Methods for Controlling a Rechargeable Battery and Rechargeable Battery for Carrying Out Said Method
First Claim
1. A method of managing a rechargeable battery comprising at least two modules of electrochemical cells connected in series, said electrochemical cells being connected in parallel to each other within each said module and each said module of said electrochemical cells comprising a charge limiting circuit for said module connected in parallel to said module, the method comprising the following steps:
- (a) detecting a defective module;
(b) having a discharge current pass through the defective module so as to provoke an electrochemical reaction in the defective module, said reaction resulting in the formation of a short-circuit path between connection terminals of said defective module;
(c) using the battery by passing an electric current, generated by the discharging of at least one said module different from the defective module, through said defective module;
wherein a first partial discharge of the defective module is performed before the step (b), a partial discharge current of the defective module passing through the charge limiting circuit of said defective module, and being controlled by variation of a reference signal for the charge limiting circuit of said defective module.
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Abstract
The invention relates to control of a battery, permitting a reduction in the number of components of the battery. The battery comprises several modules (2a, . . . , 2n), each module comprising a charge limiting circuit (4). When a module is detected as defective, the charge limiting circuit (4) carries out a command for the discharge of said defective module, by formation of a short-circuit path. The battery can subsequently be used without functional hindrance by the defective module.
9 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method of managing a rechargeable battery comprising at least two modules of electrochemical cells connected in series, said electrochemical cells being connected in parallel to each other within each said module and each said module of said electrochemical cells comprising a charge limiting circuit for said module connected in parallel to said module, the method comprising the following steps:
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(a) detecting a defective module; (b) having a discharge current pass through the defective module so as to provoke an electrochemical reaction in the defective module, said reaction resulting in the formation of a short-circuit path between connection terminals of said defective module; (c) using the battery by passing an electric current, generated by the discharging of at least one said module different from the defective module, through said defective module; wherein a first partial discharge of the defective module is performed before the step (b), a partial discharge current of the defective module passing through the charge limiting circuit of said defective module, and being controlled by variation of a reference signal for the charge limiting circuit of said defective module. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A rechargeable battery, comprising at least two modules of electrochemical cells connected in series, said electrochemical cells being connected in parallel to each other within each module, each module also comprising a charge limiting circuit for said module connected in parallel to said module, each charge limiting circuit comprising:
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a bypass branch connected between an input terminal and an output terminal of the corresponding battery module; a reference signal source; a regulating device suitable for controlling a current in said bypass branch on the basis of a control signal received on a control terminal of the regulating device; and at least one differential operator comprising an output terminal linked to the control terminal of the regulating device, a first input terminal connected to receive a signal representative of the voltage at the terminals of said module of the battery, and a second input terminal connected to receive said reference signal, the differential operator being suitable for generating the control signal according to a difference between the signals received on said first and second input terminals of the differential operator; and wherein the reference signal source of the charge limiting circuit of each module of the battery can be varied so as to partially discharge a defective module. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification