Patent ID: 12255460

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The present disclosure will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the disclosure are shown. This present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this present disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art.

Certain terms are used throughout the description and following claims to refer to particular components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, manufacturers may refer to a component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name but function. In the following description and in the claims, the terms “include/including” and “comprise/comprising” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted as “including but not limited to”. “Substantial/substantially” means, within an acceptable error range, the person skilled in the art may solve the technical problem in a certain error range to achieve the basic technical effect.

The following description is of the best-contemplated mode of carrying out the disclosure. This description is made for the purpose of illustration of the general principles of the disclosure and should not be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the disclosure is best determined by reference to the appended claims.

Moreover, the terms “include”, “contain”, and any variation thereof are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. Therefore, a process, method, object, or device that includes a series of elements not only includes these elements, but also includes other elements not specified expressly, or may include inherent elements of the process, method, object, or device. If no more limitations are made, an element limited by “include a/an . . . ” does not exclude other same elements existing in the process, the method, the article, or the device which includes the element.

Refer toFIG.1illustrating a schematic diagram of the power conversion device according to one embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the power conversion device2is applied to the electric vehicle1. The electric vehicle1includes a battery pack11and a battery management system12for monitoring the status of the battery pack11and managing the charging and discharging of the battery pack11. The power conversion device2includes a transmission assembly21and a power converter22. The transmission assembly21is detachably connected to the electric vehicle1. When the transmission assembly21is connected to the electric vehicle1and the electric vehicle1obtains authorization for external discharge, the battery management system12controls the battery pack11to discharge and transmits the stored first power P1via the transmission assembly21. The power converter22is electrically connected to the transmission assembly21, converts the first power P1into the second power P2or the third power P3, and provides the second power P2or the third power P3to the backend for use.

In this embodiment, the first power P1is a direct current, the second power P2is a direct current, and the third power P3is an alternating current. That is to say, the electric vehicle1has a discharge circuit served as a discharge path for the battery pack11to release the DC power stored in the battery pack11to the outside of the electric vehicle1such that the power conversion device2located outside the electric vehicle1is allowed to convert the DC power from the battery pack11into a desired DC power or AC power required by the back end according to the demand. In one embodiment, the battery pack11can have a high-voltage battery module111and a low-voltage battery module112. The power conversion device2can selectively connect the high-voltage battery module111or the low-voltage battery module112according to the usage conditions to perform power conversion. In order to facilitate the user to perform Vehicle-to-Home or Vehicle-to-Grid, the power conversion device2is not a device or circuit installed in the electric vehicle1. The power conversion device2can be a device directly fixedly configured in a building or a movable device, such as a device equipped with wheels, which can generally be placed in a garage or a parking lot and can be easily moved to other spaces when there are other needs. Alternatively, when the remaining power of the battery pack11of the electric vehicle1reaches a critical value, the power converter2stops operating or notifies the battery management system12of the electric vehicle1to stop the battery pack11from continuing to discharge. The critical value mentioned here is, for example, 40%, 30%, 20% of the remaining power of the battery pack11or a value preset by the user.

Refer toFIG.1andFIG.2illustrating a schematic diagram of the power conversion device ofFIG.1. The transmission assembly21of the power conversion device2includes a connector211and a transmission line212. One end of the transmission line212is electrically connected to the connector211, and the other end of the transmission line212is electrically connected to the power converter22. In this embodiment, the connector211is a Society of Automobile Engineers (SAE) J1772 connector, a Combined Charging System (CCS) connector, or a North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector.

The power converter22includes a switching module221, a first converter222, a second converter223and a control circuit224. The switching module221is composed of, for example, a solenoid valve switch, a semiconductor switch, or other components that can achieve a switching effect, and the switching module221is coupled to the transmission assembly21. The control circuit224is electrically connected to the switching module221and controls the switching module221to be electrically connected to the first converter222, or to be electrically connected to the second converter223, or to be electrically connected to the first converter222and the second converter223according to the first demand command R1. In this embodiment, the first converter222is a DC/DC converter222and is used to convert the first power P1into the second power P2, and the second converter223is a DC/AC converter223and is used to convert the first power P1into the third power P3.

