WO2015197827A1

WO2015197827A1 - Parking structure and charging station for charging electric vehicles

Info

Publication number: WO2015197827A1
Application number: PCT/EP2015/064540
Authority: WO
Inventors: Artur SYCHOV
Original assignee: Easycharge.Me Gmbh
Priority date: 2014-06-27
Filing date: 2015-06-26
Publication date: 2015-12-30

Abstract

The invention relates to a parking structure comprising a multiplicity of parking spaces (15) for vehicles and an electric power distribution system. The electric power distribution system comprises a connection point (16) at which electric energy provided by an energy provider arrives at the parking structure, and at least one lamp supply cable (19) configured to supply electric power from the connection point (16) to a multiplicity of lamp positions (20, 20a). The parking structure furthermore comprises at least one battery charging station (22, 23) for charging the battery of an electric vehicle. The battery charging station (22, 23) is supplied with energy by a connection to the lamp supply cable (19). The present invention furthermore relates to a ceiling mounted charging station for charging the battery of an electric vehicle (210) parking on a parking space (200). The inventive parking structure and the inventive charging station provide the possibility of an easy charging of electric vehicles, wherein installation costs are low.

Description

Parking structure and charging station for charging electric vehicles

The present invention relates to a parking structure com^¬ prising a multiplicity of parking spaces for vehicles and at least one charging station mounted to the ceiling of the parking structure. The invention also relates to a charging station for charging the battery of electric vehicles.

Parking structures of different types are known and usually used at places where a lot of cars have to be parked on a small space, for example in the vicinity of city centers, train stations, or airports. As the use of electric vehi^¬ cles has recently become more extensive, it is known to provide charging stations for electric vehicles within such parking structures. However, in known parking structures the provision of charging stations requires very complex and costly installations and the charging stations are of^¬ ten difficult to handle for the user.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to pro- vide a parking structure and a charging station for charging the battery of electric vehicles that avoid the disad^¬ vantages of the state of the art at least partially.

The object is solved by the features of the independent claims. Preferable embodiments are to be found in the de^¬ pendent claims. According to the invention, the parking structure comprises a multiplicity of parking spaces for vehicles and an elec^¬ tric power distribution system. The electric power distri- bution system comprises a connection point at which electric energy provided by an energy provider arrives at the parking structure, and at least one lamp supply cable con^¬ figured to supply electric power from the connection point to a multiplicity of lamp positions. The parking structure furthermore comprises at least one battery charging station for charging the battery of an electric vehicle. The bat^¬ tery charging station is supplied with energy by a connection to the lamp supply cable. First of all, a few terms used throughout the present in^¬ vention will be explained. The term parking structure co^¬ vers all types of roofed or covered parking spaces, such as underground car parks, garages, roofed or covered car park^¬ ing lots, or multistory car parks. A parking structure usu- ally comprises at least one vehicle access for entering and/or leaving the parking structure and at least one ac^¬ cess path accessible by vehicle, wherein the access path connects the at least one vehicle access with the multi^¬ plicity of parking spaces.

A lamp position according to the invention is a position at the ceiling, at the wall, or at the ground of the parking structure at which a lamp may be arranged. It is not neces^¬ sary that a lamp is actually arranged at a lamp position. The multiplicity of lamp positions is configured such that a sufficient illumination of the parking structure can be achieved by mounting appropriately chosen lamps at the lamp positions. Sufficient illumination' means that the illumi^¬ nation is bright enough for a safe use of the parking structure. For instance, a Sufficient illumination' im^¬ plies that pedestrians or building structures such as walls are clearly visible. Lamp positions may depend on building design factors of the parking structure, on the reflectiv^¬ ity of the ground and/or the ceiling and/or the walls of the parking structure, on the light intensity of the lamps used in the parking structure or on external sources of light such as direct or indirect sunlight falling into the parking structure. For instance, if a lamp has a high light intensity, adjacent lamp positions may be chosen further apart from each other. The inventive parking structure allows the use of charging stations in a parking structure without the need of complex and costly installations. In particular, it is not neces^¬ sary to install a separate electric power distribution sys^¬ tem for the charging stations, as the electric power dis- tribution system which supplies energy to lamp positions via lamp supply cables is used to supply electric energy to the charging stations at the same time. Therefore, during construction of an inventive parking structure the design of the electric power distribution system is less complex. Furthermore, in existing parking structures the invention provides a very easy and cost-effective way of retrofitting the parking structure with charging stations. In particu^¬ lar, an already existing electric power distribution system comprising lamp supply cables can be used to supply elec- trie energy to the retrofitted charging stations.

