CELL VOLTAGE ABNORMALITY DETECTOR AND CELL VOLTAGE MONITORING DEVICE FOR A MULTI-CELL SERIES BATTERY
First Claim
1. A cell voltage abnormality detector for a multi-cell series battery that is used to detect cell voltage abnormalities in a multi-cell series battery made up of plural battery cells connected in series comprising:
- a selection switch for selecting any of the cells of said multi-cell series battery and retrieving cell voltage from between first and second monitoring terminals;
a cell voltage/monitoring current converter, which has a first transistor connected between said first and second monitoring terminals and which converts the voltage of said battery cell selected by said selection switch into a monitoring current;
a monitoring current/monitoring voltage converter, which has a second transistor that, in combination with said first transistor, forms a current mirror circuit, and which converts the monitoring current generated by said cell voltage/monitoring current converter into a monitoring voltage; and
a comparison/evaluation circuit, which compares said monitoring voltage obtained by said monitoring current/monitoring voltage converter with a prescribed reference voltage and which determines whether the voltage of said battery cell selected by said selection switch is outside of a predetermined normal range.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A circuit for detecting battery cell abnormalities in a multi-cell series battery for effectively and quickly detecting abnormalities with a simple, small circuit that provides improved reliability, safety and service life of the multi-cell series battery. In the voltage monitoring device 12, immediately after the start of the monitoring cycle of any battery cell BTi, cell voltage abnormality detector 14 checks whether cell voltage Vi is outside of the normal operating range. The cell voltage abnormality detector 14 has: a group of selection switches 18 for selecting any battery cell BT of multi-cell series battery 10 and retrieving its voltage to first and second monitoring terminals A, B; cell voltage/monitoring current converter 20; monitoring current/monitoring voltage converter 22; comparison/evaluation circuit 24; evaluation signal output circuit 26 and abnormality detection controller 28.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A cell voltage abnormality detector for a multi-cell series battery that is used to detect cell voltage abnormalities in a multi-cell series battery made up of plural battery cells connected in series comprising:
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a selection switch for selecting any of the cells of said multi-cell series battery and retrieving cell voltage from between first and second monitoring terminals; a cell voltage/monitoring current converter, which has a first transistor connected between said first and second monitoring terminals and which converts the voltage of said battery cell selected by said selection switch into a monitoring current; a monitoring current/monitoring voltage converter, which has a second transistor that, in combination with said first transistor, forms a current mirror circuit, and which converts the monitoring current generated by said cell voltage/monitoring current converter into a monitoring voltage; and a comparison/evaluation circuit, which compares said monitoring voltage obtained by said monitoring current/monitoring voltage converter with a prescribed reference voltage and which determines whether the voltage of said battery cell selected by said selection switch is outside of a predetermined normal range. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 20, 21, 22)
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2. A cell voltage abnormality detector for a multi-cell series battery that is used to detect cell voltage abnormalities in multi-cell series battery made up of plural battery cells connected in series comprising:
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a selection switch for selecting any of the cells of said multi-cell series battery and retrieving cell voltage from between first and second monitoring terminals, a cell voltage/monitoring current converter, which has a first transistor connected between said first and second monitoring terminals and which converts the voltage of said battery cell selected by said selection switch into a monitoring current; a current mirror monitoring current generator, which has a second transistor that, in combination with said first transistor, forms a current mirror circuit, and which proportionally generates a current mirror monitoring current that is in a predetermined ratio to said current monitoring current; and a comparison/evaluation circuit, which compares said current mirror monitoring current generated by said current mirror monitoring current generator with a predetermined reference current, and which determines whether the voltage of said battery cell selected by said selection switch is outside of a predetermined normal range. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7)
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3. A cell voltage abnormality detector for a multi-cell series battery that is used to detect cell voltage abnormalities in a multi-cell series battery made up of plural battery cells connected in series comprising:
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a selection switch for selecting any of the cells of said multi-cell series battery and retrieving cell voltage from between the first and second monitoring terminals, a cell voltage/monitoring current converter, which has a first transistor connected between said first and second monitoring terminals and which converts the voltage of said battery cell selected by said selection switch into a monitoring current; and a comparison/evaluation circuit, which has a second transistor that, in combination with said first transistor, forms a current mirror circuit, and which compares said monitoring current generated by said cell voltage/monitoring current converter with a predetermined reference current, and judges whether the voltage of said battery cell selected by said selection switch is outside of a predetermined normal range. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. A cell voltage abnormality detector for a multi-cell series battery that is used to detect cell voltage abnormalities in a multi-cell series battery made up of plural battery cells connected in series comprising:
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a selection switch for selecting any of the cells of said multi-cell series battery and retrieving cell voltage from between the first and second monitoring terminals, a first transistor connected between said first and second monitoring terminals, a second transistor which, in combination with said first transistor, forms a first current mirror circuit; a current/voltage converter that converts the current flowing in said second transistor into a monitoring voltage; and
,a comparison/evaluation circuit, which compares said monitoring voltage obtained by said current/voltage converter with a predetermined reference voltage and which determines whether the voltage of said battery cell selected by said selection switch is outside of a predetermined normal range. - View Dependent Claims (11, 18, 19)
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12. A cell voltage abnormality detector for multi-cell series battery that is used to detect cell voltage abnormalities in a multi-cell series battery made up of plural battery cells connected in series comprising:
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a selection switch for selecting any of the cells of said multi-cell series battery and retrieving cell voltage from between the first and second monitoring terminals; a first transistor connected between said first and second monitoring terminals; a second transistor which, in combination with said first transistor, forms a first current mirror circuit; a current/voltage converter that converts the current flowing in said second transistor into a first monitoring voltage for monitoring the upper threshold and a second monitoring voltage for monitoring the lower threshold; and a comparison/evaluation circuit, which compares said first and second monitoring voltages obtained by said current/voltage converter with first and second reference voltages, respectively, and which determines whether the voltage of said battery cell selected by said selection switch is outside of a predetermined normal range. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A cell voltage abnormality detector for a multi-cell series battery that is used to detect cell voltage abnormalities in a multi-cell series battery made up of plural battery cells connected in series comprising:
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a selection switch for selecting any of the cells of said multi-cell series battery and retrieving its voltage from between the first and second monitoring terminals; a first transistor connected between said first and second monitoring terminals; a second transistor which, in combination with said first transistor, forms a first current mirror circuit; and a comparison/evaluation circuit, which compares the current flowing in said second transistor with a reference current, and which determines whether the voltage of said battery cell selected by said selection switch is outside of a predetermined normal range. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. A cell voltage abnormality detector for multi-cell series battery that is used to detect cell voltage abnormalities in a multi-cell series battery made up of plural battery cells connected in series comprising:
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a selection switch for selecting any of the cells of said multi-cell series battery and retrieving its voltage from between the first and second monitoring terminals, a first transistor connected between said first and second monitoring terminals, and a comparison/evaluation circuit, which compares the current flowing in said first transistor with a reference current, and which determines whether the voltage of said battery cell selected by said selection switch is outside of a prescribed normal range. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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Specification