicle to a position in which the license plate is at a certain point from within the range of motion of the charging coupler; the approach controller is further configured to transmit the driving instructions to a driver of the vehicle for the driver to use to drive the vehicle to the position in which the license plate is at the certain point from within the range of motion of the charging coupler; the approach controller is further configured to, upon the vehicle being driven to the position in which the license plate is at the certain point from within the range of motion of the charging coupler, transmit remote control signals based on the positional information via a radio connection to the vehicle to remotely control the vehicle without driver intervention to drive the vehicle to a position in which the license plate is within the range of motion of the charging coupler and, upon the vehicle being driven to the position in which the license plate is within the range of motion of the charging coupler, to remotely control the vehicle without driver intervention to stop the vehicle and suppress a further approach of the vehicle towards the charging coupler.