BACKGROUND

[0001] The present inventions relate generally to electric vehicles, and more particularly, to moving a charge head of an electric power supply to a charge inlet of an electric vehicle.

[0002] Electric vehicles are growing in popularity. Unlike conventional combustion powered vehicles which are filled with a fluid fuel supply, electric vehicles must be connected to an electric supply to recharge an onboard battery. Since recharging of the battery must be done frequently (e.g., once a day), it would be desirable for the process of connecting the electric supply to the vehicle to be as easy and simple as possible. Therefore, the inventions are directed to improved automatic systems for connecting an electric supply to an electric vehicle.

SUMMARY

[0003] An automatic connection method is described for connecting a charge head to the charge inlet of an electric vehicle to recharge the battery of the vehicle. The method uses information about the vehicle to determine the location of the charge inlet relative to the tires. The method then senses the location of the tires to determine the location of the inlet. The charge head may then be moved to the charge inlet to make a connection to provide an electric charge to the charge inlet to charge the vehicle. The invention may also include any other aspect described below in the written description or in the attached drawings and any combinations thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS [0004] The invention may be more fully understood by reading the following description in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

[0005] Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of angles and positions of an electric vehicle relative to a charge zone;

[0006] Figure 2 is a schematic of an automatic connection system;

[0007] Figure 3 is a flow chart of an automatic connection method; [0008] Figure 4 is a schematic of a sensor sensing the position of the tires of a vehicle; and

[0009] Figure 5 is a chart showing distances from a position sensor to objects in its surrounding area.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0010] Referring now to the figures, and particularly Figure 1 , the various angles and locations that may need to be considered when connecting an electric supply 10 to an electric vehicle 12 are shown. That is, when an electric vehicle 12 has been parked in a location intended for connecting the electric supply 10 to the vehicle 12, the angle and location of the vehicle 12 may vary in numerous ways that will change the location and orientation of the charge inlet 14 of the vehicle 12 relative to the automatic connection device 24. For example, Figure 1 illustrates that the angle of the vehicle 12 may vary as shown by its roll angle Y, pitch angle Q, and yaw angle F. Due to the parked position and type of vehicle 12, the location of the charge inlet 14 may also vary in a longitudinal direction x, lateral direction y, and vertical distance z. Thus, in an automatic connection system where the location of the vehicle 12 is uncontrolled, the location of the charge inlet 14 will be unknown to the automatic connection device 24. In order for the system to successfully connect automatically to the charge inlet 14 of the vehicle 12, the location of the charge inlet 14 must be determined within a narrow charging zone 16. [0011] One embodiment of an automatic connection system is shown in Figure 2.

As is known, the electric vehicle 12 has a battery 18 that powers the vehicle 12 and requires periodic recharging. Typically, an onboard electric charger 20 is included on the vehicle 12 for charging the battery 18. The vehicle 12 also includes a charge inlet 14 for receiving an electric charge from an external power source 10. Although the charge inlet 14 may also be located on the side of the vehicle 12, in the preferred embodiment the charge inlet 14 is underneath the vehicle body 22.

[0012] The automatic connection system further includes a connection device 24 for connecting a charge head 26 to the charge inlet 14. Although the connection between the charge head 26 and the charge inlet 14 may be a non-contact connection (e.g., inductive), it is preferable for the connection between the charge head 26 and the charge inlet 14 to be a physical contact. For example, the charge inlet 14 or charge head 26 could have one or more conductive pins, and the other could have one or more corresponding conductive sockets that engage with the pins. Thus, when physically contacting each other, an electric charge from an external power supply 10 flows through the charge head 26 and charge inlet 14 to supply a charge to the onboard charger 20 and battery 18 to recharge the vehicle 12.

[0013] The charge head 26 is preferably connected to a base 28 that rests on or is attached to the floor 58 or other non-movable structure. A powered linkage 30 is provided between the base 28 and the charge head 26 to allow the charge head 26 to move relative to the base 28 in order to connect the charge head 26 and the charge inlet 14 together. It is understood that the linkage 30 shown in the drawings is only illustrative, and many types of linkages 30 are possible. Preferably, the linkage 30 is able to move in the longitudinal direction x, lateral direction y, and vertical distance z. Such movement may involve the rotation and linear motion of linkage components in various directions. Movement of the linkage 30 and the charge head 26 is automatically controlled by a control unit 32.

