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Patent Searching and Data


Title:
A SYSTEM FOR IMPROVING EFFICIENCY IN BATTERY USE
Document Type and Number:
WIPO Patent Application WO/2017/176228
Kind Code:
A1
Abstract:
The invention relates to a battery tracking system enabling users to instantly monitor battery rooms (1) found in factory areas and instantly access up-to-date information about batteries (6), and perform monitoring and control of business processes by means of a mobile/web application access device (13) (preferably a mobile device/phone or computer) with internet (11) access.

Inventors:
KAYHAN AYSE (TR)
SENGEL MUSTAFA METIN (TR)
Application Number:
PCT/TR2017/050080
Publication Date:
October 12, 2017
Filing Date:
March 01, 2017
Export Citation:
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Assignee:
STILL ARSER IS MAKINALARI SERVIS VE TICARET ANONIM SIRKETI (TR)
International Classes:
H01M10/42; G01R31/36; G06Q10/08; H01M10/44; H01M10/46; H01M10/48; H02J7/00; H04Q9/00
Foreign References:
US20150046106A12015-02-12
US6456036B12002-09-24
JP2015080280A2015-04-23
Other References:
None
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
DESTEK PATENT, INC. (TR)
Download PDF:
Claims:
CLAIMS

A battery tracking system enabling users to instantly monitor battery rooms (1 ) found in factory areas and instantly access up-to-date information about batteries (6), and perform monitoring and control of business processes by means of a mobile/web application access device (13) with internet (1 1 ) access, and it is characterized in that; it comprises:

• an application server (14) enabling users to get mobile/web application service through the internet (1 1 ), collecting information needed about the battery (6) and converting this information into a form that can be perceived by the users, and providing the users all the information about the batteries (6) that they have authority on, through the internet (1 1 ),

• at least one rectifier (4) connected to batteries (6) to charge the batteries (6),

• a BTD-1 (3) connected on said rectifier (4), comprising:

a control unit performing all communication, monitoring, control, and management works,

a communication unit providing data exchange with the application server (14), and transmitting the data received from BTD-2 (3) to the application server (14), a memory unit ensuring safety of data against possible energy or connection problems, in which the data to be sent to the application server (14) is stored in order to be sent when the connection is established,

a GPS module enabling determination of the location of the battery (6) on which said rectifier (4) is mounted,

• at least one BTD-2 (5), which is mounted on the battery (6) by being connected to the positive and negative terminals of the battery (6) in order to measure the voltage of the battery (6) continuously and obtain the required energy from the battery (6), which comprises a processor having a memory wherein the records of the battery (6) are kept independent from BTD-1 (3), when the rectifier (4) and BTD-1 (3) are not connected to the batteries (6), and

which comprises a unique ID so as to understand which battery (6) is mounted to said rectifier (4),

during charging, which communicates with the BTD-1 (3) through the battery (6) feed line, and thus transmits the obtained information to said BTD-1 (3) connected on said rectifier (4), for transmission to the application server (14).

2. A system according to Claim 1 , characterized in that; it comprises a temperature sensor which measures the temperature of the battery (6) while it is charging and/or in use, by connecting to said BTD-2 (5). 3. A system according to Claim 1 , characterized in that; it comprises a water level measurement sensor reading the water level situation information of the battery (6) when the battery (6) is charging and/or in use, by connecting to said BTD-2 (5).

4. A system according to Claim 1 , characterized in that; it comprises a display screen (2) on which the information about the batteries (6) found in the charging room (1 ) is shown.

5. A system according to Claim 1 , characterized in that; it comprises a hydrogen gas sensor (9) which detects hydrogen gas leaks that occur during charging of the batteries (6) positioned in said battery room (1 ).

6. A system according to Claim 1 , characterized in that; it comprises solar panels providing the required energy for charging said batteries (6).

Description:
DESCRIPTION

A SYSTEM FOR IMPROVING EFFICIENCY IN BATTERY USE The Related Art

The invention relates to a system that allows efficient battery use by means of providing use of the suitable battery in correct time and manner via battery information access and system decision on mobile and other internet media.

The invention particularly relates to a tracking system providing instant access to live data needed about battery tracking in battery rooms found in factories, and providing monitoring and control of business processes, on mobile and other internet media. The invention also allows monitoring of convenience to occupational safety rules, receiving all the information through the system by minimizing the use of manpower, and accessing the information of which batteries are idle, which ones need to be charged, and which ones are in use. The information of the battery required to be used first (FIFO system) in accordance with these data are transmitted to the user via the system, correct usage of batteries are ensured and environment friendly battery use is promoted, and energy efficiency is ensured by means of the solar panels used.

The Prior Art

Nowadays, there are companies that meet mass forklift and storage equipment demands of enterprises for certain time periods according to service agreements. Said companies undertake maintenance and repair works, and tracking etc. activities of the forklift and storage equipments they rent. Battery maintenance, repairs and renewals of the vehicles rented by rental companies are required to be made regularly. In the prior art battery tracking systems;

- problems are encountered in matching batteries and forklifts,

- serious financial losses as a result of incorrect charging of batteries,

- additional costs for rental companies, since the batteries are not charged correctly and thus left out of warranty,

- battery lives getting shorter and causing damage on the environment as a result of incorrect charging of batteries, - it is not possible to control whether the batteries are charged in predetermined standard time periods or not,

- the batteries cannot be evaluated altogether according to their performances and some batteries remain idle,

- the data not reaching the system or not being transmitted in desired standard periods as a result of the person(s) not being able to perform the control,

- the costs are high, since battery charging rooms consume high amount of energy,

- a continuous occupational safety risk is present in battery rooms due to hydrogen gas leaks,

- the charge situations of the batteries found in the battery rooms cannot be reported through online system on mobile and other internet media, and various other similar problems are encountered. In the application with No. 2012/07349, entitled "Remote tracking system for batteries", encountered during technical research, the data received through the battery, based on a device that is only connected on the battery, are transferred. However, information about the battery regarding its use with which forklift, vehicle, or other equipment, or being charged with which charger cannot be obtained. Therefore, information about incorrect charging is not provided to the user. Battery life gets shorter and the number of waste batteries that would harm the environment increases as a result of incorrect charging. In other words, in the application, no study was conducted with the purposes of extending the battery life, and thus obtaining financial gain, or determining which battery is suitable for use among more than one batteries, and thus improve efficiency.

The other prior art applications used nowadays transmit the measured variable information about the battery in a certain and limited area. Moreover, in the prior art systems, the battery is evaluated alone, it was not emphasized that the battery would not work without equipment, and no study was conducted about the equipment to be operated by the battery.

Nowadays, a system that shows the control of the battery rooms in factories and a system that can report battery performances (here, the efficiency increases in a ratio between 30- 40%) and thus guide the users and improve efficiency up to 100% ratio by making use of empty factory roofs by generating its energy from solar energy instead of mains, is not found. As a result, the above said drawbacks and the inadequacy of the prior art solutions about the subject have necessitated an improvement in the related technical field.

Purpose of the Invention

The invention is formed with the inspiration from the prior art situations and aims to solve the above said problems.

The primary purpose of the invention is to provide a device enabling access to the information about the battery alone or the usage performances and the evaluations of the uses of the batteries found in all of the battery rooms in a factory, in accordance with the authorizations defined with a user name and password of a user, on a device that has internet access. Another purpose of the invention is to provide maximum level of efficiency by enabling the batteries found in battery rooms to get their energy from solar energy via solar panels instead of mains. In this way, while process costs are reduced, 100% efficiency is obtained by means of making use of the 70 m2 roof area per forklift. Moreover, free renewable energy use is ensured. The investment cost can be paid off in 1/3 of the expected service life.

Other purposes of the invention are to:

• minimize occupational accident risks,

• minimize operational accident risk by reducing the number of battery changes,

• extend battery life 30-50% via controlled battery temperature,

· obtain 80% reduction in hydrogen gas dissipation,

• have online warning about hydrogen gas entrapment in battery rooms.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide environment-friendly battery use. Below given data are obtained as a result of the support with solar panels:

· reduction in waste lead amount (30-50%) by extending the battery life,

• reduction in OH gas emission by reducing the number of battery charges-discharges,

• reduction of carbon gas emission by reducing energy consumption (up to 10.000 kg annually per battery). The purposes of the invention can be listed as follows:

• increasing efficiency by providing 30-40% energy saving (without solar panels), • Battery Pool Management in accordance with FIFO Principle,

• utilization of battery charge-discharge times,

• reduction of investment and operation costs by reducing the number of spare batteries,

· optimization of forklift operation time periods,

• reducing the number of waste batteries that would do harm on the environment, by extending battery life,

• recording of all operational data in a single system,

• enabling users to access the system anywhere and anytime through the internet within their authorizations and without the need for any local installation,

• enable making smarter decisions for the future with the interpretation of the data collected in the system, and ensure efficiency by using the right battery at the right time,

• live monitoring of work processes and instant determination of difficult/bottleneck situations,

• ensure live monitoring of the battery situations (which one is idle, in use, charging, and how much are they charged / used) of the vehicles operating on site,

• ensure fast and safe automatic data exchange with other systems,

• energy generation from solar energy by means of solar panels, when desired, · minimizing the errors due to human factor, enabling technological operation of the system and thus reducing the margin of error, saving from time by increasing efficiency,

• keeping the standard 1500 cycle battery life in batteries between 2000-2500 cycle via the accumulator unit. The structural and characteristic features of the invention and all of its advantages shall be understood better with the figures and the detailed description given below in reference to the figures, and therefore, the assessment should be made by taking into account the said figures and detailed explanations.

Figures for Better Understanding of the Invention Figure 1 shows the battery room according to the invention.

Drawings do not have to be scaled and details not necessary for understanding the present invention may be neglected. Moreover, components which are at least widely equal or which have at least widely equal functions are shown with the same number.

Description of Parts References

1 . Battery Room

2. Screen

3. BTD-1 (battery tracking device-1 )

4. Rectifier (Charger)

5. BTD-2 (battery tracking device-2)

6. Battery

7. Forklift

8. FTD (forklift tracking device)

9. Hydrogen Gas Sensor

10. GPRS

1 1 . Internet

12. Base station

13. Application access device

14. Application server

Detailed Description of the Invention

In this detailed description, the preferred embodiments of the invention are only disclosed for better understanding of the subject without forming any limiting effect.

The invention is a battery tracking system enabling users to instantly monitor battery rooms (1 ) found in factory areas and instantly access up-to-date information about batteries (6), and perform monitoring and control of business processes by means of a mobile/web application access device (13) (preferably a mobile device/phone or computer) with internet (1 1 ) access, and it is characterized in that; it comprises:

• an application server (14) enabling users to get mobile/web application service through the internet (1 1 ), collecting information needed about the battery (6) and converting this information into a form that can be perceived by the users, and providing the users all the information about the batteries (6) that they have authority on, through the internet (1 1 ),

• a rectifier (4) connected to batteries (6) to charge the batteries (6),

• a BTD-1 (3) connected on said rectifier (4), comprising:

a control unit performing all communication, monitoring, control, and management works for transmitting the data coming from BTD-2 (5) to said application server (14) while charging, and

a communication unit providing data exchange with the application server (14) (preferably comprising a GPRS (10) modem communicating through GSM/GPRS (10)),

a memory unit ensuring safety of data against possible energy or connection problems, in which the data to be sent to the application server (14) is stored in order to be sent when the connection is established,

a GPS module enabling determination of battery (6) location,

· at least one BTD-2 (5), which is mounted on the battery (6) by being connected to the positive and negative terminals of the battery (6) in order to measure the voltage of the battery (6) continuously and obtain the required energy from the battery (6), which comprises a processor (32 bit Arm based) having a memory wherein the records of the battery (6) are kept independent from BTD-1 (3), when the rectifier (4) and BTD-1 (3) are not connected to the batteries (6), and

which comprises a unique ID so as to understand which battery (6) is mounted to said rectifier (4),

which communicates with the BTD-1 (3) through the battery (6) feed line, and thus transmits the obtained information to said BTD-1 (3) via said processor,

