Internal short detection apparatus for secondary-battery, internal short detection method for secondary-battery, battery-pack, and electronic equipment

• US 20060186859A1
• Filed: 02/16/2006
• Published: 08/24/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kawabe, Masaru, Fujikawa, Masato, Shimada, Mikinari
• Granted Patent: US 7,560,901 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 320/134
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/36 Arrangements for testing, measuring or monitoring the electrical condition of accumulators or electric batteries, e.g. capacity or state of charge [SoC]
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/52 Testing for short-circuits, leakage current or ground faults
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00 Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0031 using battery or load disconnect circuits H02J9/002 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0036 using connection detecting circuits H02J7/0034 takes precedence

Abstract

A secondary-battery internal short detection apparatus is provided which is capable of precisely detecting an internal short being generated in a secondary-battery. In this apparatus: an electricity-quantity storage circuit stores in advance a reference electricity-quantity necessary for charging the secondary-battery from a first voltage to a second voltage; an electricity-quantity accumulation circuit measures an accumulative electricity-quantity necessary for charging the secondary-battery from the first voltage to the second voltage; and an internal short detection circuit compares the accumulative electricity-quantity measured by the electricity-quantity accumulation circuit and the reference electricity-quantity stored in the electricity-quantity storage circuit, if the accumulative electricity-quantity is larger than the reference electricity-quantity, then decides that an internal short is generated, and if the accumulative electricity-quantity is equal to, or smaller than, the reference electricity-quantity, then without deciding that an internal short is generated, rewrites the reference electricity-quantity stored in the electricity-quantity storage circuit into the accumulative electricity-quantity.

Claims

1. A secondary-battery internal short detection apparatus which detects an internal short in a secondary-battery, comprising:

an electricity-quantity storage circuit which stores a reference electricity-quantity necessary for charging the secondary-battery from a first voltage to a second voltage higher than the first voltage;

an electricity-quantity accumulation circuit which measures an accumulative electricity-quantity necessary for charging the secondary-battery from the first voltage to the second voltage; and

an internal short detection circuit which compares the accumulative electricity-quantity measured by the electricity-quantity accumulation circuit and the reference electricity-quantity stored in the electricity-quantity storage circuit, if the accumulative electricity-quantity is larger than the reference electricity-quantity, then decides that an internal short is generated, and if the accumulative electricity-quantity is equal to, or smaller than, the reference electricity-quantity, then decides that an internal short is not generated and rewrites the reference electricity-quantity stored in the electricity-quantity storage circuit into the accumulative electricity-quantity.

2. The secondary-battery internal short detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein if the accumulative electricity-quantity is larger, by 3 percent or over, than the reference electricity-quantity, then the internal short detection circuit decides that an internal short is generated.

3. The secondary-battery internal short detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the internal short detection circuit:

compares, for each charge and discharge cycle, the accumulative electricity-quantity measured by the electricity-quantity accumulation circuit and the reference electricity-quantity stored in the electricity-quantity storage circuit;

if the accumulative electricity-quantity is larger than the reference electricity-quantity, then decides that an internal short is generated; and

if the accumulative electricity-quantity is equal to, or smaller than, the reference electricity-quantity, then decides that an internal short is not generated and rewrites the reference electricity-quantity stored in the electricity-quantity storage circuit into the accumulative electricity-quantity.

4. The secondary-battery internal short detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein only if the accumulative electricity-quantity continues to be larger, a plurality of times, than the reference electricity-quantity, then the internal short detection circuit decides that an internal short is generated.

5. The secondary-battery internal short detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the electricity-quantity storage circuit stores the reference electricity-quantity at the number of a plurality of times; and

the internal short detection circuit;

compares the accumulative electricity-quantity measured by the electricity-quantity accumulation circuit and the reference electricity-quantity at the number of the plurality of times stored in the electricity-quantity storage circuit; and

only if the accumulative electricity-quantity is larger than the reference electricity-quantity all the plurality of times, then decides that an internal short is generated.

7. A battery-pack, comprising:

a secondary-battery;

a voltage detection circuit which detects a voltage up to which the secondary-battery is charged;

a current detection circuit which detects an electric current which passes through the secondary-battery;

the internal short detection apparatus according to claim 1;

a battery-pack switch which turns on and off the power supplied to the outside from the secondary-battery; and

a battery-pack switch control circuit which receives an internal short signal outputted when the internal short detection apparatus decides that an internal short is generated, and turns off the battery-pack switch.

8. Electronic equipment in which the battery-pack according to claim 7 is used as a power-source, comprising:

a battery charger which charges a secondary-battery provided in the battery-pack;

an alarming means; and

an alarm control circuit which receives a signal indicating an internal short which is outputted from the battery-pack, and allows the alarming means to warn that the internal short is generated.

9. The electronic equipment according to claim 8, further comprising:

a load section to which the power is supplied from the secondary-battery;

an electronic-equipment switch which turns on and off the power supplied to the load section from the secondary-battery; and

an electronic-equipment switch control circuit which receives a signal indicating an internal short which is outputted from the battery-pack, and turns off the electronic-equipment switch.

10. The electronic equipment according to claim 9, wherein:

the electronic-equipment switch control circuit receives an internal short signal indicating an internal short which is outputted from the battery-pack and a subtraction value left when the reference electricity-quantity is subtracted from the accumulative electricity-quantity, and turns off the electronic-equipment switch if the subtraction value is equal to, or more than, a predetermined value; and

the alarm control circuit receives the internal short signal and the subtraction value, and if the subtraction value is less than the predetermined value, allows the alarming means to warn that an internal short is generated.

11. Electronic equipment in which the battery-pack according to claim 7 is used as a power-source, comprising:

a battery charger which charges a secondary-battery provided in the battery-pack;

a load section to which the power is supplied from the secondary-battery;

an electronic-equipment switch which turns on and off the power supplied to the load section from the secondary-battery; and

an electronic-equipment switch control circuit which receives a signal indicating an internal short which is outputted from the battery-pack, and turns off the electronic-equipment switch.

6. A secondary-battery internal short detection method for detecting an internal short in a secondary-battery, comprising:

an electricity-quantity accumulating step of measuring an accumulative electricity-quantity necessary for charging the secondary-battery from a first voltage to a second voltage higher than the first voltage;

an electricity-quantity comparing step of comparing the accumulative electricity-quantity measured in the electricity-quantity accumulating step and a reference electricity-quantity which is stored in advance in an electricity-quantity storage circuit and is necessary for charging the secondary-battery from the first voltage to the second voltage;

an internal short detecting step of deciding that an internal short is generated, if the accumulative electricity-quantity is larger than the reference electricity-quantity in the electricity-quantity comparing step; and

a reference electricity-quantity rewriting step of deciding that an internal short is not generated and rewriting the reference electricity-quantity stored in the electricity-quantity storage circuit into the accumulative electricity-quantity, if the accumulative electricity-quantity is equal to, or smaller than, the reference electricity-quantity in the electricity-quantity comparing step.