In a preferred embodiment, the electric power distribution system comprises a switch installed at a lamp supply cable between the connection point and a lamp position, wherein the switch is configured to switch on or off the supply of electric power to a multiplicity of lamp positions. The switching states of the switch are in the following called ^xon-state' and ^xoff-state' . The switching may be conducted by switching on and off the voltage supply. Such a switch may be used to switch off the power supply to the multi^¬ plicity of lamp positions in case no power is required at the lamp positions. The switch may be manually operated. For instance, in case no electric power is required, an op^¬ erator may switch off the power supply. The switch may also be time-controlled. For instance, the switch may be config^¬ ured to switch off the power supply during night. The switch may, furthermore, be controlled by a motion detec- tor, detecting the motion of persons or vehicles within the parking structure. The switch may be configured to switch off the power supply, in case no movement of vehicles or persons is detected for a certain time span inside of the parking structure.

However, in case a battery of a vehicle is charged by a charging station which is connected to a lamp supply cable, it may be undesirable that the power supply is switched off. In a preferred embodiment, the parking structure therefore comprises a bypass installed at a lamp supply ca^¬ ble between the connection point and a lamp position parallel to the switch. Power may in this case be supplied to the lamp positions via the bypass, irrespective of the switching state of the switch. The provision of such a by- pass allows to circumvent the switch, in case a battery is charged by a charging station. The battery of a vehicle may therefore be charged, even in cases in which the switch is set to the off-state, for instance at night or in cases where no motion has been detected by a motion detector for a certain period of time.

The bypass may be operated manually by a user. The user may activate the bypass after a connection between a battery and a charging station has been established. In a preferred embodiment, however, the parking structure comprises a sen^¬ sor for detecting a connection between a charging station and a battery of an electric vehicle, wherein the sensor is adapted to send a signal relating to the connection status. Preferably, the bypass is controlled by the signal from the sensor. The term connection status may comprise information on whether or not a connection is established between the charging station and a corresponding charging socket of an electric vehicle, and/or on whether the battery is already charged completely or if it needs further charging.

In a preferred embodiment, the sensor sends a first signal, in case a connection between the charging station and a battery is established. Preferably, upon receipt of the first signal the bypass bypasses the switch such that elec^¬ tric power is supplied to the charging station. Furthermore, it is preferred that the sensor sends a second sig^¬ nal, in case the connection between the battery and the charging station is disconnected or in case the battery is recharged to a desired level. Upon receipt of the second signal, the bypass preferably discontinues to bypass the switch . In an alternative embodiment, the switch is controlled by the signal received from the sensor. In particular, the signal received from the sensor may turn the switch between a charging mode and a non-charging mode. Preferably, upon receipt of the first signal, the switch is turned into the charging mode, and upon receipt of the second signal into the non-charging mode. In the charging mode the switch is preferably adapted to carry out the function of the above mentioned bypass without the need to actually install a physical bypass in parallel to the switch. Advantageously, in the charging mode electric power is supplied to the lamp positions, wherein the manual control and/or the time-con^¬ trol and/or the motion-control of the switch is deac- tivated. Preferably, in the non-charging mode the manual control and/or the time-control and/or the motion-control of the switch is reactivated.

In a preferred embodiment, the sensor detects a current flow in at least one lamp supply cable. By detection of the current flow in at least one lamp supply cable it is possi^¬ ble for the sensor to detect if a battery of an electric vehicle is charged by a charging station. In this case the inventive sensor makes use of the fact that the power con- sumption of a lamp usually is considerably lower than the power consumption of a charging station during the charging progress. Accordingly, the current flow is considerably larger in case a battery is charged by a charging station. The use of a sensor detecting the current flow in a lamp supply cable is advantageous, as it is not required to in^¬ stall a dedicated sensor at each charging station. Instead, a single sensor can be used to monitor the connection status of a multiplicity of charging stations. The installa^¬ tions costs are therefore reduced considerably.

