Charging station having differential current monitoring for charging an electric energy storage means of an electric vehicle

Abstract

A charging station for charging an electric energy storage means of an electric vehicle using alternating charging current, having a fault-current protective device and having a charging controller. The fault-current protective device is divided into its functional units, a differential-current monitoring unit forming an integral structural unit in the form of a charging-current controller and monitoring device in conjunction with the charging controller according to the invention. Alternatively, the fault-current protective device forms an integral structural unit in the form of a charging-current controller and protective device in conjunction with charging controller.

Claims

1. A charging station (1) for charging an electric energy storage means of an electric vehicle using an alternating charging current, having a fault-current protective device which is carried out modularly with functional elements of a generic standardized modular residual current device (MRCD) and having a charging controller (12), characterized in that the fault-current protective device consists of a separately arranged measuring current transformer (24), a differential-current monitoring unit (22) and a separately arranged switching element (26), said differential-current monitoring unit (22) forming an integral structural unit in the form of a charging-current controller and monitoring device (20) in conjunction with the charge controller (12).

2. The charging station (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the separate measuring current transformer (24) and the differential-current monitoring unit (22) are all-current sensitive.

3. The charging station (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the separately arranged switching element (26) is a load contactor or a load relay.

4. The charging station (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that a data communication channel (29) is installed between the charging-current controller and monitoring device (20) and the electric vehicle connected to the charging station (1).

5. A charging station (1) for charging an electric energy storage means of an electric vehicle using alternating charging current, having a fault-current protective device which is carried out modularly with functional elements of a generic standardized modular residual current device (MRCD) and having a charging controller (12), characterized in that the fault-current protective device forms an integral structural unit in the form of a charging-current controller and protective device (30) in conjunction with the charging controller (12), said charging-current controller and protective device (30) comprising an internal measuring current transformer (32), a differential-current monitoring unit (34) and an internal switching element (36) besides the charging controller (12).

6. The charging station (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that the internal measuring current transformer (32) and the differential-current monitoring unit (34) are all-current sensitive.

7. The charging station (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that the internal switching element (36) is a load relay.

8. The charging station (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that a data communication channel (29) is installed between the charging-current controller and protective device (30) and the electric vehicle connected to the charging station (1).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

(1) Further advantageous embodiments can be derived from the following description and the drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention by means of examples. In the following,

(2) FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a functional block diagram of embodiments of a charging station according to the state of the art,

(3) FIG. 2 illustrates a functional block diagram of a charging station according to the invention and

(4) FIG. 3 illustrates a functional block diagram of an alternative embodiment of a charging station according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(5) FIGS. 1A and 1B each illustrate the design of a charging station 2 for electric vehicles according to the state of the art.

(6) Starting from a stationary power supply system, the charging station 2 comprises an electric supply 3 which is protected by a pre-fuse 4. The charging station 2 has an energy level meter 6 and a type A RCD fault-current protective device 8a (FIG. 1A) or a type B RCD fault-current protective device 8b (FIG. 1B).

(7) In the instance of the charging station 2 according to FIG. 1A, the charging station 2 comprises, besides the first measuring current transformer arranged in the type A RCD fault-current protective device 8a, a second measuring current transformer 10 for detecting a fault direct current.

(8) The charging controller 12 acts on a switching element 14 which separates a connection line to a vehicle connection 16 when a fault direct current occurs or when the charging procedure is terminated.

(9) In the instance of the charging station 2 according to FIG. 1B, the charging station 2 comprises a type B RCD fault-current protective device 8b which is capable of detecting fault direct currents, pulse fault direct currents and (pure) fault direct currents, and undertakes a disconnection should a fault occur.

(10) The charging controller 12 acts on the switching element 14 via a triggering signal 14 when the charging procedure is terminated in order to separate the connection line to the vehicle connection 16.

(11) In FIG. 2, a functional block diagram of a charging station 1 according to invention is illustrated.

(12) The charging station 1 comprises the following functional elements known from the state of the art: energy supply 3, back-up fuse 4 and energy level meter 6.

(13) Furthermore according to the invention, the charging station 1 comprises a charging-current controller and monitoring device 20 in which the charging controller 12 and a differential-current monitoring unit 22 are integrated so as to form a structural unit.

(14) A separate measuring current transformer 24 and a separate switching element 26 realized as a load contactor or a load relay are arranged outside of the charging-current controller and monitoring device 20.

(15) The separate measuring current transformer 24, the differential-current monitoring unit 22 arranged in the charging-current controller and monitoring device 20, and the separate switching element 26 can be seen as functional elements of a standardized MRCD fault protection device 28.

(16) Preferably, the separate measuring current transformer 24 and the differential-current monitoring unit 22 are all-current sensitive.

(17) The charging-current controller and monitoring device 20 controls the separate switching element 26 via a trigger signal 13 in order to separate the connection line to the vehicle connection 16 when a fault arises (inadmissibly high differential current) or when the charging procedure has been terminated.

(18) The vehicle connection 16 can comprise a data communication channel 29 for exchanging data from data with the electric vehicle, which are specific to the energy storage means or safety-related.

(19) FIG. 3 illustrates a functional block diagram of an alternative embodiment of a charging station 1 according to the invention.

(20) This alternative embodiment differs from the embodiment in FIG. 2 in that it comprises a charging-current controller and protective device 30 in which the charging controller 12, an internal measuring current transformer 32, a differential-current monitoring device 34 and an internal switching element 36 are integrated in order to separate the vehicle connection line to a structural unit.

(21) By omitting a separate type A or type B RCD fault-current protective device in both embodiments according to FIGS. 2 and 3, a second switching element is not required. This omission leads to a reduction of the number of required components, reduces the need for extensive wiring and thus leads to a reduction in costs when producing the charging station. Simultaneously, the required installation space is also reduced, whereby the charging station can be designed in a compact manner.