Charging assembly for electric vehicle

Abstract

A charging assembly for an electric vehicle that can be mounted on a public utility pole, such as an electricity pole. The charging assembly includes a housing enclosing a charging circuitry and a control unit. The charging circuitry is electrically connected to a power supply and an electric cord for charging the electric vehicle. The control unit includes a network circuitry for creating a network over which a user device can connect to interact with the charging assembly through an interface provided on the user device. The charging assembly further includes a beacon, a dome camera, a display panel, and a series of indicators for showing the progress of the charging.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A charging assembly for an electric vehicle comprising:
 a lift mechanism configured to couple to a utility pole;   a housing coupled to the lift mechanism, the housing has a top, a left side, a right side, a bottom, a rear, and a front, wherein the lift mechanism configured to move the housing up and down relative to the utility pole;   a charging circuitry in the housing configured to electrically connect to a power supply;   an electric cord connected at one end to the charging circuitry and another end of the electric cord connected to a plug, the plug configured to connect to a charging port of an electric vehicle;   a beacon operably configured to switch between predetermined modes, the beacon positioned to be visible from a distance.   
     
     
         2 . The charging assembly according to  claim 1 , wherein the charging assembly further comprises a dome camera mounted on the housing. 
     
     
         3 . The charging assembly according to  claim 1 , wherein the charging assembly further comprises:
 a control unit enclosed in the housing and operably coupled to the charging circuitry; and   a network circuitry coupled to the control unit and configured to create a wireless local area network or connect to an external network,   wherein a user device is capable of directly connecting with the charging assembly over the wireless local area network.   
     
     
         4 . The charging assembly according to  claim 3 , wherein the wireless local area network is an unstructured supplementary service data connection. 
     
     
         5 . The charging assembly according to  claim 4 , wherein the charging assembly further comprises a “QR” code configured to be scanned by the user device for connecting to the wireless local area network. 
     
     
         6 . The charging assembly according to  claim 1 , wherein the charging assembly further comprises a display panel mounted to the front of the housing and configured to display information related to charging of the electric vehicle. 
     
     
         7 . The charging assembly according to  claim 6 , wherein the charging assembly further comprises a series of indicators coupled to the housing and below the display panel, the series of indicators configured to present progress of charging the electric vehicle. 
     
     
         8 . A method for charging an electric vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
 providing a charging assembly, the charging assembly comprises:
 a lift mechanism configured to couple to a utility pole, 
 a housing coupled to the lift mechanism, wherein the lift mechanism is configured to move the housing up and down relative to the utility pole, 
 a charging circuitry in the housing configured to electrically connect to a power supply; 
 an electric cord connected at one end to the charging circuitry and another end of the electric cord connected to a plug, the plug configured to connect to a charging port of the electric vehicle, and 
 a beacon configured to switch between predetermined modes, the beacon positioned to be visible from a distance. 
   
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the charging assembly further comprises a dome camera mounted on the housing. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the charging assembly further comprises:
 a control unit enclosed in the housing and operably coupled to the charging circuitry, and   a network circuitry coupled to the control unit and configured to create a wireless local area network or connect to an external network;   
       wherein the method further comprises:
 connecting a user device to the charging assembly over the wireless local area network. 
 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 10 , wherein the wireless local area network is an unstructured supplementary service data connection. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the charging assembly further comprises a “QR” code configured to be scanned by the user device for connecting to the wireless local area network. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the charging assembly further comprises a display panel mounted to a front of the housing and configured to display information related to charging of the electric vehicle. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 13 , wherein the charging assembly further comprises a series of indicators coupled to the housing and below the display panel, the series of indicators configured to present progress of charging the electric vehicle. 
     
     
         15 . A charging assembly for electric vehicles comprising:
 a housing mounted at a top of a utility pole, the housing has a top, a left side, a right side, a bottom, a rear, and a front;   a charging circuitry in the housing and configured to electrically connect to a power supply; and   an electric cord connected at one end to the charging circuitry and another end of the electric cord connected to a plug, the plug configured to connect to a charging port of an electric vehicle, the electric cord enters the utility pole at a top portion, passes downwards within the utility pole and extends out from the utility pole at a bottom portion of the utility pole.   
     
     
         16 . The charging assembly according to  claim 15 , wherein charging assembly further comprises:
 a motorized reel cord mechanism that permits extension and retraction of the electric cord from the bottom portion of the utility pole; and   a panel mounted at the bottom portion of the utility pole, the panel configured to secure extension of the electric cord, the panel configured to switch between a lock state and an unlock state, the electric cord cannot extend in the lock state, the electric cord can extend in the unlock state.   
     
     
         17 . The charging assembly according to  claim 16 , wherein the panel has a keypad configured to receive a predetermined code for switching from the lock state to the unlock state. 
     
     
         18 . The charging assembly according to  claim 17 , wherein the panel is configured to receive an instruction from a user device through near field communication (NFC) for switching from the lock state to the unlock state, wherein the user device is tapped on the panel. 
     
     
         19 . The charging assembly according to  claim 16 , wherein the utility pole is a utility pole for street lightening.