In a further preferred embodiment the parking structure comprises a user terminal, wherein the switch and/or the bypass is controlled by the user terminal. The user may, for instance, enter a desired time span for the charging process or a desired amount of energy to be fed to the bat^¬ tery. The user terminal may be located remote from the charging station, for instance at a central point of the parking structure or in the vicinity of a wiring cabinet of the electric power distribution system.

In a preferred embodiment, the battery charging station is mounted to the ceiling of the parking structure at a posi^¬ tion located essentially above a parking place. This facil^¬ itates the connection between the charging station and an electric vehicle parked beneath the charging station. The charging station may comprises a residual current pro^¬ tective device and/or an overcurrent protection and/or a circuit breaker. In case of any malfunction, these measures guarantee the safety of the user. It is preferred that the charging station comprises a lamp illuminating a space within the parking structure, wherein the lamp emits a luminous flux of more than 200 lumen, preferably more than 400 lumen, more preferably more than 1000 lumen. The lamp may be embodied by all kind of light- ing means such as fluorescent lamps or tubes, electric bulbs, halogen lamps, or LED lamps. Such a luminous flux is appropriate for providing a sufficient illumination. A usual lamp may be replaced by a charging station comprising a lamp. This is particularly beneficial, if a lamp to be replaced is located essentially above a parking space. The installation of charging stations is thereby further simplified. In particular, one and the same lamp supply cable is used to supply energy to the charging station and the lamp comprised therein. In contrast to this, a usual charg^¬ ing station without a lamp would require the installation of an additional lamp, thus increasing the installation costs .

The invention furthermore provides a ceiling mounted charg^¬ ing station for charging the battery of an electric vehicle parking on a parking space. The charging station comprises a charging arm for connection with the electric vehicle. The first end of the charging arm is mounted to a housing of the charging station. A charging interface for connection with a corresponding charging socket of the electric vehicle is located at a second end of the charging arm op^¬ posite to the first end. The charging arm is rotatable with respect to the housing between a stored-position and a use- position. The distance of the second end of the charging arm to the ground of the parking space is smaller in the use-position as in the store-position. The term charging interface has to be understood in a broad meaning. The term charging interface may comprise a con^¬ nector which can be directly inserted into a corresponding charging socket of a vehicle. The term also covers any in^¬ terface which requires further connection means to estab- lish a connection with the charging socket of the vehicle, for instance further cables. The charging interface may comprise one or more of the following: a schuko socket, a type 1 or type 2 vehicle connector socket according to In^¬ ternational Electrotechnical Commission standard IEC 62196, a suitable extension cable for the above mentioned sockets, an optional charge controller, a (smart) meter, circuit breakers and/or fuses. The charging interface may offer in^¬ teraction with the vehicle and/or the user to authorize and control the charging of the vehicle and may also be able to interact with a backend system to e.g. control the charging dependent on the actual loading of a grid. The electronics for said functionality may be situated partly or entirely in the charging interface or may also at least partially or entirely be situated in the housing of the charging sta^¬ tion.

A ceiling within the invention comprises any kind of cover- ing, caping, or roofing structure arranged above a parking space for a vehicle. The term ceiling does not impose any limitations in terms of material, surface condition, or orientation of the ceiling. The inventive charging station may be used in any kind of parking space which provides such a ceiling, for instance a parking space in a garage or in a multistory parking structure.

The distance between the ground of the parking space and the second end of the charging arm means the distance in a vertical direction from the ground to the second end of the charging arm.

The inventive charging station can be mounted to the ceil^¬ ing above a parking space. When the charging station is not in use, the inventive charging arm being mounted rotatable with respect to the housing remains in the stored-position . In this position the charging arm does not disturb the user, as the distance between the ground and the second end of the charging arm is large. Therefore the user can easily perform any maneuvering or parking operations, get in our get out of the vehicle, or load or unload the vehicle with^¬ out being disturbed by the charging arm or any charging equipment attached to the charging arm. After the vehicle is parked on the parking space below the charging station the inventive charging arm may be moved into the use-posi^¬ tion by rotating the charging arm with respect to the housing. As the distance between the ground and the charging interface located at the second end of the charging arm is smaller in the use-position, the user may easily connect the charging interface to a corresponding charging socket of the electric vehicle without handling long cables. Preferably the charging arm is rotatable between the stored-position and the use-position around an axis being essentially parallel to a horizontal axis. By rotation about an essentially horizontal axis the distance between the ground and the charging interface can be effectively adjusted.

