Battery network with compounded interconnections

• US 6,465,986 B1
• Filed: 03/24/2000
• Issued: 10/15/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: iCeL Systems, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Planet Electric Incorporated
• Inventors: Haba, Chaz G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong, Peter S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): TOATLEY, GREGORY J
• Application Number:
  US09/459,006
• Time in Patent Office: 935 Days
• Field of Search: 320/116, 320/117, 320/120, 320/121, 429/123, 429/149
• US Class Current: 320/116
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/0525 Rocking-chair batteries, i.e. batteries with lithium insertion or intercalation in both electrodes; Lithium-ion batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/441 for several batteries or cells simultaneously or sequentially
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/50 Current conducting connections for cells or batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 6/42 Grouping of primary cells into batteries H01M6/40 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 70/50 Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product

Abstract

A battery operating system includes an array of individual component batteries configured with compound series parallel connections to form a network. The array of individual component batteries is configured to provide a two-dimensional battery network having X columns and Y rows. Each column in the network comprises Y batteries electrically connected in series to form a string of batteries. Each of the X columns or strings are then further electrically connected together in parallel, to produce a network of X columns of batteries connected together in parallel, each of the X columns having Y batteries connected together in series. Finally, each of the individual component batteries is further configured with compound interconnections, such that each of the individual component batteries are connected in parallel with all adjacent individual component batteries in the same row.

Claims

1. A plurality of battery interconnection networks electrically connected to one another to provide a three-dimensional network of batteries, wherein each of said interconnection networks comprise a battery interconnection network having a plurality of individual component batteries configured with compound series parallel connections, comprising:

a plurality of rows of individual component batteries, each row having a plurality of the individual component batteries connected in parallel; and

a plurality of columns of individual component batteries interconnected with the plurality of rows of individual component batteries, each column having a plurality of the individual component batteries connected in series, wherein each of the plurality of individual component batteries in the network is electrically connected in series with an adjacent individual component battery in the same column and electrically connected in parallel with an adjacent individual component battery in the same row.

2. The battery interconnection network of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of individual component batteries comprises a positive electrode and a negative electrode, and wherein for each of the plurality of columns, the positive electrode of each of the plurality of individual component batteries in the column is connected in series with the negative electrodes of adjacent individual component batteries in the same column.

3. The battery interconnection network of claim 2, wherein for each of the plurality of rows, the positive electrode of each of the plurality of individual component batteries in the row is connected in parallel with the positive electrodes of adjacent individual component batteries in the same row, and the negative electrode of each of the plurality of individual component batteries in the row is connected in parallel with the negative electrodes of adjacent individual component batteries in the same row.

4. The battery interconnection network of claim 1, wherein the network failure rate is less than about 10%.

5. The battery interconnection network of claim 1, wherein the network failure rate is less than about 5%.

6. The battery interconnection network of claim 1, wherein the network failure rate is less than about 1%.

7. The battery interconnection network of claim 1, wherein the voltage of any one of the individual component batteries in the network is matched to within about 10 millivolts of the voltage of any other individual component battery in the network immediately after the individual component batteries are configured with the compound series parallel connections.

8. The battery interconnection network of claim 1, wherein the voltage of any one of the individual component batteries in the network is matched to within about 4 millivolts of the voltage of any other individual component battery in the network immediately after the individual component batteries are configured with the compound series parallel connections.

9. The battery interconnection network of claim 1, wherein the network is configured to provide a voltage in the range of about 110 volts to about 200 volts.

10. The battery interconnection network of claim 1, wherein the network is configured to provide about 120 volts.

11. The battery interconnection network of claim 1, wherein at least some of the plurality of individual component batteries are lithium-ion batteries.

12. A fault-tolerant battery pack for an electric vehicle, the battery pack comprising:

an array of individual component batteries, each of the individual component batteries having a positive electrode and a negative electrode,

wherein the array of individual component batteries is configured with compound series parallel connections into a network having a plurality of columns and a plurality of rows,

wherein each of the plurality of columns includes an individual component batteries electrically connected together in series, such that the positive electrode of each of the individual component batteries in a column is connected in series to the negative electrode of an adjacent individual component battery in the same column,

wherein each of the plurality of columns are electrically connected together in parallel with the other columns, and

wherein, in each of the plurality of rows, each of the individual component batteries is electrically connected together in parallel with any adjacent individual component batteries in the same row, such that the positive electrode of each of the individual component batteries in the row is connected in parallel with the positive electrode of any adjacent individual component batteries in the same row and the negative electrode of each of the individual component batteries in the row is connected in parallel with the negative electrode of any adjacent individual component batteries in the same row thereby providing a three-dimensional network of batteries.

13. A method of interconnecting a plurality of individual component batteries for use in an electric vehicle comprising the steps of:

connecting subsets of the plurality of individual component batteries in series to form a plurality of columns of batteries, each of the plurality of columns of batteries having a subset of the plurality of individual component batteries connected in series;

connecting the plurality of columns of batteries in parallel to form a network of columns of batteries and rows of batteries; and

configuring each of the individual component batteries in the network with a compound interconnection, wherein each of the individual component batteries is connected in parallel with all adjacent individual component batteries in the same row of batteries thereby providing a three-dimensional network of batteries.