VOLTAGE MONITORING APPARATUS FOR PLURAL BATTERY

• US 20130234719A1
• Filed: 04/10/2013
• Published: 09/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yazaki Corporation
• Original Assignee: Yazaki Corporation
• Inventors: SEKIZAKI, Masashi, ISHIKAWA, Satoshi
• Granted Patent: US 9,335,381 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 324/433
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 19/16542 for batteries charge condition monitoring in G01R31/36
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/3835 involving only voltage measurements
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/396 Acquisition or processing of data for testing or for monitoring individual cells or groups of cells within a battery
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 35/00 Testing or calibrating of apparatus covered by the other groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/425 Structural combination with electronic components, e.g. electronic circuits integrated to the outside of the casing printed circuits H05K1/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/482 for several batteries or cells simultaneously or sequentially
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2010/4278 Systems for data transfer from batteries, e.g. transfer of battery parameters to a controller, data transferred between battery controller and main controller
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2220/20 Batteries in motive systems, e.g. vehicle, ship, plane
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

A fail signal indicating overcharge/overdischarge of unit cells detected by voltage detecting ICs (21-1) to (21-n) is transmitted as a digital signal and an analog signal to a CPU 32. If the analog fail signal and digital fail signal agree with each other, the CPU 32 determines that overcharge or overdischarge is occurring in the unit cells. If the fail signals disagree with each other, it is determined that an error is occurring in data communication in communication lines L1 to L3 and the error is informed to an operator with an alarm signal or the like. As a result, overcharge or overdischarge is highly accurately detectable.

Claims

1. A voltage monitoring apparatus for a plural battery, the plural battery outputting a required voltage and connecting a plurality of cells in series, and the apparatus monitoring an abnormality in an output voltage of each of the cells, the apparatus comprising:

a voltage abnormality detector provided for each of a plurality of blocks into which the plurality of cells are divided, the voltage abnormality detector detecting a voltage abnormality in each of the cells contained in the block, the voltage abnormality detector including;

a voltage detector detecting a cell voltage of each of the cells contained in the block;

a comparator comparing the cell voltage detected by the voltage detector with preset upper and lower thresholds and determining whether or not the cell voltage is overcharge or overdischarge; and

a transmitter transmitting the determination result of the comparator by way of a digital determination signal and an analog determination signal; and

a monitoring unit determining whether or not the individual voltage abnormality detector are normally operating according to the digital determination signal and analog determination signal.

2. The voltage monitoring apparatus for a plural battery according to claim 1, wherein

the monitoring unit confirms whether information about overcharge and overdischarge of the cells derived from the digital determination signal agrees or disagrees with information about overcharge and overdischarge of the cells derived from the analog determination signal, and

based on the confirmation, determines whether or not a communication error is occurring in a communication line between the voltage abnormality detector and the monitoring unit.

3. The voltage monitoring apparatus for a plural battery according to claim 2, wherein

the monitoring unit outputs an alarm signal if the information about overcharge and overdischarge of the cells derived from the digital determination signal disagrees with the information about overcharge and overdischarge of the cells derived from the analog determination signal.

4. The voltage monitoring apparatus for a plural battery according to claim 1, wherein

the voltage abnormality detector are arranged in a high-voltage-side circuit and the monitoring unit is arranged in a low-voltage-side circuit that is connected through an insulating interface to the high-voltage-side circuit.