Multicell battery pack bilateral power distribution unit with individual cell monitoring and control
First Claim
1. In a multicell battery pack comprising a plurality of series connected cells, a power distribution unit for providing regulated, bi-directional transfer of energy to and from said pack or a selected portion of the pack comprising:
- (a) a plurality of electrical tap points located at the end poles of the pack and at the junction between sets of one or more series connected cells within said pack, whereby any two consecutive tap points present the positive and negative poles of the cell set in-between, and where any two non-consecutive tap points present the positive and negative pole of a larger group produced by the series connection of all the cell sets between said non-consecutive tap points;
(b) at least two bus conductors for the transfer of energy into or out of any selected group of cell sets within said pack;
(c) individually controlled switching means for allowing current flow in at least one direction from any tap point to at least one bus conductor and individually controlled switching means for allowing current flow in at least one direction from the same tap point to at least one other bus conductor;
(d) controller means for executing pack control algorithm means for selecting the most suitable group of cell sets for regulating a preset output voltage to an external load and the most suitable group of cell sets for regulating the receipt of energy from an external source, and where said controller means includes the functionality of accessing and actuating said individually controlled switching means, and the input and output of analog and digital signals related to the control of said power distribution unit;
(e) sensing means for measuring a value indicative of the electrical current flow into or out of each cell set contained in said pack and supplying the measurement to said controller;
(f) sensing means with at least enough sensor connection points to measure a value indicative of the voltage across the poles of each cell set within said pack and at most enough sensor connection points to measure a value indicative of the voltage across the poles of each individual cell within said pack, and supplying the measurement to said controller;
(g) sensing means for measuring a value indicative of the voltage across the output terminals of said power distribution unit and supplying the measurement to said controller.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A power distribution unit (PDU) for series connected multicell battery packs which uses a common hardware platform for both charging and providing power to an external load. Using switching circuitry (2), and tap points (5a,5b,5c,5d,5e) individual access to cells (4a,4b,4c,4d) or groups of series connected cells is accomplished. Under control of microcontroller circuitry (1), series connected cell groups of varying sizes are selected and prioritized for connection to a common power bus (29),(30) at real-time speeds. The PDU uses these groups to maintain balance over cells with varying characteristics, adapt to varying charge sources and to produce a regulated output voltage during discharge.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. In a multicell battery pack comprising a plurality of series connected cells, a power distribution unit for providing regulated, bi-directional transfer of energy to and from said pack or a selected portion of the pack comprising:
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(a) a plurality of electrical tap points located at the end poles of the pack and at the junction between sets of one or more series connected cells within said pack, whereby any two consecutive tap points present the positive and negative poles of the cell set in-between, and where any two non-consecutive tap points present the positive and negative pole of a larger group produced by the series connection of all the cell sets between said non-consecutive tap points; (b) at least two bus conductors for the transfer of energy into or out of any selected group of cell sets within said pack; (c) individually controlled switching means for allowing current flow in at least one direction from any tap point to at least one bus conductor and individually controlled switching means for allowing current flow in at least one direction from the same tap point to at least one other bus conductor; (d) controller means for executing pack control algorithm means for selecting the most suitable group of cell sets for regulating a preset output voltage to an external load and the most suitable group of cell sets for regulating the receipt of energy from an external source, and where said controller means includes the functionality of accessing and actuating said individually controlled switching means, and the input and output of analog and digital signals related to the control of said power distribution unit; (e) sensing means for measuring a value indicative of the electrical current flow into or out of each cell set contained in said pack and supplying the measurement to said controller; (f) sensing means with at least enough sensor connection points to measure a value indicative of the voltage across the poles of each cell set within said pack and at most enough sensor connection points to measure a value indicative of the voltage across the poles of each individual cell within said pack, and supplying the measurement to said controller; (g) sensing means for measuring a value indicative of the voltage across the output terminals of said power distribution unit and supplying the measurement to said controller. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. In a power distribution unit comprised of a series connected multicell battery pack, a controller means for executing internal control algorithm means and an electronic switching network means for establishing a path for bi-directional energy distribution between an external device and said pack or selected portions of said pack, a method for managing said bi-directional energy distribution comprising the steps of:
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(a) dividing said pack into fixed sets of one or more series connected cells, where said cell sets may be accessed individually to add or remove energy, or accessed in contiguous groups ranging in size from a null cell set to a size equal to the total number of cell sets in said pack; (b) selecting one combination of contiguous cell sets, hereafter referred to as a charge priority group, for at least one possible group size, which is most suitable to receive additional energy based upon charge group priority factors which include the optimization of the following;
balance of state of charge between said cell sets, charging speed, pack capacity, charging efficiency, cell life and said power distribution unit reliability;(c) storing in said controller'"'"'s memory the charge priority group information necessary to actuate said electronic switching network means to establish an energy path between an external energy source and said charge priority group; (d) continuously measuring the voltage level of said external energy source during periods where said power distribution unit is charging said pack, and selecting a group size which is most suited to be connected to an external energy source based upon charge group size factors which include the optimization of;
balance of state of charge between said cell sets, charging efficiency, cell life, said power distribution unit reliability;(e) retrieving said charge priority group information from said controller memory and using the information to actuate said electronic switching network means whereby regulated energy flows from said external energy source to said charge priority group; (f) selecting one combination of contiguous cell sets, hereafter referred to as a discharge priority group, for at least one possible group size, which is most suitable to discharge energy based upon discharge group priority factors which include the optimization of the following;
balance of state of charge between said cell sets, pack energy capacity, discharge efficiency, cell life and said power distribution unit reliability;(g) storing in said controller'"'"'s memory the discharge priority group information necessary to actuate said electronic switching network means to establish an energy path between an external load and said discharge priority group; (h) continuously monitoring said external load requirements during discharge, and selecting a group size which is most suited to provide regulated energy to said external load based upon discharge group size factors which include the optimization of the following;
balance of state of charge between said cell sets, discharge efficiency, said distribution unit reliability;(I) retrieving said discharge priority group information from said controller memory and using the information to actuate said electronic switching means whereby regulated energy flows from said discharge priority group to said external load; (j) continuously monitoring the state of charge of cells within each cell set and disabling any cell set which contains cells outside preset state of charge limits from being selected as a component in any priority group; (k) reducing the maximum possible priority group size as cell sets become disabled. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification