Electric vehicle charging apparatus, system and methods
AssigneeSparkCharge, Inc.
InventorsChristopher R. Ellis, Richard Whitney
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electric vehicle charging system includes an interleaved DC-DC control system configured to facilitate providing electric charge to an electric vehicle battery and includes a controller communicatively coupled to the interleaved DC-DC control system. The interleaved DC-DC control system includes an inrush current limiting circuit, three parallel boost converters that are each configured to operate in a discrete phase, and unidirectional current circuitry. The controller includes electronic control circuitry configured to control the interleaved DC-DC control system and vehicle communication circuitry configured to establish charging protocols between the interleaved DC-DC control system and the electric vehicle battery.
Claims20
An electric vehicle charging system comprising:
- an interleaved DC-DC control system configured to facilitate providing electric charge to an electric vehicle battery from an energy storage device, the interleaved DC-DC control system comprising:
- an inrush current limiting circuit;
- three parallel boost converters, wherein each boost converter of the three parallel boost converters is configured to operate in a discrete phase, wherein the three parallel boost converters are communicatively coupled to the inrush current limiting circuit;
- and
- unidirectional current circuitry communicatively coupled to the three parallel boost converters;
- and
- a controller communicatively coupled to the interleaved DC-DC control system, the controller comprising:
- electronic control circuitry configured to control the interleaved DC-DC control system;
- and
- vehicle communication circuitry configured to establish charging protocols between the interleaved DC-DC control system and the electric vehicle battery, wherein the vehicle communication circuitry is communicatively coupled to the electric control circuitry.
A method of manufacturing an electric vehicle charging system, the method comprising:
- using electroplating to form an interleaved DC-DC control system, configured to facilitate providing electric charge to an electric vehicle battery from an energy storage device, that includes magnetic core inductors, a heatsink, and a multistrand wire, wherein the electroplating produces a single printed circuit board that includes three parallel boost converters;
- and
- stacking the interleaved DC-DC control system on the energy storage device, wherein the stacking aligns the interleaved DC-DC control system such that the single printed circuit board is of a same length and width as the energy storage device.
A method of charging an electric vehicle battery, the method comprising:
- receiving, by an interleaved DC-DC control system, an electrical power input from an energy storage device, the electrical power input being received at an inrush current limiting circuit of the interleaved DC-DC control system, wherein the inrush current limiting circuit includes multiple switching components;
- switching, by a controller communicatively coupled to the interleaved DC-DC control system, the multiple switching components on and off during an inrush current phase so that an electrical current flows continuously to three parallel boost converters of the interleaved DC-DC control system;
- boosting, by the three parallel boost converters, an input voltage of the electrical power input to a higher voltage of the electric vehicle battery;
- filtering out, by an electromagnetic interference filter of the interleaved DC-DC control system, noise from the electrical power input;
- and
- transmitting, via unidirectional current circuitry, the electrical power input to the electric vehicle battery.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.