Optimized battery performance

• US 7,494,729 B2
• Filed: 11/24/2004
• Issued: 02/24/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Lenovo International Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Odaohhara, Shigefumi
• Primary Examiner(s): Kalafut; Stephen J.
• Application Number:
  US10/997,532
• Publication Number:
  US 20050116686A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,553 Days
• Field of Search: 429/9, 429/50, 429/61, 320/135
• US Class Current: 429/9
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/4207 for several batteries or cells simultaneously or sequentially
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0013 acting upon several batteries simultaneously or sequentially H02J7/1423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0025 Sequential battery discharge in systems with a plurality of batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

In an electrical instrument to which a plurality of battery blocks and/or a plurality of batteries are detachably connectable, to prevent a phenomenon that only specific battery and battery block are deteriorated. A hybrid battery connectable to a body of an electrical instrument consuming electrical power includes: a cell block which includes one or more battery cells, and supplies electrical power to the body of the electrical instrument by discharging after being charged; and a cell block which includes one or more battery cells, supplies electrical power to the body of the electrical instrument by discharging after being charged, and becomes active selectively with the former cell block. In the hybrid battery, a CPU selects a cell block becoming active based on the number of charge/discharge cycles of the former cell block and the number of charge/discharge cycles of the latter cell block.

Claims

1. A battery pack, comprising:

a first cell block which comprises one or more battery cells, and supplies electrical power by discharging after being charged to the body of an electrical instrument which consumes electrical power;

a second cell block which comprises one or more battery cells, and supplies electrical power to the body of the electrical instrument by discharging after being charged, and becomes selectively active with the first cell block; and

a controller which recognizes the number of charge/discharge cycles of the first cell block and the number of charge/discharge cycles of the second cell block, and selects between the first cell block and the second cell block based on the number of charge/discharge cycles of the first cell block and the number of charge/discharge cycles of the second cell block.

2. The battery pack according to claim 1, wherein the controller further compares the number of charge/discharge cycles of the first cell block and the number of charge/discharge cycles of the second cell block, and wherein the controller further preferentially selects the one in which the number of charge/discharge cycles is smaller to be active.

3. The battery pack according to claim 1,

wherein the controller further selects the cell block becoming active such that a difference between the recognized number of charge/discharge cycles of the first cell block and the recognized number of charge/discharge cycles of the second cell block falls within a specific range.

4. Apparatus comprising:

a body consuming electrical power;

a hybrid battery which is connectable to the body, has a plurality of cell blocks electrically unconnected to one another arranged therein, and supplies electrical power to the body by discharging from a specific cell block among the plurality of cell blocks; and

a controller which recognizes the numbers of charge/discharge cycles of the cell blocks, and selects the cell block becoming active such that a difference in the number of charge/discharge cycles among the cell blocks falls within a specific range.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the controller further selects the cell block becoming active in a discharge such that differences in the recognized numbers of charge/discharge cycles among the respective cell blocks fall to a threshold value or less.

6. Apparatus comprising:

a body consuming electrical power;

a first battery which is connectable to the body, and supplies electrical power to the body; and

a second battery which is connectable to the body, and becomes active selectively with the first battery to supply electrical power to the body;

wherein the body performs a switching control between the first battery and the second battery such that the numbers of charge/discharge cycles of the first battery and the second battery become even with each other on condition that the first battery and the second battery are connected to the body.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the body comprises:

a controller which recognizes the numbers of charge/discharge cycles of the first battery and the second battery, and selects a battery becoming active in a discharge such that a difference between the recognized number of charge/discharge cycles of the first battery and the recognized number of charge/discharge cycles of the second battery falls to a threshold value or less; and

a switching circuit which switches one of the first battery and the second battery based on an instruction from the controller.

8. Apparatus comprising:

a system body having a main battery which supplies electrical power to the system body, and a second battery which supplies electrical power to the system body and becomes selectively active with the main battery to then discharge, the main battery and second battery being connectable to the system body;

a controller which selects a battery to become active in a discharge such that a difference in the number of charge/discharge cycles between the main battery and the second battery falls within a specific range; and

a switching circuit which switches one of the main battery and the second battery based on an instruction from the controller.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the controller recognizes the number of charge/discharge cycles of the main battery and the second battery, determines whether the difference between the recognized number of charge/discharge cycles of the main battery and the recognized number of charge/discharge cycles of the second battery falls to a predetermined value or less, and selects the battery to become active in the discharge such that the difference falls to the predetermined value or less.

10. Apparatus comprising:

a main battery which supplies electrical power to a system body, and a second battery which supplies electrical power to the system body and becomes selectively active with the main battery to then discharge, the batteries being connectable to the system body;

first circuitry which recognizes the number of charge/discharge cycles of the main battery and the number of charge/discharge cycles of the second battery; and

second circuitry which preferentially makes a battery active in which the number of charge/discharge cycles is smaller between the main battery and the second battery based on recognitions by the first circuitry.

11. The computer apparatus according to claim 10, wherein, on condition that there is a difference exceeding a predetermined value as a result of a comparison between the number of charge/discharge cycles of the main battery and the number of charge/discharge cycles of the second battery, which are recognized by the first circuitry, the second circuitry makes the battery in which the number of charge/discharge cycles is smaller active.

12. A method comprising:

recognizing the number of charge/discharge cycles for each of a plurality of cell blocks, the cell blocks being part of a battery which is connectable to a body which consumes electrical power, the plurality of cell blocks being electrically unconnected to one another arranged therein, the battery supplies electrical power to the body by discharging from any cell block among the plurality of cell blocks; and

selecting a cell block to discharge based on the recognized number of charge/discharge cycles for each of the plurality of cell blocks.

13. The method of controlling a battery according to claim 12, wherein said cell block selection selects the cell block to discharge such that the number of charge/discharge cycles for each of the plurality of cell blocks becomes even with others.

14. A method comprising:

supplying electrical power to an electrical instrument to which both of a first battery and a second battery are connected, the first battery supplying electrical power to a body consuming electrical power and the second battery becoming active selectively with the first battery and supplying electrical power to the body, said supply of electrical power being achieved by;

recognizing the number of charge/discharge cycles of the first battery and the number of charge/discharge cycles of the second battery; and

selecting a battery serving as a supply source of the electrical power between the first battery and the second battery based on the recognized number of charge/discharge cycles of the first battery and number of charge/discharge cycles of the second battery.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the battery selection selects the battery serving as the supply source of the electrical power such that the number of charge/discharge cycles of the first battery and the number of charge/discharge cycles of the second battery become even with each other.

16. A product comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer readable program code stored therein for execution on a computer configured in a manner that both of a first battery which supplies electrical power to a body consuming electrical power and a second battery which becomes active selectively with the first battery and supplies electrical power to the body are connectable thereto, the computer readable program code in said product being effective to;

recognize the number of charge/discharge cycles of the connected first battery and the number of charge/discharge cycles of the connected second battery; and

select a battery serving as a supply source of the electrical power between the first battery and the second battery based on the recognized number of charge/discharge cycles of the first battery and number of charge/discharge cycles of the second battery.

17. A product according to claim 16, wherein the function to select a battery compares the number of charge/discharge cycles of the first battery and the number of charge/discharge cycles of the second battery with each other, and preferentially selects a battery in which the number of charge/discharge cycles is smaller to become active.

18. The product according to claim 16, wherein the function to select a battery selects the battery serving as the supply source of the electrical power such that the number of charge/discharge cycles of the first battery and the number of charge/discharge cycles of the second battery become even with each other.