Electric vehicles of various types usually differ in their dimensions and also in the position of the charging socket at the car body. A charging station, however has to be ad- justable such that every kind of vehicle can be charged by the charging station. In a preferred embodiment, the charg^¬ ing arm therefore comprises a first segment at which the charging arm is mounted to the housing and a second segment at which the charging interface is located, the first seg- ment and the second segment enclosing an angle between 45° and 135° between each other, wherein, more preferably, the enclosed angle is essentially rectangular. It is further^¬ more preferred that the first segment is arranged essen^¬ tially parallel to a horizontal axis. By using two segments enclosing an angle with each other, the span length of the charging arm (which is the distance of two vertical axes, the first of which intersects the mounting point of the charging arm and the second of which intersects the charg^¬ ing interface) is increased. In particular, the length of the first segment can be chosen appropriately to achieve a use-position, in which the charging interface is positioned close to the corresponding charging socket of the vehicle.

It is furthermore preferred that the charging arm is rotat- able with respect to the housing about a second axis. Pref^¬ erably the second axis encloses an angle between 70° and 110° with the first axis, more preferably an angle of es^¬ sentially 90°. The second axis may be oriented essentially vertical. This configuration provides a very good adjusta^¬ bility of the charging arm and allows the adaption of the charging arm to vehicles of different kind. By rotating the charging arm around the second axis, the charging interface moves circularly around the second axis. Within this cir^¬ cle, the charging interface can be rotated to the position which is closest to the corresponding charging socket to allow an easy connection. The charging arm may be rotatable by 360° around the second axis. However, in many cases it may be sufficient if the charging arm is rotatable by less than 360°, for instance by 180°. In particular, a rotation by 180° may be sufficient to move the charging interface to the left side or to the right side of a vehicle being parked beneath the charging station, so that vehicles having their charging sockets at different sides can be charged easily.

In the stored-position, the charging arm may be located too high to be reached by a user with his hands. In a preferred embodiment a pulling means is therefore attached to the charging arm. The pulling means may be a rope or a ribbon attached to the second end of the charging arm dangling from the charging arm down to a height which is within the reach of the user. The pulling means may be grasped by a user in order to pull the charging arm from the stored-po- sition into the use-position.

In case an extension cable is used to establish a connec^¬ tion between the charging interface and the corresponding charging socket, the extension cable may be longer than needed. In an advantageous embodiment, the charging inter- face therefore comprises a hooking element for a connection cable .

In a preferred embodiment, the charging station comprises a lamp for illumination of the parking space. The lamp may be embodied by all kind of lighting means such as fluorescent lamps or tubes, electric bulbs, halogen lamps, or LED lamps. The provision of a lamp at the charging station is beneficial, as it allows the replacement of lamps which have already been present at the parking space. It is, thus, not necessary to install both charging stations and lamps. The installation costs are therefore reduced. Fur^¬ thermore, the power cables which are usually already pre^¬ sent at parking spaces may be used for the power supply of the inventive charging station. No further cabling needs to be installed.

The features, objects and advantages of the invention will become further apparent by the following exemplary description of preferred embodiments in conjunction with the ac- companying drawings, which show: Figure 1 : schematic overview of a first embodiment an inventive parking structure;

Figure 2 : a schematic view of a wiring cabinet of the first embodiment shown in Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 : a schematic view of a wiring cabinet of a second embodiment of the inventive parking structure ;

Figure 3A: a schematic illustration of the configura^¬ tion of protective devices arranged in an inventive charging station; Figure 4 : a back view of a first embodiment of an in^¬ ventive charging station in the use-posi^¬ tion;

Figure 5 : a three-dimensional view of the charging

station of Figure 4;

Figure 6A: a three-dimensional view of the charging

station of Figure 4 in the use-position; Figure 6B : a three-dimensional view of the charging

station of Figure 4 in an intermediate posi^¬ tion between the use-position and the store- position; Figure 6C a three-dimensional view of the charging

station of Figure 4 in the store-position; Figure 7A-7D: a three-dimensional view of the charging station of Figure 4 in the use-position, wherein the charging arm is in several positions between the right side and the left side of the housing;

Figure 8 : a schematic view of the charging station of

Figure 4 from the top;

Figures 9-13: inclined three-dimensional views of the

housing 14 of the inventive charging sta^¬ tion, wherein the charging arm assumes different rotary positions and wherein the housing is illustrated transparent.

Figure 1 shows a schematic overview of a first embodiment of an inventive parking structure 13. The parking structure 13 comprises an access 14 for vehicles and eight parking spaces 15 arranged within the parking structure 13. Vehi^¬ cles may enter the parking structure through the access 14 and park at one of the parking spaces 15.

Four of the parking spaces 15 located at the lower side of Figure 1 are provided with charging stations 23 or with charging stations 22 comprising a lamp. The charging stations 22 and 23 are mounted to the ceiling of the parking structure above the parking spaces 15. An electric vehicle may park on one of the parking spaces beneath one of the charging stations 22 or 23 so that the battery of the elec- trie vehicle can be recharged. For this purpose, the charg^¬ ing stations 22 and 23 comprise a charging interface (not shown in Figure 1) for connection with a corresponding charging socket of the electric vehicle (not shown in Fig^¬ ure 1 ) .

Six lamp positions 20 and 20a are provided in the parking structure 13. At four lamp positions 20 fluorescent tubes 21 are mounted to the ceiling of the parking structure. At two other lamp positions 20a charging stations 22 compris^¬ ing LED lamps are located. The LED lamps of the charging stations 22 and the fluorescent tubes 21 provide a suffi- cient illumination of the parking structure. In particular, the LED lamps of the charging station 22 provide a luminous flux of 1500 lm.

At a connection point 16, a cable 17 from an energy pro- vider arrives at the parking structure 13 in order to pro^¬ vide electric power. The cable 17 leads into a wiring cabi^¬ net 18 from which the electric power is distributed. A first lamp supply cable 19 leads from the wiring cabinet 18 to a first lamp position 20 and further lamp supply cables lead from the first lamp position 20 to other lamp positions 20, 20a. The lamp supply cables are used to provide electric energy to the fluorescent tubes 21 and to the charging stations 22 comprising LED lamps. Further connection cables 24 are used to supply electric energy from the lamp positions 20a to the charging stations 23.

Figure 2 shows a more detailed schematic view of the wiring cabinet 18 of the first embodiment. The wiring cabinet 18 comprises a switch 25 which is adapted to switch on and off the power supply from the connection point 16 to the lamp supply cable 19. The switch can be controlled by a manual controller 26, by a time controller 27, and by a motion controller 28. By using the manual controller 26, an operator may manually switch on or off the power supply to the fluorescent tubes 21 and to the charging stations 22, 23. Furthermore, the time controller 27 is configured to switch on the power supply at certain times (for example during daytime) and to switch off the power supply at other times (for example during nighttime) . The motion controller 28 is connected to a motion sensor 29 which is placed in the parking structure outside of the wiring cabinet 18. The mo- tion sensor 29 sends motion signals to the motion control^¬ ler 28. The motion controller 28 is configured to switch on the power supply, if a motion of a vehicle or a person is detected by the motion sensor 29. If no motion is detected for a certain time span the motion controller 28 switches off the power supply.

A bypass 30 is installed parallel to the switch 25. Fur^¬ thermore, a current sensor 31 is arranged at the lamp sup^¬ ply cable 19. The current sensor 31 detects the current flow in the lamp supply cable 19. If a battery of a vehicle is attached to a charging station 22 or 23, the current sensor 31 detects an increased current flow through the lamp supply cable 19. In this case the current sensor 31 sends a first signal to the bypass 30. Upon receipt of the first signal from the current sensor 31, the bypass 30 by^¬ passes the switch 25. In this case power is supplied from the connection point 16 to the lamp supply cable 19 via the bypass 30. Accordingly, the battery attached to one of the charging stations 22, 23 is charged irrespective of the switching state (on-state or off-state) of the switch 25.

