Granted Patent B2

US 12,370,917 · App. 17/579,240 · Granted Jul 29, 2025

Inventors: Max K. Ralya (Ypsilanti, MI); Tapan V. Patel (South Lyon, MI); Benjamin J. Groelke (Ann Arbor, MI)

Assignee: TOYOTA MOTOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING NORTH AMERICA, INC.

B60L53/66B60L58/13G07C11/00G08G1/017G08G1/0969B60L2240/80G07C2011/04

Abstract

Claims (84)

1. A method, comprising:

identifying by a server that a first transport is waiting to receive energy from a charging station in a charging bay;

identifying by the server a first priority of the first transport to receive the energy from the charging station and a second priority of a second transport that is currently in the charging bay to receive energy from the charging station;

identifying by the server that the first priority is greater than the second; and

in response to the first priority being identified as greater than the second priority, sending a notification to the second transport to vacate the charging bay after an expiration of a time period measured by the server.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifying that the first priority is greater than the second priority, further comprises one or more of:

determining that an amount of energy received by the second transport from the charging station exceeds a charge limit of the second transport, or

determining that an amount of time that the second transport receives the energy from the charging station exceeds a threshold amount of time charge limit of the second transport.

3. The method of claim 1 , the identifying that the first priority is greater than the second priority, further comprises:

determining a time difference between when the second transport enters the charging bay and when the second transport starts to receive the energy;

determining that the time difference is greater than a time threshold; and

in response to the time difference being determined to be greater than the time threshold, sending the notification to the second transport.

4. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

determining that the first transport will run out of energy while waiting for the second transport to vacate the charging bay;

in response to it being determined that the first transport will run out of energy, sending a different notification to the second transport to vacate the charging bay, wherein the different notification is sent before the expiration of the time period;

notifying the first transport to,

enter the charging bay and begin receiving the energy from the charging station until a certain amount of energy has been received, and

vacate the charging bay after the certain amount of energy has been received; and

notifying the second transport to reenter the charging bay and resume the receiving of energy from the charging station.

5. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

receiving a request from the first transport, or a device associated with the first transport, to enter a queue of the charging station, wherein the queue contains one or more other transports; and

sorting the first transport and the one or more other transports in the queue according to their respective priorities, wherein the respective priorities are determined based on a current amount of charge needed and a charging history for each of the one or more other transports.

6. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

in response to the second transport being unable to charge at the charging station, providing a notification to the second transport to vacate the charging bay; and

providing directions to the second transport to proceed to an alternate location to receive energy.

7. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

in response to determining at least one of:

a charging rate of the second transport is slower than a charging rate of the first transport, or a time to fully charge the second transport is more than a delay time,

providing a notification to the second transport to vacate the charging bay.

8. A system, comprising:

a processor that, when executing instructions stored in a memory, is configured to:

identify that a first transport is waiting to receive energy from a charging station in a charging bay;

identify a first priority of the first transport to receive the energy from the charging station and a second priority of a second transport that is currently in the charging bay to receive energy from the charging station;

identify that the first priority is greater than the second priority; and

in response to the first priority being identified as greater than the second priority, send a notification to the second transport to vacate the charging bay after an expiration of a time period measured by the server.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein when the processor identifies that the first priority is greater than the second priority, the processor is further configured to one or more of:

determine that an amount of energy received by the second transport from the charging station exceeds a charge limit of the second transport, or

determine that an amount of time that the second transport receives the energy from the charging station exceeds a threshold amount of time charge limit of the second transport.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein when the processor identifies that the first priority is greater than the second priority, the processor is further configured to one or more of:

determine a time difference between when the second transport enters the charging bay and when the second transport starts to receive the energy;

determine that the time difference is greater than a time threshold; and

in response to the time difference being determined to be greater than the time threshold, send the notification to the second transport.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine that the first transport will run out of energy while waiting for the second transport to vacate the charging bay;

in response to it being determined that the first transport will run out of energy, send a different notification to the second transport to vacate the charging bay, wherein the different notification is sent before the expiration of the time period;

notify the first transport to,

enter the charging bay and begin receiving the energy from the charging station until a certain amount of energy has been received, and

vacate the charging bay after the certain amount of energy has been received; and

notify the second transport to reenter the charging bay and resume the receiving of energy from the charging station.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive a request from the first transport, or a device associated with the first transport, to enter a queue of the charging station, wherein the queue contains one or more other transports; and

sort the first transport and the one or more other transports in the queue according to their respective priorities, wherein the respective priorities are determined based on a current amount of charge needed and a charging history for each of the one or more other transports.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

in response to the second transport being unable to charge at the charging station, provide a notification to the second transport to vacate the charging bay; and

provide directions to the second transport to proceed to an alternate location to receive energy.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

in response to at least one of:

a charging rate of the second transport is slower than a charging rate of the first transport, or a time to fully charge the second transport is more than a delay time,

provide a notification to the second transport to vacate the charging bay.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform:

identifying by a server that a first transport is waiting to receive energy from a charging station in a charging bay;

identifying by the server a first priority of the first transport to receive the energy from the charging station and a second priority of a second transport that is currently in the charging bay to receive energy from the charging station;

identifying by the server that the first priority is greater than the second priority; and

in response to the first priority being identified as greater than the second priority, sending a notification to the second transport to vacate the charging bay after an expiration of a time period measured by the server.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the identifying that the first priority is greater than the second priority, further comprises one or more of:

determining that an amount of energy received by the second transport from the charging station exceeds a charge limit of the second transport, or

determining that an amount of time that the second transport receives the energy from the charging station exceeds a threshold amount of time charge limit of the second transport.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the identifying that the first priority is greater than the second priority, further comprises:

determining a time difference between when the second transport enters the charging bay and when the second transport starts to receive the energy;

determining that the time difference is greater than a time threshold; and

in response to the time difference being determined to be greater than the time threshold, sending the notification to the second transport.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to perform:

determining that the first transport will run out of energy while waiting for the second transport to vacate the charging bay;

in response to it being determined that the first transport will run out of energy, sending a different notification to the second transport to vacate the charging bay, wherein the different notification is sent before the expiration of the time period;

notifying the first transport to,

enter the charging bay and begin receiving the energy from the charging station until a certain amount of energy has been received, and

vacate the charging bay after the certain amount of energy has been received; and

notifying the second transport to reenter the charging bay and resume the receiving of energy from the charging station.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to perform:

receiving a request from the first transport, or a device associated with the first transport, to enter a queue of the charging station, wherein the queue contains one or more other transports; and

sorting the first transport and the one or more other transports in the queue according to their respective priorities, wherein the respective priorities are determined based on a current amount of charge needed and a charging history for each of the one or more other transports.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to perform:

in response to the second transport being unable to charge at the charging station, providing a notification to the second transport to vacate the charging bay; and

providing directions to the second transport to proceed to an alternate location to receive energy.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (16)