[0014] Turning to Figure 3, a method for automatically connecting an electric power supply 10 to an electric vehicle 12 is shown. In the first step, vehicle information, such as vehicle identification information, is acquired by the connection device 24 (34). The vehicle information may include vehicle model information which may be used to refer to a database for specific physical information, or the vehicle information may be physical information about the vehicle 12 directly communicated by the vehicle 12. Although the vehicle information may be acquired in various known ways, it is preferable for the electric vehicle 12 and the connection device 24 to wirelessly communicate information with antennas 52 prior to the charge head 26 moving to connect to the charge inlet 14. [0015] The connection device 24 then determines the location of the charge inlet 14 relative to the vehicle tires 54 either directly from physical vehicle information communicated by the vehicle 12 or indirectly calculated or looked up based on model information provided in the vehicle information (36). The connection device 24 then senses the position of one or more tires 54 of the vehicle 12 (38). Typically, the position of the tires 54 will be sensed by a sensor 56 located below the body 22 of the vehicle 12. Although it may be possible to sufficiently determine the position of the vehicle 12 using the location of less than all of the tires 54 of the vehicle 12, it is preferred for the position of all four tires 54 to be sensed. Where the sensor 56 reads a distance between the sensor 56 and the tire 54, it is preferable for the sensor 56 to be positioned in a location where a viewing angle of all four tires 54 is possible. Sensing of the tire 54 positions may be done with a number of different sensors 56, such as time of flight (ToF) sensors 56, LIDAR sensors 56, ultrasonic sensors 56 or luminescence sensors 56. LIDAR sensors that may be used include time of flight (ToF) sensors 56, line scan LIDAR sensors 56 (i.e. , that provide sensor data along a line as opposed to a point as in ToF sensors), two-dimensional scan LIDAR sensors 56 (i.e., provide planar sensor data). A pressure mat 56’ between the floor 58 and the tires 54 may also be used to sense the position of the tires 54 if desired.

[0016] For example, as illustrated in Figure 4, an inexpensive time of flight (ToF) LIDAR sensor 56 may be used to sense the positions of the tires 54 in one embodiment. As is understood, time of flight (ToF) LIDAR sensors 56 use a laser to read a bounce back signal to determine the distance of a single point at a time. As shown in Figures 4- 5, in order to sense the positions of all of the tires 54, the time of flight (ToF) sensor 56 may be swept 360° around with an electric stepper motor 60 (see also Figure 2). In this arrangement, it may be desirable for the sensor 56 to be located underneath the vehicle 12 in between all of the tires 54 as shown in Figure 4. As illustrated in Figure 5, it can be seen that the first and second tires 54A, 54B (e.g., front tires) are further away from the sensor 56 than the third and fourth tires 54C, 54D (e.g., the rear tires). Thus, the longitudinal position of the vehicle 12 can be determined. Further, it can be seen that the first and fourth tires 54A, 54D (e.g., left tires) are slightly closer to the sensor 56 relative to the second and third tires 54B, 54C (e.g., right tires). Thus, the lateral position of the vehicle 12 can also be determined. The yaw angle F of the vehicle 12 may be similarly determined if desired.

[0017] Turning back to Figure 3, once the connecting device 24 senses the location of the tires 54, the control unit 32 determines the location of the charge inlet 14 using the tire 54 positions and the relative location determined between the charge inlet 14 and the tires 54 (40). In some embodiments, it may be useful to sense other objects with the position sensor 56 in addition to the tires 54. For example, the sensor 56 may also sense the presence of objects that would interfere with the movement of the connecting device 24 to the charge inlet 14 (42). In this context, a human that is in the way and who could be hit by the connecting device 24 could be considered to be an interfering object. In order to prevent damage to the interfering object (e.g., person) or to the connecting device 24, the control unit 32 may have a safety routine that prevents the charge head 26 from being moved to the charge inlet 14 when an interfering object is identified by the position sensor 56.

[0018] After the location of the charge inlet 14 has been determined, the connecting device 24 may move the charge head 26 to the charge inlet 14 with the linkage 30 (44). It is understood that the location determination of the charge inlet 14 described above based on the positions of the tires 54 and the relative location of the charge inlet 14 and the tires 54 may not be precise enough to allow a final connection between the charge head 26 and the charge inlet 14. That is, while such positioning may be useful in moving the charge head 26 to within a few inches of the needed connection location, a precision of a fraction of an inch may be necessary to achieve successful connection of the charge head 26 and the charge inlet 14, especially where a physical contact is used. In this case, it may be desirable for the position of the charge inlet 14 to be directly sensed by the charge head 26 after moving the charge head 26 near the charge inlet 14 and before actually connecting with the charge inlet 14 (46). This may be done with the same position sensor 56 used to sense the position of the tires 54 or may be done with a different sensor 56” on the charge head 26. The charge head 26 may then be connected to the charge inlet 14 (48) to permit electric charge from the external power supply 10 to charge the battery 18 of the vehicle 12 (50).

[0019] While preferred embodiments of the inventions have been described, it should be understood that the inventions are not so limited, and modifications may be made without departing from the inventions herein. While each embodiment described herein may refer only to certain features and may not specifically refer to every feature described with respect to other embodiments, it should be recognized that the features described herein are interchangeable unless described otherwise, even where no reference is made to a specific feature. It should also be understood that the advantages described above are not necessarily the only advantages of the inventions, and it is not necessarily expected that all of the described advantages will be achieved with every embodiment of the inventions. The scope of the inventions is defined by the appended claims, and all devices and methods that come within the meaning of the claims, either literally or by equivalence, are intended to be embraced therein.