If the battery is charged to a desired charging level, the current sensor 31 detects a decrease in the current flow in the lamp supply cable 19. In this case the current sensor

31 sends a second signal to the bypass 30. Upon receipt of the second signal the bypass 30 discontinues to bypass the switch 25.

Due to the provision of the inventive bypass 30 and current sensor 31, it is not required to equip each charging sta^¬ tion with a sensor for the connection status or with a switch for switching on or off the power supply. In the ex- emplary embodiment it is rather sufficient to provide a single bypass 30 and a single current sensor 31 at a cen^¬ tral position in the parking structure. Accordingly, the installation costs are reduced considerably. Figure 3 shows an alternative embodiment of a wiring cabi^¬ net in accordance with the present invention in a schematic overview. In comparison with the wiring cabinet of Figure 2, the switch 25 has been replaced by the switch 25' . Fur^¬ thermore, in Figure 3 the switch 25' is attached to a con- nection sensor 32 and there exists no bypass for the switch 25' . The connection sensor 32 is arranged outside of the wiring cabinet 18' at a charging station (not shown in Figure 3) . The connection sensor 32 detects whether or not a connection between the charging station and a battery of an electric vehicle is established and sends an according sig^¬ nal to the switch 25' . In particular, the connection sensor

32 sends a first signal in case a connection between a bat^¬ tery of an electric vehicle and a charging station is de^¬ tected. Upon receipt of the first signal, the switch 25' is set to a charging mode. In the charging mode the switch 25' is set to the on-state, if it has been in the off-state be^¬ fore, or the switch remains in the on-state, if it has been in the on-state before. Furthermore, in the charging mode the manual, time-controlled, or motion-controlled switching of the switch is deactivated. Therefore, a battery can be charged irrespective of the previous switching state of the switch 25' and irrespective of controlling actions of the controllers 26, 27, 28 during the charging process. Upon receipt of the second signal from the connection sensor 32, the switch is set into a non-charging mode, in which the power supply to the lamp position is controlled by the con^¬ trollers 26, 27, 28.

In Figure 3 a user interface 33 is shown which is located at a central position in the parking structure, for in^¬ stance next to the wiring cabinet 18' . The user interface is connected to the switch 25' . After connecting a battery of an electric vehicle to a charging station, the user may enter a desired charging time or a desired amount of charg- ing-energy to be fed to the battery. Subsequently, the switch 25' is set to the charging mode as explained above, so that the battery can be charged as requested by the user.

Figure 3A shows a schematic illustration of the configura^¬ tion of protective devices arranged in an inventive charg^¬ ing station. Electric power is supplied to a charging sta- tion 23 by a lamp supply cable 19. The charging station comprises a charging interface 37 for connection with a corresponding charging socket of an electric vehicle (not shown in Figure 14) . In order to protect the user in case of malfunctions, a circuit breaker 34 and a residual cur- rent protective device 36 are arranged in the circuit be^¬ fore the charging interface 37. Furthermore, a meter 35 is arranged between the circuit breaker 34 and the residual current protective device 36. Figure 4 shows a back view of an inventive charging station 130 mounted at a ceiling 150 above a parking space 200 on which an electric vehicle 210 is parked. The charging sta- tion 130 comprises a housing 140 to which a charging arm 120 is attached. Inside of the housing an LED lamp is ar^¬ ranged which is not visible in Figure 4. The LED lamp serves to illuminate the parking space. The charging arm 120 comprises a first segment 160 and a second segment 170, the segments enclosing and angel of 90° between each other. The first segment 160 is arranged essentially in parallel to the horizontal plane of the ceiling 150. The second seg^¬ ment 170 is arranged essentially vertical. The charging arm 120 is mounted at a mounting point which is not shown in Figure 4 inside of the housing 140. A charging interface

180 is arranged at the second segment 170 at the end of the charging arm 120.