In this embodiment, the first demand command R1may be a demand command issued by the user through an operating interface or an operating medium, or may be a demand command sent from a non-transitory data storage media or a computing device. Specifically, the non-transitory data storage media selects and responds to the required demand commands from the stored data in the media based on the back-end operating conditions, load conditions, or the power capability of the power conversion device2itself. In addition, the computing device has, for example, a storage, a calculator and a controller. At least one specific calculation model and weighting mechanism are stored in the storage. The computing device performs calculations based on the received parameters, the selected calculation model and the weights, and provides the results to the controller, so that the controller issues the demand command to at least one controlled object according to the result. That is to say, the computing device can adopt a specific computing model in accordance with the weight of each parameter based on parameters such as the back-end usage conditions, load conditions, temperature of components or transmission lines, or the power capability of the power conversion device2to generate the demand command after the calculation. In other words, the power conversion device2is able to adjust the characteristics of the output power according to the back-end conditions or load conditions without exceeding its own conversion capability.

Refer toFIG.3illustrating another schematic diagram of the power conversion device according to one embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the difference between the power conversion device3and the power conversion device2is that the power conversion device3further includes a power storage31. The power storage31is electrically connected to the first converter222and the second converter223. In this embodiment, when the first converter222is electrically connected to the switching module221and receives the first power P1transmitted through the transmission assembly21, the first converter222converts the first power P1into the second power P2, and transmits the second power P2to the power storage31. When the second converter223is electrically connected to the switching module221and receives the first power P1transmitted through the transmission assembly21, the second converter223converts the first power P1into the third power P3and transmits the third power P3to a load L. Alternatively, the switching module21may also be electrically connected to the first converter222and the second converter223at the same time. At this time, the first power P1can not only be converted into the second power P2to charge the power storage31, but the second converter223can also provide the third power P3to the load L at the backend.

In this embodiment, the control circuit24controls the power storage31to release energy to the DC/AC converter223according to a second demand command R2. The second demand command R2may be a demand command issued by the user through an operating interface or an operating medium, or may be a demand command sent from a non-transitory data storage media or a computing device. Specifically, the non-transitory data storage media selects and responds to the required demand commands from the stored data in the media based on the back-end operating conditions, load conditions, or the power capability of the power conversion device3itself. In additional, the computing device can adopt a specific computing model in accordance with the weight of each parameter based on parameters such as the back-end usage conditions, load conditions, or the power capability of the power conversion device3to generate the demand command after the calculation.

Furthermore, the second converter223can also be electrically connected to a power grid G, and the second converter223is a grid-tie inverter. The power conversion device3provides an operation mode in which the third power P3is provided to the power grid G. For example, the electricity is sold to a local power company or used as a source of electricity for loads in the power grid G. In this operating mode, when the power grid G is powered off, the power conversion device3stops transmitting the third power P3to the power grid G. In addition, when the power conversion device3is in an operation mode of providing the third power P3to the load L, for example, an operation mode of an uninterruptible power supply system or a power backup system.

In order to utilize the power, a first measurement device S1and a second measurement device S2can be installed between the power conversion device3and the power grid G and between the power conversion device3and the load L. The first measurement device S1transmits the power supply status and power usage information of the power grid G to the control circuit24, the second converter223, the non-transitory data storage media or computing device. The second measurement device S2is used to measure the power usage information of the load L, and transmit the measurement results to the control circuit24, the second converter223, the non-transitory data storage media or the computing device. Therefore, the output of the power conversion device3is consistent with the actual conditions of the power grid G and the load L. In other words, the power conversion device3is able to provide the third power P3to reduce the fluctuation of the power supply frequency and to achieve the stability of the power supply when the power supply frequency of the power grid G drops. It can also store power in advance and supply power when the load L increases.

To sum up, the power conversion device of the present invention receives and transmits the first power from the battery pack of the electric vehicle through the transmission assembly, and converts the first power into a second power or a third power through the power converter to achieve Vehicle-to-Home or Vehicle-to-Grid.

It is to be understood that the term “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variants thereof, is intended to encompass a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or device of a series of elements not only comprise those elements but further comprises other elements that are not explicitly listed, or elements that are inherent to such a process, method, article, or device. An element defined by the phrase “comprising a . . . ” does not exclude the presence of the same element in the process, method, article, or device that comprises the element.

Although the present disclosure has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it does not intend to limit the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art having regard to this present disclosure that other modifications of the exemplary embodiments beyond those embodiments specifically described here may be made without departing from the spirit of the disclosure. Accordingly, such modifications are considered within the scope of the disclosure as limited solely by the appended claims.