WO-2026093874-A1 - METHOD FOR EFFICIENT ELECTRIC VEHICLE BATTERY RECHARGE BY AUTOMATIC RECHARGE STATION

Abstract

An automated method is disclosed for recharging Efficient Electric Vehicles (EEVs) without manual intervention. The system identifies the vehicle's presence and determines the position of a recharge inlet - whether single or multiple - using sensors and control algorithms. A robot charger aligns and connects the vehicle to a recharge station, establishing an electrical connection securely and efficiently. The method accommodates various inlet locations and vehicle orientations. Authentication and data exchange between the vehicle and station can be integrated. This invention significantly reduces user involvement and improves recharging speed and reliability. It is suitable for commercial use, commercial fleets and autonomous vehicle systems, and can be embedded into smart energy management platforms.

Inventors

• SASU, IOAN

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20251027

Priority Date

20241028

Claims (3)

1. 1. A method for Efficient Electric Vehicle (EEV) battery recharge by automatic recharge station comprising the following steps: a. Entering of the EEV in the recharge station: a) choosing a charger equipped with a robot and identified by a number; b. Identifying a driver and connecting the station with a mobile phone of the driver; c. Opening the application installed on the EEV, which: a) detects charging station location; b) interacts with providers' infrastructure to: 1. identify the driver (automatically); 2. verify availability of funds (automatically); 3. identify the charging station number (interactive, the driver providing the charger number); d. Placing the EEV in the right position relative to the charger; e. Stop the EEV; f. Identifying automatically the vehicle; g. Place an order by the driver: a) Asking for full recharge; Or b) Asking a number of KWH; h. Confirming the order by the station repeating: a) Full recharge; Or b) The number of KWH; i. Preparing the EEV for battery recharge: a) Opening the cover of the EEV inlet (automatically); b) Set the EEV screen on the battery recharge display mode; j. Preparing the charger for battery recharge: a) Opening the charger cabin door; b) Identifying the EEV inlet location by the charge station camera installed on top of the charger cabin; c) Sending the information to the robot; d) Fast approaching the charger outlet face to the EEV inlet face comprising three targets; e) Slowly approaching each charger outlet face to each EEV inlet face, each charger outlet using three charger cameras, three ultrasonic sensors and two lateral lights, which are turned automatically ON by a photoelectric sensor, when it gets dark, to reach the three targets located on the EEV inlet face; f) Drying the charger outlet contacts and the EEV inlet contacts using air or electricity; g) Engaging the charger outlet to the EEV inlet until the contacts touch; h) Turning ON the charger electromagnets located into the charger outlet and in this way clamping the charger outlet to the EEV inlet; i) Making sure that a button switch is activated when the charger outlet is engaged with the EEV inlet and checking the correctness of the electric contact between the charger outlet and the EEV inlet by a safety contacts system; j) Powering the charger after receiving a confirmation by the safety contacts system that the contacts are in touch and the button switch is activated; k) Starting battery recharge; k. Recharging the battery: a) Continuing the battery recharge till finishing recharge; l. Stopping the battery recharge by turning the charger power OFF; m. Retracting the charger robot into the charger cabin and closing the EEV inlet cover and simultaneously sending a bill to a bank: a) Turning the electromagnets OFF; b) Slowly detaching the charger outlet of the EEV inlet, and place it on the proximity of the EEV inlet; c) Fast retracting the robot arms inside of the charger cabin; d) Closing the charger cabin door; e) Closing automatically the EEV inlet cover; f) Simultaneously sending the bill to the bank; n. Confirming the payment by the bank; o. Receiving the payment invoice by the driver; p. Confirming the payment receipt; q. Leaving the recharge station: a) Leaving the recharge station by the EEV; b) Ending the recharge battery session; c) Disconnect the driver mobile phone from the recharge station; d) Save this recharge information on the EEV computer; e) Turning OFF the EEV application; r. END. 2. A method for multi-inlet EEVs, which recharge their battery simultaneously by using a plurality of automatic recharge stations, adequately located, all being synchronized, comprising the following steps: a. Entering of an EEV in a recharge station: a) choosing a plurality of available chargers each being equipped with a robot and being close each others; b) identifying their numbers; b. Identifying a driver and connecting the station with a mobile phone of the driver: a) Opening the application installed on the EEV, which: i. detects each charging station location; ii. interacts with providers' infrastructure to: 1. identify the driver (automatically);
2. 2. verify availability of funds (automatically);
3. 3. identify the charging station number (interactive, the driver providing the charger number of each station involved depending on the number of active EEV inlets); c. Identifying automatically the EEV: a) The recharge station identifies automatically the EEV using the information contained in the EEV’s application; b. Placing the EEV in the right position relative to the chargers: a) Based on the dialog between the driver and the station, via the EEV’s sound system, the EEV is placed on the required area to be accessible to all charger robots; c. Stop the EEV: a) Once the appropriate position is reached, the driver stops the EEV and set it on the parking position; d. Place an order by the driver: a) By a dialog between the driver and the station, the driver places an order: a) Asking for full recharge; Or b) Asking a number of KWH; e. Confirming the order by the station repeating: a) Full recharge; Or b) The number of KWH ordered; f. Preparing the EEV for battery recharge: a) Opening the cover of the plurality of EEV inlets (automatically); b) Set the EEV screen on the battery recharge display mode; g. Preparing the charger for battery recharge: a) Opening the chargers cabin doors; b) Identifying each EEV inlet location by each charge station camera installed on top of each charger cabin; c) Sending the information to each robot of the identified chargers; d) Fast approaching each charger outlet face to the EEV inlet face, each charger outlet using three charger cameras, three ultrasonic sensors and two lateral lights, which are turned automatically ON by a photoelectric sensor, when it gets dark, to reach the three targets located on the EEV inlet face. e) Slowly approaching each charger outlet face to each EEV inlet face, each charger outlet using three charger cameras, three ultrasonic sensors and two lateral lights, which are turned automatically ON by a photoelectric sensor, when it gets dark, to reach the three targets located on the EEV inlet face. f) Drying each charger outlet contacts and each EEV inlet contacts using air or electricity; g) Engaging each charger outlet to each EEV inlet until the contacts touch; h) Turning ON the charger electromagnets located into each charger outlet and in this way clamping each charger outlet to each EEV inlet; i) Making sure that a button switch is activated when each charger outlet is engaged with each EEV inlet and checking the correctness of each electric contact between each charger outlet and each EEV inlet by a safety contacts system; j) Powering the charger after receiving a confirmation from the safety contacts system that all contacts are in touch and all button switches are activated; k) Starting battery recharge simultaneously for all chargers; h. Recharging the battery: a) Continuing the battery recharge till finishing recharge; b) Stopping the battery recharge by turning the power OFF of all chargers; i. Retracting all robots into the charger cabins and closing each EEV inlet cover and simultaneously sending a bill to a bank: a) Turning all electromagnets OFF; b) Slowly detaching each charger outlet of each EEV inlet, and place them on the proximity of each EEV inlet; c) Fast retracting each robot arms inside of each charger cabin; d) Closing each charger cabin door; e) Closing automatically all EEV inlet covers; f) Simultaneously sending the bill to the bank; j . Confirming the payment by the bank; k. Receiving the payment invoice by the driver; l. Confirming the payment receipt; m. Leaving the recharge station: a) Leaving the recharge station by the EEV; b) Ending the recharge battery session; c) Disconnect the driver mobile phone from the recharge station; d) Save this recharge information on the EEV computer; e) Turning OFF the EEV application; n. END.

Description

Method for efficient electric vehicle battery recharge by automatic recharge station The present invention is a continuation in part of the US patent application number 18/776 727 filed on July 18, 2024, which is a continuation in part of the patent application number 18/740 420 filed on June 11, 2024. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates generally to a new design of the electric vehicle (EV) battery, having as a main objective to reduce battery recharge time, equivalent with the refilling time for the tank of the internal combustion (IC) vehicles - less than 5 Min. To reach this objective this invention uses a new approach on the battery design by splitting the battery in a plurality of independent modules recharged simultaneously during the battery recharge mode, instead of increasing the power of the power supply units (using super chargers). Also, the invention is related to the more efficient electric vehicles (EEV’s) equipped with hydrogen heating / cooling system for the battery separated by the hydrogen heating / cooling system of the cabin, and to the automatic recharge stations, using robots for recharge and an intelligent communication system between the driver, recharge station and financial institutions. The new battery design allows new more efficient battery recharge domestic equipment and for a smooth transition, are proposed adaptors from the new to the actual system and vice-versa. BACKGROUND OF THE ART The EV battery recharge time depends on the battery size and on the type of the equipment used. The battery size to be recharged of the actual battery is the entire EV battery. The actual EV battery recharge equipment is classified on three categories: Level 1, level 2 and level 3. The difference between these, is related to the level of power used for the charger. Higher the power, faster the battery recharge. For example, for the same battery capacity of 60 Kwh, for Leval 1 (low power charger), the recharge time may be about 16 Hrs, while for high power charger Level 3, (super charger) the recharge time may be about 15 to 20 Min. The actual EV’s design penalises the EV autonomy by using the energy of the main battery for heating and cooling the cabin of the vehicle and by cooling the battery itself. The actual EV battery chargers are installed in not dedicated locations (parking lots, streets, etc.) and are not placed on strategic locations and not taking into considerations the entire highways network, and by this, making difficult for electric vehicles to travel long distances. The actual domestic battery recharge time is very long. TECHNICAL ISSUES The main issue related to the actual batteries and their chargers is the long-requested recharge time and the space taken by the recharging stations, which has a negative impact on the vehicle’s autonomy. Reducing the battery recharge time by increasing the charger power has some limitations related to the cables, battery and charger heating, having negative impact on the cost of the superchargers, on the battery premature degradation and battery life on the long run, etc. These limitations don’t allow to reduce the battery recharge time at the required level of (2 to 5) minutes / recharge, which is the main issue for EV acceptance and user- friendly appearance. The electric energy stoked into the main EV battery is not efficient used, having a negative impact on the EV autonomy. This energy is used to heat/cool the cabin of EV not only to move. The recharge process is long, the recharge stations are not optimized located in relation with the highways network, and don’t cover rationally the entire country territory. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to an automated method for recharging the battery of an Efficient Electric Vehicle (EEV), designed to simplify and accelerate the recharging process without requiring manual intervention. This method enables automatic identification, alignment, and electrical connection between the vehicle and a dedicated recharge station, using either a robotic system. The system includes sensors, actuators, and control algorithms that detect the vehicle’s presence, locate the recharge inlet, and automatically establish a secure electrical connection. The method supports multiple inlet positions and configurations (single or multi-inlet), allowing compatibility with various vehicle designs and orientations. By eliminating the need for driver involvement during the recharging process, this invention increases convenience, reduces charging time, and is particularly well-suited for high- frequency use in private, commercial, or autonomous vehicle fleets. The method can also be integrated with authentication and payment systems to enable seamless energy management in smart grid environments. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order that this invention may be readily understood, a plurality of embodiments is illustrated by way of examples, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: F