Battery Monitoring System Including Relay Test Circuit
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A central monitoring system comprising:
- interrogation signal logic configured to generate interrogation signals, the interrogation signals being configured for detecting a state of a battery;
sensing logic configured to receive sense signals from the battery and to interpret the received sense signals to generate data characterizing the state of the battery;
selection logic configured to generate selection signals, the selection signals being configured to select the battery from among a plurality of batteries;
a bus interface configured to communicate at least the interrogation logic to a signal bus and to receive the sense signals from the signal bus, and including a test circuit configured to test a state of a relay connected to the signal bus; and
a microprocessor configured to execute at least the sensing logic.
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Abstract
A battery monitoring system includes a central monitoring system and a set of individual battery selectors. The central monitoring system is electrically connected to the battery selectors and each of the battery selectors is connected to one or more batteries. In operation, commands are sent from the central monitoring system to the individual battery selectors so as to turn one on at a time. When the battery selector is on, test and response signals can be communicated between the one or more batteries connected to the battery selector and the central monitoring system. In some embodiments, the system includes a relay test circuit.
8 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A central monitoring system comprising:
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interrogation signal logic configured to generate interrogation signals, the interrogation signals being configured for detecting a state of a battery; sensing logic configured to receive sense signals from the battery and to interpret the received sense signals to generate data characterizing the state of the battery; selection logic configured to generate selection signals, the selection signals being configured to select the battery from among a plurality of batteries; a bus interface configured to communicate at least the interrogation logic to a signal bus and to receive the sense signals from the signal bus, and including a test circuit configured to test a state of a relay connected to the signal bus; and a microprocessor configured to execute at least the sensing logic. - View Dependent Claims (4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15)
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2. A central monitoring system comprising:
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interrogation signal logic configured to generate interrogation signals, the interrogation signals being configured for detecting a state of a battery; sensing logic configured to receive sense signals from the battery and to interpret the received sense signals to generate data characterizing the state of the battery; selection logic configured to generate selection signals, the selection signals being configured to select the battery from among a plurality of batteries; a bus interface configured to communicate at least the interrogation logic to a signal bus and to receive the sense signals from the signal bus, and including a test circuit configured to test if a conductor of the signal bus is floating; and a microprocessor configured to execute at least the sensing logic. - View Dependent Claims (11, 13)
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3. A battery monitoring system comprising:
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a signal bus including at least two sense signal conductors and at least two interrogation signal conductors; a plurality of battery selectors, each of the battery selectors being configured to be electronically connected to a different battery, and each of the battery selectors including an activation relay configured to electrically connect the respective battery to the at least two sense signal conductors and the at least two interrogation signal conductors; and a central monitoring unit electrically coupled to the plurality of battery selectors by the signal bus, the central monitoring unit including a test circuit configured to detect states of the activation relays. - View Dependent Claims (5, 16, 17)
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18. A method of testing a plurality of batteries, the method comprising:
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connecting a plurality of battery selectors to the plurality of batteries, each of the battery selectors being connected to at least one of the batteries; connecting a signal bus to the plurality of battery selectors, the signal bus including at least interrogation conductors and sense conductors; selecting a first battery of the plurality of batteries, the selection including closing relays within a member of the battery selectors connected to the first battery; testing a state of the first of the batteries by providing interrogation signals to the interrogation conductors and detecting resulting sense signals on the sense conductors; de-selecting the first battery, the de-selection including opening relays within the member of the battery selectors connected to the first battery; using a relay test circuit to confirm that the relays within the member of the battery selectors connected to the first battery opened properly in the step of de-selecting the first battery; selecting a second battery of the plurality of batteries, the selection including closing relays within a member of the battery selectors connected to the second battery, closing of the relays within the member of the battery selectors connected to the second battery being dependent on the confirmation that the relays within the member of the battery selectors connected to the first battery opened properly; and testing a state of the second of the batteries by providing interrogation signals to the interrogation conductors and detecting resulting sense signals on the sense conductors. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification