Battery pack and battery remaining power calculating method

• US 20040212349A1
• Filed: 02/10/2004
• Published: 10/28/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Tsuchiya, Yukio, Sato, Hideyuki, Tashiro, Kei
• Granted Patent: US 6,972,545 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 320/132
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/44 Methods for charging or discharging circuits for charging H02J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

The present invention relates to a battery pack having a function for calculating a remaining capacity of a battery cell that can be charged. When a calculated capacity integrated value Y is smaller than a maximum capacity integrated value Ym, a microcomputer (5) incorporated in the battery pack determines the capacity integrated value Y as the remaining capacity data of a battery. When the calculated capacity integrated value Y is the maximum capacity integrated value Ym or larger, the microcomputer determines the maximum capacity integrated value Ym as the remaining capacity data of the battery. Further, the microcomputer (5) corrects a reference capacity integrated value Y0 on the basis of the number of times that the capacity integrated value Y reaches the maximum capacity integrated value Ym.

Claims

1. A battery pack mounted on an external device, the battery pack comprising:

a battery cell that is charged and discharged;

a current detecting means for detecting electric current flowing when the battery cell is charged and discharged;

a capacity integrated value calculating means for calculating a capacity integrated value by integrating the electric current;

a reset means for resetting the capacity integrated value to a reference capacity integrated value when the current detected by the current detecting means reaches a prescribed value;

a storing means for storing a maximum capacity integrated value and the reference capacity integrated value; and

a data calculating means for calculating a remaining capacity data of a battery on the basis of the capacity integrated value, wherein the capacity integrated value calculating means integrates the current by regarding the reference capacity integrated value as a reference, and the data calculating means determines the capacity integrated value calculated by the capacity integrated value calculating means as the remaining capacity data of the battery when the capacity integrated value calculated by the capacity integrated value calculating means is smaller than the maximum capacity integrated value and determines the maximum capacity integrated value as the remaining capacity data of the battery when the capacity integrated value calculated by the capacity integrated value calculating means is not smaller than the maximum capacity integrated value.

2. The battery pack according to claim 1, further comprising:

a reaching time counting means for counting a number of times that the capacity integrated value calculated by the capacity integrated value calculating means reaches the maximum capacity integrated value; and

a reference capacity integrated value correcting means for correcting the reference capacity integrated value on the basis of the number of times counted by the reaching time counting means.

3. The battery pack according to claim 2, wherein the reference capacity integrated value corrected by the reference capacity integrated value correcting means is a prescribed value or larger.

4. The battery pack according to claim 1, further including a data output means for outputting the remaining capacity data of the battery to the external device.

5. The battery pack according to claim 1, further including a charging and discharging time counting means for counting the number of times that the battery cell is charged and discharged, wherein the reference capacity integrated value correcting means corrects the reference capacity integrated value on the basis of the number of times counted by the charging and discharging time counting means.

6. A battery pack mounted on an external device, the battery pack comprising:

a battery cell that is charged and discharged;

a current detecting means for detecting electric current flowing when the battery cell is charged and discharged;

a capacity integrated value calculating means for calculating a capacity integrated value by integrating the electric current;

a reset means for resetting the capacity integrated value to a reference capacity integrated value when the current detected by the current detecting means reaches a prescribed value;

a storing means for storing a maximum capacity integrated value and the reference capacity integrated value;

a reaching time counting means for counting a number of times that the capacity integrated value reaches the maximum capacity integrated value; and

a reference capacity integrated value correcting means for correcting the reference capacity integrated value on the basis of the number of times counted by the reaching time counting means, wherein the capacity integrated value calculating means integrates the current on the basis of the reference capacity integrated value to calculate the capacity integrated value and determines the capacity integrated value as the remaining capacity data of a battery.

7. The battery pack according to claim 6, wherein the reference capacity integrated value corrected by the reference capacity integrated value correcting means is a prescribed value or larger.

8. The battery pack according to claim 6, further including a data output means for outputting the remaining capacity data of the battery to the external device.

9. The battery pack according to claim 6, further including a charging and discharging time counting means for counting a number of times that the battery cell is charged and discharged, wherein the reference capacity integrated value correcting means corrects the reference capacity integrated value on the basis of the number of times counted by the charging and discharging time counting means.

10. A method for calculating the remaining capacity of a battery of a battery pack mounted on an external device, the method comprising:

a current detecting step of detecting electric current flowing when a battery cell provided in the battery pack is charged and discharged;

a capacity integrated value calculating step of calculating a capacity integrated value by integrating the electric current;

a resetting step of resetting the capacity integrated value to a reference capacity integrated value when the current reaches a prescribed value; and

a data calculating step of calculating the remaining capacity data of a battery on the basis of the capacity integrated value, wherein in the capacity integrated value calculating step, the current is integrated on the basis of the reference capacity integrated value, and in the data calculating step, the capacity integrated value calculated in the capacity integrated value calculating step is compared with a maximum capacity integrated value stored in a storing means and the capacity integrated value calculated in the capacity integrated value calculating step is determined as the remaining capacity data of the battery when the capacity integrated value calculated in the capacity integrated value calculating step is smaller than the maximum capacity integrated value and the maximum capacity integrated value is determined as the remaining capacity data of the battery when the capacity integrated value calculated in the capacity integrated value calculating step is larger than the maximum capacity integrated value.

11. The method for calculating the remaining capacity of a battery according to claim 10, further comprising:

a reaching time counting step of counting a number of times that the capacity integrated value calculated in the capacity integrated value calculating step reaches the maximum capacity integrated value; and

a first reference capacity integrated value correcting step of correcting the reference capacity integrated value on the basis of the number of times counted in the reaching time counting step.

12. The method for calculating the remaining capacity of a battery according to claim 11, wherein the reference capacity integrated value corrected in the first reference capacity integrated value correcting step is a prescribed value or larger.

13. The method for calculating the remaining capacity of a battery according to claim 10, further including a data output step of outputting the remaining capacity data of the battery to the external device.

14. The method for calculating the remaining capacity of a battery according to claim 10, further comprising:

a charging and discharging time counting step of counting a number of times that the battery cell is charged and discharged, and

a second reference capacity integrated value correcting step of correcting the reference capacity integrated value on the basis of the number of times counted by the charging and discharging time counting step.

15. The method for calculating the remaining capacity of a battery according to claim 14, wherein the reference capacity integrated value corrected in the second reference capacity integrated value correcting step is a prescribed value or larger.

16. A method for calculating a remaining capacity of a battery of a battery pack mounted on an external device, the method comprising:

a current detecting step of detecting electric current flowing when a battery cell provided in the battery pack is charged and discharged;

a capacity integrated value calculating step of calculating a capacity integrated value by integrating the electric current;

a resetting step of resetting the capacity integrated value to obtain a reference capacity integrated value when the current reaches a prescribed value;

a reaching time counting step of counting the number of times that the capacity integrated value calculated in the capacity integrated value calculating step reaches a maximum capacity integrated value stored in a storing means; and

a first reference capacity integrated value correcting step of correcting the reference capacity integrated value stored in the storing means on the basis of the number of times counted in the reaching time counting step, wherein in the capacity integrated value calculating step, the current is integrated on the basis of the reference capacity integrated value to calculate the capacity integrated value and the capacity integrated value is determined as the remaining capacity data of the battery.

17. The method for calculating the remaining capacity of a battery according to claim 16, wherein the reference capacity integrated value corrected in the first reference capacity integrated value correcting step is a prescribed value or larger.

18. The method for calculating the remaining capacity of a battery according to claim 16, further including a data output step of outputting the remaining capacity data of the battery to the external device.

19. The method for calculating the remaining capacity of a battery according to claim 16, further comprising:

a charging and discharging time counting step of counting the number of times that the battery cell is charged and discharged, and

a second reference capacity integrated value correcting step of correcting the reference capacity integrated value stored in the storing means on the basis of the number of times counted in the charging and discharging time counting step.

20. The method for calculating the remaining capacity of a battery according to claim 19, wherein the reference capacity integrated value corrected in the second reference capacity integrated value correcting step is a prescribed value or larger.