POWER SUPPLY DEVICE

• US 20200132780A1
• Filed: 10/18/2019
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: OOTSUKA, Kazuo, TOMURA, Shuji, YANAGIZAWA, Naoki, TANEMURA, Kyosuke, GOTO, Shigeaki, IZUMI, Junta, KIMURA, Kenji
• Granted Patent: US 11,635,469 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/3648 comprising digital calculation means, e.g. for performing an algorithm
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/387 Determining ampere-hour charge capacity or SoC
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0013 acting upon several batteries simultaneously or sequentially H02J7/1423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0048 Detection of remaining charge capacity or state of charge [SOC]
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0068 Battery or charger load switching, e.g. concurrent charging and load supply H02J7/0013 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/92 Energy efficient charging or discharging systems for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors specially adapted for vehicles

Abstract

Provided is a power supply device which includes a plurality of battery modules each having a secondary battery and in which the battery modules are connected in series with one another according to a gate driving signal from a controller. An SOC control target value that is a target value for states-of-charge of the battery modules is changed according to the number of the battery modules that are available to be connected in series.

Claims

1. A power supply device comprising:

a plurality of battery modules, each battery module having a secondary battery; and

a controller configured to connect the battery modules in series with one another according to a gate driving signal, and to change an SOC control target value that is a target value for states-of-charge of the battery modules according to a number of the battery modules that are available to be connected in series.

2. The power supply device according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to set the SOC control target value higher as the number of the battery modules that are available to be connected in series becomes smaller.

3. The power supply device according to claim 1, further comprising a disconnecting device that forcibly isolates the battery module from a series connection regardless of the gate driving signal,

wherein the controller is configured to exclude, from the battery modules that are available to be connected in series, the battery module that has been forcibly isolated from the series connection by the disconnecting device.

4. The power supply device according to claim 3, wherein:

the controller is configured to determine whether or not the battery module is in a failed state by using state information showing a state of the battery module; and

the disconnecting device forcibly isolates, from the series connection, the battery module that has been determined to be in the failed state.

5. The power supply device according to claim 4, wherein the controller is configured to estimate SOC of each of the battery modules based on the state information;

to determine the battery module whose SOC has decreased to or below a threshold value to be in a failed state; and

to set the SOC control target value such that a total value of voltages of the battery modules that are available to be connected in series, except for the battery module that has been forcibly isolated by the disconnecting device, becomes equal to or larger than a target output voltage value.

6. The power supply device according to claim 1, wherein the gate driving signal is transmitted to the battery modules, from an upstream side toward a downstream side, while being delayed in a gate driving signal processing circuit included in each of the battery modules.