In Figure 4, the charging arm 120 is in a use-position. In this position, a connection between the charging interface and the electric vehicle 210 can be easily established by using a cable 190. The cable 190 is plugged into the charg^¬ ing interface 180 and into the corresponding charging socket 220 of the vehicle 210. In the use-position of the charging arm 120, the distance 230 between the charging interface 180 and the ground of the parking space 200 is small such that the charging interface 180 and the charging socket 220 are essentially on the same height. Therefore, only a short cable is necessary to establish the connec- tion. However, if only a long cable is at hand (such as cable 190 in Figure 4) it can be hinged behind a hooking ele^¬ ment 240 at the charging interface 180, as shown in Figure 4. For a better overview, Figure 5 shows the charging station 130 of Figure 4 in an inclined three-dimensional view. Like elements are labelled with like reference numerals. The ve- hicle as well as the ground is omitted.

Figures 6A, 6B, and 6C show the charging station 130 in the same three-dimensional view of Figure 5, wherein three dif^¬ ferent positions of the charging arm 120 are shown. In Fig- ures 6A-6C the cable 190 is omitted for clarity. The charg^¬ ing arm 120 can be moved from the use-position shown in Figure 6A into an intermediate position shown in Figure 6B and into a stored-position shown in Figure 6C by rotation of the charging arm 120 around the axis 320 indicated by the dashed line in Figures 6A-6C. The axis 320 is oriented along the first segment 160 of the charging arm 120 and in^¬ tersects with the mounting point which is not shown in Figures 6A-6C. By moving the charging arm 120 from the use-po^¬ sition over the intermediate position into the stored-posi- tion, the distance 310 between the charging interface 180 and the ground 250 of the parking space 200 increases. In Figure 6C the charging arm is arranged essentially in par^¬ allel to the plane of the ceiling at a short distance to the ceiling such that the charging arm 120 does not disturb the user.

The charging arm is moved from the use-position into the stored-position by a spring element (not shown in Figures 6A-6C) pre-biasing the charging arm 120 into the stored-po- sition. In Figure 6A, however, the charging arm 120 is locked in the use-position. After releasing the lock, the charging arm 120 moves into the intermediate position and subsequently into the stored-position by means of the spring force. A rope 350 is attached to the charging inter^¬ face 180. A user may grasp the rope 350 in order to pull down the charging arm 120 from the stored-position into the use-position against the force of the spring element.

Figures 7A-7C show the charging station 130 in a three-di^¬ mensional view as already shown in Figures 5 or 6A. The charging station 130 is in the use-position. In Figure 7A the charging arm 120 is located on the right side of the housing 140. In Figures 7B-7D it is illustrated that the charging arm 120 can be rotated about a second axis 330 which is indicated by a dashed line in Figures 7A-7D. The axis 330 is vertical and intersects the mounting point (not shown in Figures 7A-7D) inside of the housing 140. Accord- ingly, by rotation of the charging arm 120 around the axis 330 the charging arm 120 can be moved from a position on the right side of the housing 140 to a position on the left side of the housing 140. Therefore, the charging arm 120 can be moved to both sides of an electric vehicle parked beneath the charging station such that both vehicles having their charging socket on the right side and vehicles having their charging socket on the left side can be easily charged with the inventive charging station. Figure 8 illustrates the charging arm 120 in a schematic view from the top, wherein three positions are shown which can be achieved by a rotation around the axis 330 shown in Figures 7A-7D. The charging arm 120 is in the use-position. As can be seen, the charging arm 120 can be rotated from a position at the right side of the housing 140 to a position at the left side of the housing 140 or to a position at an intermediate position between the right side and the left side. In Figure 8 the housing is illustrated transparent, such that the mounting point 340 is visible. The axis 330 shown in Figures 7A-7D is rectangular to the image plane of Figure 8 and intersects the mounting point 340.

Figures 9-13 show inclined three-dimensional views of the housing 140 of the inventive charging station, wherein the housing 140 is presented in a transparent manner. Figures 9-11 illustrate the rotation of the charging arm 120 around the axis 330 from the right side (corresponding to the po^¬ sition shown in Figure 7A) to a first and a second interme^¬ diate position (corresponding to the positions shown in Figures 7B and 7C) of the charging arm 120. Figures 9, 12 and 13 illustrate the rotation of the charging arm 120 around the axis 320 from the use-position shown in Figure 9 to an intermediate position shown in Figure 12 (correspond^¬ ing to the position shown in Figure 6B) to the stored-posi- tion shown in Figure 13 (corresponding to the position shown in Figure 6C) .

