Hybrid battery and its charging/discharging method
First Claim
1. A hybrid battery, comprising:
- a plurality of rechargeable batteries, each having high current paths;
a switching element for selecting one of the high current paths of the rechargeable batteries by electrically connecting to one of the high current paths of the rechargeable batteries;
a hybrid battery protection circuit electrically connected to the plurality of rechargeable batteries and driven by power supplied by one of the plurality of rechargeable batteries, the hybrid battery protection circuit being electrically connected to the switching element and charging/discharging the plurality of rechargeable batteries in sequence by transmitting an on/off signal to the switching element.
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Abstract
A hybrid battery and its charging/discharging method automatically charges/discharges batteries having different capacities. The hybrid battery includes a plurality of rechargeable batteries; switching elements which are electrically connected to the plurality of rechargeable batteries having high current paths for electrically connecting to one of the high current paths; and a hybrid battery protection circuit electrically connected to the plurality of rechargeable batteries and driven by power supplied by one of the plurality of rechargeable batteries, the hybrid battery protection circuit charging/discharging the plurality of rechargeable batteries in sequence by transmitting an on/off signal to the switching element.
32 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A hybrid battery, comprising:
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a plurality of rechargeable batteries, each having high current paths; a switching element for selecting one of the high current paths of the rechargeable batteries by electrically connecting to one of the high current paths of the rechargeable batteries; a hybrid battery protection circuit electrically connected to the plurality of rechargeable batteries and driven by power supplied by one of the plurality of rechargeable batteries, the hybrid battery protection circuit being electrically connected to the switching element and charging/discharging the plurality of rechargeable batteries in sequence by transmitting an on/off signal to the switching element. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A hybrid battery, comprising:
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a plurality of rechargeable batteries; a plurality of switching elements for battery selection, each switching element being respectively electrically connected to a high current path of one of the plurality of rechargeable batteries, the number of switching elements corresponding to that of the plurality of rechargeable batteries; a switching element for charging/discharging including charging switching elements electrically connected to a junction point of all of the high current paths of all of the plurality of rechargeable batteries and discharging switching elements respectively electrically connected to the charging switching elements; and a hybrid battery protection circuit including a voltage detector electrically connected to each of the rechargeable batteries to compare the respective plurality of battery voltages of the plurality of rechargeable batteries with a reference voltage and to output a digital signal corresponding to the voltage value detected by the comparison; and
a controller to receive a digital signal output from the voltage detector, to select one of the plurality of batteries by outputting an on/off signal to one of the switching elements for battery selection, and to output an on/off signal to the charging/discharging switching element electrically connected to the high current path of the selected battery, the controller being electrically connected to the switching elements of the charging/discharging switching element. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A hybrid battery, comprising:
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a plurality of rechargeable batteries; a switching element for charging/discharging including switching elements for charging respectively electrically connected to the plurality of rechargeable batteries, and switching elements for discharging respectively electrically connected to the switching elements for charging; and a hybrid battery protection circuit including a voltage detector electrically connected to the plurality of rechargeable batteries to compare voltages of the rechargeable batteries with a reference voltage and to output a digital signal according to the states of the rechargeable batteries; and
a controller electrically connected to the switching elements for charging/discharging, the controller to receive a digital signal output from the voltage detector and to selectively output an on/off signal to the switching elements for charging/discharging. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A hybrid battery, comprising:
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a plurality of rechargeable batteries; a switching element for charging/discharging including switching elements for discharging electrically connected to a plurality of battery high current paths whose number corresponds to that of the plurality of rechargeable batteries, and switching elements for charging electrically connected to a high current path junction of the switching elements for discharging; and a hybrid battery protection circuit including a voltage detector electrically connected to the plurality of rechargeable batteries to compare voltages of the rechargeable batteries with a reference voltage and to output a digital signal corresponding to the voltage value detected by the comparison; and
a controller electrically connected to switching elements for charging/discharging to receive a digital signal output from the voltage detector and to selectively output an on/off signal to the switching elements for discharging and the switching elements for charging. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of charging a hybrid battery, comprising:
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a first step of detecting a charging state of one of a plurality of rechargeable batteries having different capacities being charged, starting to charge the detected battery by a charging method depending on the battery capacity of the detected battery upon the detected battery not being fully charged, and stopping the charging upon the detected battery being fully charged; a second step of repeating the first step with another of the plurality of rechargeable batteries after stopping the charging upon the detected battery being fully charged; and a third step of stopping charging of the plurality of batteries when all of the plurality of batteries are fully charged. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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24. A method of discharging a hybrid battery, comprising:
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a first step of detecting a discharging state of one of a plurality of rechargeable batteries having different capacities being discharged, starting to discharge the detected battery by a discharging method depending on the battery capacity of the detected battery upon the detected battery not being fully discharged, and stopping the discharging upon the detected battery being fully discharged; a second step of repeating the first step with another of the plurality of rechargeable batteries after stopping the discharging upon the detected battery being fully discharged; and a third step of stopping discharging of the plurality of batteries when all of the plurality of batteries are fully discharged. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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Specification