Protection circuit and battery unit
First Claim
1. A protection circuit for use with a battery unit which has a plurality of cell parts coupled in parallel and power supplying terminals, each of the cell parts including a plurality of battery cells coupled in series and terminals respectively coupled to the power supplying terminals, said protection circuit comprising:
- a switching element which makes an electrical connection to the power supplying terminal, and disconnects the electrical connection in response to a signal; and
a monitoring circuit which outputs the signal to said switching element when a voltage of at least one battery cell of one cell part falls outside a predetermined range, so that no current is supplied from said one cell part to other cell parts.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A protection circuit is used for a battery unit which has a plurality of cell parts coupled in parallel, and first and second power supplying terminals, where each of the cell parts includes a plurality of battery cells coupled in series, and first and second terminals respectively coupled to the first and second power supplying terminals. The protection circuit includes a plurality of switching elements making an electrical connection to the first terminal of a corresponding one of the cell parts and the first power supplying terminal, and disconnecting the electrical connection in response to an active signal, and a voltage monitoring circuit outputting the active signal to the switching elements when a voltage of at least one battery cell within one cell part falls outside a predetermined range, independently with respect to each of the cell parts.
77 Citations
46 Claims
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1. A protection circuit for use with a battery unit which has a plurality of cell parts coupled in parallel and power supplying terminals, each of the cell parts including a plurality of battery cells coupled in series and terminals respectively coupled to the power supplying terminals, said protection circuit comprising:
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a switching element which makes an electrical connection to the power supplying terminal, and disconnects the electrical connection in response to a signal; and a monitoring circuit which outputs the signal to said switching element when a voltage of at least one battery cell of one cell part falls outside a predetermined range, so that no current is supplied from said one cell part to other cell parts. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A protection circuit for use with a battery unit which has a plurality of cell parts coupled in parallel and first and second power supplying terminals, each of the cell parts including a plurality of battery cells coupled in series, and first and second terminals respectively coupled to the first and second power supplying terminals, said protection circuit comprising:
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a switching element which makes an electrical connection to the first terminal of a corresponding one of the cell parts and to the first power supplying terminal, and disconnects the electrical connection in response to an active signal; a resistor which couples terminals of corresponding battery cells among different cell parts; and a circuit which outputs to said switching element a signal which becomes active when a voltage from said resistor falls outside a predetermined range. - View Dependent Claims (9)
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10. A protection circuit for use with a battery unit which has a plurality of cell parts coupled in parallel and first and second power supplying terminals, each of the cell parts including a plurality of battery calls coupled in series, and first and second terminals respectively coupled to the first and second power supplying terminals, said protection circuit comprising:
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a switching element which makes an electrical connection to the first terminal of a corresponding one of the cell parts and to the first power supplying terminal, and disconnects the electrical connection in response to an active signal; a fuse which couples terminals of corresponding battery cells among different cell parts; and a circuit which outputs to said switching element a signal which becomes active when a voltage from said fuse falls outside a predetermined range. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. A protection circuit for use with a battery unit which has a plurality of series-connected battery cells coupled in parallel, comprising:
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a short-circuit detection circuit which detects a short-circuit of a battery cell with respect to each of the plurality of battery cells; and a circuit which cuts off a current supply to an arbitrary battery cell from another battery cell when said short-circuit detection circuit detects a short-circuit of said arbitrary battery cell from among the plurality of battery cells.
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13. A protection circuit for use with a battery unit which has a plurality of battery calls coupled in parallel, comprising:
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a monitoring circuit which monitors a voltage of each of the battery cells; and a stop circuit which stops discharging or charging of each of the battery cells when said monitoring circuit monitors a voltage which falls outside a predetermined range in an arbitrary battery cell from among the battery cells. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A protection circuit for use with a battery unit which has a plurality of cell parts coupled in parallel and power supplying terminals, each of the cell parts including a plurality of battery cells coupled in series and terminals respectively coupled to the power supplying terminals, said protection circuit comprising:
a monitoring circuit which detects whether or not a voltage of at least one of the battery cells of one cell part falls outside a predetermined range. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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22. A protection circuit for use with a battery unit which has a plurality of cell parts coupled in parallel and power supplying terminals, each of the cell parts including a plurality of battery cells coupled in series and terminals respectively coupled to the power supplying terminals, said protection circuit comprising:
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a resistor which couples terminals of corresponding battery cells among different cell parts; and a signal output circuit which outputs a signal which becomes active when a voltage from said resistor falls outside a predetermined range and instructs disconnection of an electrical connection between the terminal of the cell parts and the power supplying terminal.
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23. A protection circuit for use with a battery unit which has a plurality of cell parts coupled in parallel and power supplying terminals, each of the cell parts including a plurality of battery cells coupled in series and terminals respectively coupled to the power supplying terminals, said protection circuit comprising;
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a fuse which couples terminals of corresponding battery cells among different cell parts; and a signal output circuit which outputs a signal which becomes active when a voltage from said fuse falls outside a predetermined range and instructs disconnection of an electrical connection between the terminal of the cell parts and the power supplying terminal.
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24. A protection circuit for use with a battery unit which has a plurality of series-connected battery cells coupled in parallel, comprising:
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a short-circuit detection circuit which detects a short-circuit of a battery cell with respect to each of the plurality of battery cells; and a circuit which outputs a signal which instructs a current supply, to an arbitrary battery cell from another battery cell, to be cut off when said short-circuit detection circuit detects a short-circuit of said arbitrary battery cell from among the plurality of battery cells.
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25. A protection circuit for use with a battery unit which has a plurality of battery cells coupled in parallel, comprising:
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a monitoring circuit which monitors a voltage of each of the battery cells; an instruction circuit which outputs an instruction signal which instructs discharge or charging of each of the battery cells to stop when said monitoring circuit monitors a voltage which falls outside a predetermined range in an arbitrary one of the battery cells. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A protection circuit for use with a battery unit which has a plurality of series-connected battery cells coupled in parallel and a resistor coupling battery cells which have identical potentials in parallel, comprising;
a circuit which outputs a signal which instructs discharging or charging of the battery cells to be prohibited when a voltage from said resistor falls outside a predetermined range.
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31. A battery unit comprising:
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a plurality of cell parts coupled in parallel, each of said cell parts having first and second terminals and a plurality of battery calls coupled in series; a first power supplying terminal coupled to the first terminal of each of said cell parts; a second power supplying terminal coupled to the second terminal of each of said cell parts; a plurality of switching elements, each of said switching elements making an electrical connection to the first terminal of a corresponding one of said cell parts and the first power supplying terminal and disconnecting the electrical connection in response to an active signal; and a monitoring circuit which outputs a signal to said switching elements, which signal becomes active when a voltage of at least one of the battery cells of one cell part falls outside a predetermined range. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A battery unit having a plurality of series-connected battery cells coupled in parallel, comprising:
a resistor which couples battery cells, which have identical potentials, in parallel, said resistor limiting a current flow between the battery cells coupled in parallel and preventing a current flow to an arbitrary battery cell from another battery cell when the arbitrary battery cell is short-circuited.
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39. A battery unit having a plurality of series-connected battery cells coupled in parallel, comprising:
a fuse which couples battery cells, which have identical potentials, in parallel, said fuse limiting a current flow between the battery cells coupled in parallel and preventing a current flow to an arbitrary battery cell from another battery cell when the arbitrary battery cell is short-circuited.
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40. A battery protection method for protecting a battery unit having a plurality of series-connected battery cells coupled in parallel, comprising;
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a detection step detecting a short-circuit of a battery cell with respect to each of the battery cells; and an instruction step instructing a cut off of a current supply to an arbitrary battery cell from another battery cell when said detection detects a short-circuit in the arbitrary battery cell among the plurality of battery cells.
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41. A battery protection method for protecting a battery unit having a plurality of battery cells coupled in parallel, comprising:
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monitoring a voltage of each of the battery cells; and instructing an end of discharging or of charging of each of the battery cells when a voltage, which falls outside a predetermined range, is identified when monitoring an arbitrary battery cell. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A battery protection method for protecting a battery unit having a plurality of series-connected battery cells coupled in parallel, and a resistor coupling battery cells which have identical potentials in parallel, comprising:
making an instruction prohibiting discharging or charging of each of the battery cells when a voltage from the resistor falls outside a predetermined range.
Specification