Claims

Patent claims

Parking structure comprising a multiplicity of parking spaces (15) for vehicles; an electric power distribution system comprising a connection point (16) at which electric energy pro^¬ vided by an energy provider arrives at the parking structure, and at least one lamp supply cable (19) configured to supply electric power from the connec^¬ tion point (16) to a multiplicity of lamp positions (20, 20a); and at least one battery charging station (22, 23) for charging the battery of an electric vehicle, characterized in that the battery charging station (22, 23) is supplied with energy by a connection to the lamp supply cable (19) .

Parking structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the electric power distribution system comprises a switch (25, 25' ) installed at a lamp supply cable (19) between the connection point (16) and a lamp position (20, 20a), wherein the switch (25, 25') is configured to switch on and off the supply of electric power to a multiplicity of lamp positions (20, 20a) . Parking structure according to claim 2, characterized in that the electric power distribution system comprises a bypass (30) installed at a lamp supply cable (19) between the connection point (16) and a lamp po^¬ sition (20, 20a) parallel to the switch (25, 25') .

Parking structure according to claim 3, characterized in that the parking structure furthermore comprises a sensor (31, 32) for detecting a connection between a charging station (22, 23) and a battery of an electric vehicle, wherein the sensor (31, 32) is adapted to send a signal relating to the connection status, wherein the bypass (30) and/or the switch (25') is controlled by the signal from the sensor (31, 32) .

Parking structure according to claim 4, characterized in that, the sensor (31, 32) detects the current flow in a lamp supply cable (19) .

Parking structure according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the battery charging station (22, 23) is mounted to the ceiling of the parking structure at a position located essentially above a parking place (15) .

Parking structure according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the battery charging station (22, 23) comprises at least one of the following: a. a residual current protective device; b. an overcurrent protection; circuit breaker; a lamp illuminating a space within the parking structure, wherein preferably the lamp emits a luminous flux of more than 200 lumen.

Ceiling mounted charging station for charging the battery of an electric vehicle (210) parking on a parking space (200), characterized in that the charging station comprises a charging arm (120) for connection with the electric vehicle (210), wherein the first end of the charging arm (120) is mounted to a housing (140) of the charging station, wherein a charging interface (180) for connection with a corresponding charging socket (220) of the electric vehicle (210) is located at a second end the charging arm (120) opposite to the first end, wherein the charging arm (120) is rotatable with re^¬ spect to the housing (140) between a stored-position and a use-position, wherein the distance of the second end of the charg^¬ ing arm (120) to the ground (250) of the parking space (200) is smaller in the use-position as in the stored-position . Charging station according to claim 8, characterized in that the charging arm (120) is rotatable between the stored-position and the use-position around an axis (320) being essentially parallel to a horizontal axis .

Charging station according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the charging arm comprises a first segment (160) at which the charging arm (120) is mounted to the housing (140) and a second segment

(170) at which the charging interface (180) is lo^¬ cated, the first segment (160) and the second segment

(170) enclosing an angle between 45° and 135° between each other.

Charging station according to claim 10, characterized in that the first segment (160) and the second seg^¬ ment (170) enclose an angle between each other which is essentially rectangular.

Charging station according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that the first segment (160) is arranged essentially parallel to a horizontal axis.

Charging station according to one of claims 10 to 12 characterized in that the charging arm (120) is ro^¬ tatable with respect to the housing (140) around a second axis (330) . 14. Charging station according to claim 13, characterized in that the second axis (330) encloses an angle be^¬ tween 70° and 110° with the first axis (320) . Charging station according to one of claims 8 to 14, characterized in that the charging station furthermore comprises at least one of the following: a. a pulling means (350) which is attached to the charging arm (120); b. a hooking element (240) for a connection cable, wherein preferably the hooking element (240) is arranged at the charging interface (180); a lamp for illumination of the parking space (200), wherein preferably the lamp emits a lu^¬ minous flux of more than 200 lumen.