· a temperature sensor which measures the temperature of the battery (6) while it is charging and/or in use, by connecting to said BTD-2 (5),

• a water level measurement sensor reading the water level situation information of the battery (6) when the battery (6) is charging and/or in use, by connecting to said BTD- 2 (5),

· a display screen (2) on which the information about the batteries (6) found in the charging room (1 ) is shown, and

• a hydrogen gas sensor (9) which detects hydrogen gas leaks that occur during charging of the batteries (6) positioned in said battery room (1 ). Figure 1 shows the system according to the invention. In the most general sense, the invention is prepared for use of a battery room (1 ) with 100% efficiency (considering that it may change according to needs by optional preferences). A battery room (1 ) is designed according to the way of calculation suitable with the occupational safety standards, by determining the number of batteries (6) and rectifiers (4) and the suitable ventilation capacity. Since each machine usually operates with a spare battery (6) (in order to ensure that operational efficiency would not be lost during charging and keep the operation going), double batteries (6) are used in each machine (one is charged while one is on the machine). Therefore, in this case, it is mounted t each battery (6) from BTD-2 (5) device. Rectifiers (4) that ensure charging of the batteries (6) are required to be found as one for each machine. Data transfer can be achieved by using 1 BTD-1 (3) device for each 10 BTD-2 (5) devices.

BTD-1 (3) uses the data it receives from the GPS satellites orbiting the Earth. By using GPS data, the location of the battery (6) is determined, and this information is sent by BTD-1 (3) to the application server (14) through a base station (GPRS/GSM) (12) connection. The information sent by BTD-1 (3) is stored in the application server (14) database (for reporting, later access, and making statistics etc. purposes).

On the mobile/web application side; the user opens the mobile/web application on an application access device (13) with internet (1 1 ) access. With the user name and password, the user views the application within his/her predetermined authorization. The user connects to the application server (14) through this application that has a user interface. The application server (14) converts the data with different variable values sent by BTD-1 (3) into a form that can be comprehended by the user. And the user views the data about battery (6) tracking on the user interface of the application. BTD-2 (5) and BTD-1 (3) communicate through the battery (6) feed line (+ and - line) (Power Line Communication). The information determined by BTD-2 (5) is transmitted to BTD-1 (3) connected on the rectifier (4) without the need for an additional data cable between the battery (6) and the rectifier (4). In this way, battery (6) situation information can be instantaneously monitored and reported. BTD-1 (3) transmits this information to the application server (14) through GPRS (10).

In alternative embodiments of the invention, data streams also come from the FTD (8) device mounted on the forklift (7). FTD (8) transmits the battery (6) data enabling operation of the forklift (7) to the application server (14). The FTD (8) found on the forklift (7) provides information such as how many hours had the battery (6) been used, is it connected to charging before its charge died or not, is it charged without being removed from the forklift (7) or not etc., and the information is transmitted by the application server (14) to the mobile/web application while the battery (6) is on the forklift (7).

If the BTD-2 (5) found on the battery (6) is brought together with the rectifier (2), information is transmitted through the rectifier (2) while charging. This shows that the battery (6) is being charged. While charging, the information is sent to the application server (14) by means of BTD-1 (3). The batteries (6) that are idle and not charged and waiting on the forklift (7) or within the battery room (1 ) are also observed.

In said part, notification is provided as ambiguous in the mobile/web application for the batteries (6) that are recorded in the system, but not used or charged on the forklift (7) (by means of FTD (8)-BTD devices).

All this information can be viewed online from any desired place and a battery room (1 ) supervisor monitors the situation through an LCD screen (2) to be placed in the battery room (1 ) and provides the first suitable battery (6) for use for the first battery left without charge. According to FIFO (First in first out) principle, the use of battery room (1 ) and the battery (6) to be used on the forklift (7) are determined (the significance of FIFO principle comes from the point that if the battery (6) is kept waiting without being used after it is charged, the battery (6) life becomes shorter, and this is a significant loss of efficiency).

In battery rooms (1 ), people are found with certain fixed tasks according to the number of batteries (6) and the intensity of operation. By means of this system, the information of which battery (6) will be used first or how much it is charged is sent online via GPRS (10). These supervisors are only responsible for changing the suitable battery (6) and fill up the battery (6) waters when they are low, and do not have any initiative.

Thanks to the invention, for the batteries (6) that are scrapped when the battery (6) water is low (this is also a task based on manpower and initiative in the prior art), charging will be stopped automatically when no battery (6) water is left, and it won't be charged without water. When no battery (6) water is left, the application will send warning e-mail (e-care system).

In order to prevent the hydrogen gas leaks that occur during charging of batteries (6) from accumulating and causing risk of occupational accident by being converted into explosives, hydrogen gas sensors (9) are placed in battery rooms (1 ). When the hydrogen gas sensor (9) detects danger, it can be set to give a warning (via e-mail-sms-phone etc., according to preference). Solar panels can continuously feed the system by generating energy depending on the daylight, season, and position. 50 to 100 m2 roof area is required to be used per forklift (7). (total of 70 m2 for each 3 tons of FL 7 kW) The battery (6) group is continuously charged by rectifiers (4) when there is daylight. When connected to the mains, the system operates in parallel with solar energy. Excess energy can be sold to the distributor company via a two- way meter, in accordance with a contract. Solar inverters are active while the mains are present. When the mains is cut, auxiliary battery (6) group and/or diesel generator feeds the system.

Optional; with Battery/Grid Inverter, Victron Quattro; automatic priority is given to important loads in emergencies, with Off Grid operating feature. When there is no mains and/or genset, the battery (6) group can feed the system for 6-10 hours, depending on the load situation. When there is no mains, the system can be backed up via diesel. The operating principle of the solar panels:

Traction Forklift Battery Groups _ , „ , AII 24-48-80V

Solar Panel Solar DC Fuse and Soiar Inverter Group , ¾ ,

Sroup Distribution Box - * *

Charging Devices

Selective Series

Inverter Sid. AC 53Hz Loads nsfer Quafron 48-80V Distribution Sox

Spare Diesel EMERGENCY 50Hz Loads Spare Batteries Charge Devices

Generator (Optional) Security, Alarm, Fire, 48-SOV

Emergency illumination,

IT and communication

systems

ATS e-care system,

CanBus- GPRS communication reporting

Solar system situation and energy efficiency report can be obtained from the application (E- care system). The battery (6) and rectifier (4) situation is sent to the application server (14) through GPRS (10), by BTD-1 (3). The battery/charge FIFO and charge number of cycle situations are reported on the application. The total investment cost is around 20-35% of forklift (7) purchase cost. In a factory that works in 3 shifts with a spare battery (6), the investment return period is 3 to 5 years. As a result, the model of increasing efficiency in battery (6) use according to the invention enables the user to reach and track all of the below given information. These are:

• the information of how many hours and where the battery (6) is charged, · the location information of the battery (6) (in which part and in which battery room (1 ) it is found in the factory)

• if FTD (8) is present on the forklift to which the battery (6) is mounted, instant online access to information of on which vehicle/forklift, where, how many hours is the battery (6) used, and which serial number battery (6) is used on the forklift (7), · instant access to the information of how many times the battery (6) is charged, for how long it is charged, and what serial number battery (6) is charged online on the system while the battery is being charged,

• the battery voltage value (6) during charging,

• the charger - battery (6) serial number information while the battery (6) is charging, · the vehicle - battery (6) serial number while the battery (6) is being used on a vehicle,

• online monitoring of other batteries (6) recorded in the system that are not used at all and kept waiting in the factory or battery rooms (1 ), and evaluation of batteries (6) (for the batteries (6) that are kept waiting, the information of when it was operated last time, what serial number rectifier (4) was used for charging, or on which forklift (7) it was used etc. information),

• performing battery (6) fleet optimization via online information,

• use of environment friendly electricity generated by solar panels for battery (6) charging.