System and method for securing, recharging and operating an electric bicycle

Abstract

A securing system for securing an electric bicycle to a bicycle docking frame includes a female connecting assembly mountable on the bicycle docking frame and a male connecting assembly mountable on the electric bicycle and sized to be received within a tapered recess of the female connecting assembly. When so received, first current coupling elements of the female assembly electrically interface with second current coupling elements of the male assembly, which can allow current flow therebetween to charge a battery of the electric bicycle. A bicycle rack system includes electric bicycles, bicycle docks, a charging module operable to receive electrical power from an external power source and a charging controller for adjusting the level of electrical power provided to dock-side charging modules that charge battery modules of electric bicycles docked thereto. A method for managing charging and an electric bike are also disclosed.

1 . A securing system for securing an electric vehicle to a docking frame, comprising:
 a female connecting assembly mountable on the docking frame, the female connecting assembly having:
 an electrically insulated body having inwardly facing opposed sidewalls defining a tapered recess; and 
 first current coupling elements each positioned in a respective one of the opposed sidewalls; and 
   a male connecting assembly mountable on the electric vehicle, the male connecting assembly having:
 an electrically insulated tapered body having opposed sidewalls converging towards each other and being sized to be received within the tapered recess of the female connecting assembly; and 
 second current coupling elements each being received in a respective one of the opposed sidewalls, each second current coupling element being positioned to electrically interface with a corresponding first current coupling element upon the electrically insulated tapered body of the male connecting assembly being received within the tapered recess of the female connecting assembly. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the female connecting assembly further comprises biasing assemblies positioned in a respective one of the opposed sidewalls, each biasing assembly having one of the first current coupling elements, a biasing element urging the first current coupling element outwardly to protrude from the sidewall, and an electrical connector for connecting the current coupling element to a current source. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein each opposed sidewall of the male connecting assembly comprises a receiving recess and a throughhole within the receiving recess providing communication between an interior of the tapered body and an exterior of the tapered body; and
 wherein each second current coupling element projects through the throughhole of the respective one of the opposed sidewalls to contact a respective electrical connector.   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the second current coupling elements selectively receive electric current from the first current coupling elements when interfaced therewith. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first current coupling elements are electrically conductive;
 wherein the second current coupling elements are electrically conductive; and   wherein the second current coupling elements receive current from the first current coupling elements from physical contact therebetween.   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first current coupling elements comprise inductive coupling elements;
 wherein the second current coupling elements comprise inductive coupling elements; and   wherein the second current coupling elements receive current from the first current coupling elements from inductive coupling therebetween.   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein each of first current coupling elements and each of the second current coupling elements are sized and shaped to cooperatively engage one another when the male connecting assembly is received within the tapered recess of the female connecting assembly. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the first current coupling element is a ball element; and
 wherein the second current coupling element is concave to cooperate with the ball element.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the biasing element of each biasing assembly of the female connecting assembly is an electrically conductive spring element providing a conductive path between the ball element and the electrical connector. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the second current coupling element is electrically connected to a battery for storing electrical energy powering the electric vehicle; and
 wherein current received at the second current coupling elements from the first current coupling elements when interfaced is used to recharge the battery.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the male connecting assembly further comprises a machine-readable identification tag indicating a type of vehicle to which the male connecting assembly is mounted; and
 wherein the female connecting assembly comprises an electronic control subsystem configured to read the identification tag when the tapered body of the male connecting assembly is received within the tapered recess of the female connecting assembly and selectively enable providing of charging current to the male connecting assembly based on the type of the vehicle.   
     
     
         12 . A rack system comprising:
 a plurality of electric vehicle, each vehicle comprising:   a plurality of vehicle docks, each dock having a female connecting assembly of the securing system  claim 1  mounted thereto and being configured to receive one of the electric vehicles docked therewith and having a dock-side charging module operable to selectively provide an electric current to a battery module of the electric vehicle docked therewith via mating of the male connecting assembly to the female connecting assembly;   a top-level charging module operable to receive electrical power from an external power source and to selectively provide electrical power to the dock-side charging module of one or more of the vehicle docks; and   a charging controller configured for adjusting the level of electrical power provided by the top-level charging module to the dock-side charging modules of the one or more vehicle docks.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the charging controller is configured to adjust the level of electrical power drawn from the external source of power and provided by the top-level charging module to the dock-side charging modules of the one or more vehicle docks based on at least one operating parameter within the vehicle rack system. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one operating parameter comprises a charge level of the battery module of the electric vehicle docked to a given one of the vehicle docks; and
 wherein the charging controller is configured to adjust the level of electrical power drawn from the external source of power and provided to the dock-side charging module of the given vehicle dock based on charge level of the electric vehicle docked thereto.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one operating parameter comprises a charge level of the battery modules of a plurality of electric vehicles docked to a subset of the vehicle docks;
 wherein the charging controller is configured to adjust the level of electrical power drawn from the external source of power and provided by the top-level charging module to the dock-side charging modules of each of the subset of vehicle docks based on the charge level of the battery modules; and   wherein the electrical power provided by the top-level charging module to the dock-side charging module of a first of the subset of vehicle docks is different from electrical power provided to the dock-side charging module of a second of the subset of vehicle docks.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one operating parameter comprises a number of vehicle docks having electric vehicles docked thereto; and
 wherein the charging controller is configured to adjust the level of electrical power drawn from the external source of power and provided to the dock-side charging modules based on the number of vehicle docks having electric vehicles docked thereto.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one operating parameter comprises an expected usage demand for electric vehicles; and
 wherein the charging controller is configured to adjust the level of electrical power drawn from the external source of power and provided to the dock-side charging modules based on the expected usage demand for electric vehicles.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one operating parameter comprises a cost of electrical power from the external source of power; and
 wherein the charging controller is configured to adjust the level of electrical power drawn from the external source of power and provided to the dock-side charging modules based on the cost of electrical power from the external source of power.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one operating parameter comprises the total amount of electrical power consumed from the external source of power being tracked over an interval of time; and
 wherein the charging controller is configured to adjust the level of electrical power drawn from the external source of power and provided to the dock-side charging modules based on the total amount of electrical power consumed from the external source of power being tracked over an interval of time.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the top-level charging module and the dock-side charging modules are configured to have a given level of maximum power consumption and wherein the external source of power provides a level of maximum amount of available power being less than the maximum power consumption; and
 wherein the charging controller is configured to adjust the level of electrical power drawn from the external source of power based on the level of maximum amount of available power from the external source of power.