Technical Field

The present invention relates to an upgraded mobile charging station.

Background Art

The use is well known and increasingly widespread of special stations of different type, shape and size for the electric charging of batteries of electric vehicles.

In particular, with reference to the so-called "car sharing" services of electric vehicles, that is, to all those public or private services that allow for the use of an electric vehicle on booking and paying according to the actual use, the installation is known of charging stations in parking lots or, anyway, in appropriate areas for the picking and delivery of vehicles.

Generally, so-called fixed charging stations are used, i.e. installed in a nonremovable way in predefined positions, e.g. in a parking lot, and so-called mobile charging stations, i.e. stations that can be transported and the position of which may vary from time to time, depending on specific needs.

The mobile charging stations, therefore, do without or at least reduce the need for dedicated and specially prepared parking lots.

The mobile charging stations of known type comprise a bearing structure, commonly consisting of an outer container body that substantially extends upwards and inside which are housed the electronics for charging and the battery pack.

Specifically, such electronics comprise a charging circuit connected to the battery pack and having one or more connectors accessible from outside and connectable to an electric vehicle to be charged.

The station electronics, furthermore, comprise a special circuit connectable to an external power line and adapted to manage the charging of the battery inside of the station itself.

Furthermore, the charging stations generally comprise a display for displaying the state of charging and of the internal battery, in addition to any appropriate control pushbuttons.

The mobile charging stations of known type, however, have some drawbacks. In particular, after the internal battery is depleted, the mobile stations must necessarily be replaced with others having fully charged batteries.

The assigned operators must therefore necessarily move periodically along predefined paths with appropriate motor vehicles, the type e.g. of vans equipped with a lifting arm, so as to replace the depleted stations with fully charged stations.

The motor vehicles used can however be loaded with a limited number of stations, thus requiring a considerable number of motor vehicles along several paths.

Furthermore, all depleted stations must necessarily be brought back to one or more collecting centers and, therefore, they are unusable for the time necessary for charging the respective battery packs.

Description of the Invention

The main aim of the present invention is to devise an upgraded mobile charging station that allows to simplify and speed up the transport and charging operations of the stations.

Another object of the present invention is to devise an upgraded mobile charging station having simplified electronics and affordable costs.

The above mentioned objects are achieved by the present upgraded mobile charging station according to the characteristics of claim 1.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become better evident from the description of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of an upgraded mobile charging station, illustrated by way of an indicative, but non- limiting, example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is an axonometric view of an upgraded mobile charging station according to the invention;

Figures 2 to 6 schematically illustrate the replacement of the removable battery pack of a station according to the invention.

Embodiments of the Invention

With particular reference to such figures, globally indicated with reference number 1 is an upgraded mobile charging station positionable inside areas intended for charging electric vehicles.

The station 1 comprises a bearing structure 2 and an electric charging circuit 3 supported by the bearing structure 2 and having at least an output connector 4 connectable to a charging circuit of an electric vehicle.

Advantageously, the station 1 also comprises at least a removable battery pack 5 and coupling/uncoupling means 6 of the removable battery pack 5.

In particular, these coupling/uncoupling means 6 are positionable:

- in a coupling configuration, wherein the removable battery pack 5 is locked together with the bearing structure 2 and is connected to the electric charging circuit 3, or

- in an uncoupling configuration, wherein the removable battery pack 5 can be removed from the bearing structure 2.

Advantageously, therefore, once dead, the removable battery pack 5 can be removed from the station 1, thus simplifying and speeding up accordingly the transport and charging operations of the stations.

In fact, this way the transport is no longer necessary of the whole dead stations 1 to a charging center, but it is instead possible to move only the respective removable battery packs 5 for charging.

This way the assigned operators can therefore move by means of a single motor vehicle a large number of removable battery packs 5, allowing a far from negligible reduction in the number of motor vehicles required, with a consequent cost reduction.

Furthermore, the station 1 has simplified electronics and is therefore less expensive than the mobile charging stations of known type.

In particular, while the stations of known type have an electric circuit for the charging of electric vehicles and a further electric circuit adapted instead to allow the charging of the internal battery of the station itself at a charging center, the station 1 according to the invention only has the electric charging circuit 3 connectable to an electric vehicle.

In fact, the station 1 does not have a further electric circuit for charging the removable battery pack 5, since only the removable battery pack 5 is moved and charged. With reference to the particular embodiment illustrated in the figures, the bearing structure 2 is composed of a container body which extends substantially upwards and which has a seat 7 for housing the removable battery pack 5.

In particular, the housing seat 7 has an appropriate opening 8 for the insertion and removal of the removable battery pack 5.

Preferably, still with reference to the particular embodiment of the station 1 shown in the figures, the housing seat is formed at a lower portion of the container body 2 and the opening 8 of the housing seat 7 is made substantially at the bottom of the container body itself.

Alternative embodiments cannot however be ruled out.

For example, the housing seat 7 for the removable battery pack 5 may be made at the upper portion of the bearing structure 2, while the electric charging circuit may be arranged at the bottom of the bearing structure 2 or, in any case, below the removable battery itself.

This way, the removable battery pack 5 may be extracted from an appropriate upper opening formed on the bearing structure 2, without moving the whole station 1. In this case, therefore, the replacement of a dead removable battery pack 5 with a fully charged one would be carried out only by moving the battery packs themselves.

Preferably, the station 1 also comprises a hermetic closure element of the opening 8 of the housing seat 7, not shown in the figures, adapted to allow the perfect isolation of the removable battery pack 5 from the external environment once positioned and locked inside the seat 7.

According to a possible embodiment, the coupling/uncoupling means 6 comprise one or more grip elements made at one or more portions of said removable battery pack 5 and one or more respective hooks associated with the bearing structure 2 and movable between:

- said uncoupling configuration, wherein each hook is substantially moved away from the respective grip element on the removable battery pack 5, and

- said coupling configuration, wherein each hook is engaged on a respective grip element for the fixing of the removable battery pack 5 to the bearing structure 2.

Preferably, the movement between the aforementioned uncoupling and coupling configurations is controlled by the same lifting hook of the vehicle V.

In practice, therefore, the lifting hook mounted on the vehicle V is able, with a single mechanical and/or electronic action/procedure, to control the uncoupling of the removable battery pack 5 from the bearing structure 2.

Conveniently, the station 1 can comprise appropriate locking means of the coupling/uncoupling means 6 in the coupling configuration, i.e. when the removable battery pack 5 is fixed to the bearing structure 2, so as to prevent the removable battery pack from being removed by unauthorized people.

In this case, the station 1 can envisage the use of electronic authentication and identification means operatively connected to the locking means and adapted to disable the locking means to allow the movement of the coupling/uncoupling means 6 from the coupling configuration to the uncoupling configuration.

Such electronic authentication and identification means may e.g. comprise a radio wave receiving device, the type of a transponder or the like, adapted to receive at least an identification signal sent via an appropriate transmitter by an assigned operator, prior to the removal of the removable battery pack 5.

Preferably, the electric charging circuit 3 also comprises a pair of laminar contacts positioned inside the housing seat 7 and adapted to allow a quick electric connection to the removable battery pack 5. In fact, such contacts are positionable directly in contact with the poles of the removable battery pack 5 once this is arranged inside of said housing seat 7 and is hooked to the bearing structure 2.

Different embodiments cannot however be ruled out.

The connection between the electric charging circuit 3 and the removable battery pack 5 can e.g. be carried out by means of contactless coupling means, of the induction type or the like.

In addition, the station comprises a control panel 9, having a display and one or more control pushbuttons.

The use of the station 1 during the replacement of the removable battery pack 5 is described briefly below and is schematically illustrated in figures 2 to 6. An operator in charge of the replacement of a first removable battery pack 5 first picks the station 1 up with appropriate equipment and places it on the motor vehicle V (Figures 2 and 3).

Next, the operator positions the coupling/uncoupling means 6 from the coupling configuration to the uncoupling configuration. This way the first removable battery pack 5 is disconnected from the container body 2.

The operator then raises the container body 2 with the electric charging circuit

3, and separates it from the first removable battery pack 5, to place it on top of a second removable battery pack 5 (Figures 4 and 5).

The operator then positions the coupling/uncoupling means 6 from the uncoupling configuration to the coupling configuration. This way the second removable battery pack 5 is locked together with the container body 2.

At this point, the operator can reposition the station 1 to the location intended for the charging of the electric vehicles (Figure 6).

It has in practice been found that the described invention achieves the intended objects.