Battery control apparatus and method for preventing overdischarge
First Claim
1. A battery pack control apparatus for supplying power from a battery pack to a load, the battery pack including a plurality of unit cells electrically connected in series, the battery pack control apparatus comprising:
- a first voltage detecting unit sensing a first voltage, the first voltage corresponding to an output voltage of the battery pack;
a second voltage detecting unit determining a second voltage, the second voltage corresponding to an output current of the battery pack at which the output voltage of at least one unit cell of the plurality of unit cells is predicted to become equal to a predetermined voltage; and
a power control unit restricting the power supplied from the battery pack to the load in response to the first voltage being equal to or less than the second voltage.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A battery pack control apparatus for a battery pack that includes a plurality of unit cells electrically connected in series prevents overdischarging based on the total voltage of the battery pack, as opposed to being based on the separate voltages of the individual unit cells. When a total voltage of the battery pack corresponds to a lowest voltage of one of the plurality of unit cells decreasing to a predetermined threshold at which overdischarging would begin to occur, power supply to a load from the battery pack is at least partially restricted.
10 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A battery pack control apparatus for supplying power from a battery pack to a load, the battery pack including a plurality of unit cells electrically connected in series, the battery pack control apparatus comprising:
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a first voltage detecting unit sensing a first voltage, the first voltage corresponding to an output voltage of the battery pack; a second voltage detecting unit determining a second voltage, the second voltage corresponding to an output current of the battery pack at which the output voltage of at least one unit cell of the plurality of unit cells is predicted to become equal to a predetermined voltage; and a power control unit restricting the power supplied from the battery pack to the load in response to the first voltage being equal to or less than the second voltage. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9)
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6. A battery pack control apparatus for supplying power from a battery pack to a load, the battery pack including a plurality of unit cells electrically connected in series, the battery pack control apparatus comprising:
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a first voltage detecting unit sensing a first voltage, the first voltage corresponding to a voltage of the battery pack; a second voltage detecting unit determining a second voltage, the second voltage corresponding to a voltage of the battery pack when a voltage of at least one unit cell of the plurality of unit cells becomes a predetermined voltage; and a power control unit restricting the power supplied from the battery pack to the load in response to the first voltage being equal to or less than the second voltage; wherein the second voltage detecting unit determines a third voltage, the third voltage corresponds to a voltage of the battery pack when a maximum current allowed by the load is output from the battery pack, and the power control unit restricts the power supplied from the battery pack to the load when the first voltage is equal to or less than the larger one of the second voltage or the third voltage.
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10. A battery pack control apparatus for supplying power from a battery pack to a load, the battery pack including a plurality of unit cells electrically connected in series, the battery pack control apparatus comprising:
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first voltage detecting means for sensing a total voltage output of the battery pack; second voltage detecting means for determining a threshold voltage of the battery pack corresponding to an output current when a voltage of at least one unit cell of the plurality of unit cells is predicted to become equal to a predetermined voltage; and power control means for at least partially restricting the power supplied from the battery pack to the load in response to the total voltage being equal to or less than the threshold voltage. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. A method of controlling a supply of power from a battery pack to a load, the battery pack including a plurality of unit cells electrically connected in series, the method comprising:
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sensing a first voltage, the first voltage corresponding to an output voltage of the battery pack; determining a second voltage, the second voltage corresponding to an output current of the battery pack when a voltage of at least one unit cell of the plurality of unit cells is predicted to become equal to a predetermined voltage; and restricting the power being supplied from the battery pack to the load when the first voltage is equal to or less than the second voltage.
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13. A method of controlling a supply of power from a battery pack to a load, the battery pack including a plurality of unit cells electrically connected in series, the method comprising:
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sensing a first voltage, the first voltage corresponding to a voltage of the battery pack; determining a second voltage, the second voltage corresponding to a voltage of the battery pack when a voltage of at least one unit cell of the plurality of unit cells becomes a predetermined voltage; restricting the power being supplied from the battery pack to the load when the first voltage is equal to or less than the second voltage; determining a third voltage corresponding to a voltage of the battery pack when a maximum current allowed by the load is output from the battery pack; and restricting the power being supplied from the battery pack to the load when the first voltage is equal to or less than either the second voltage or the third voltage.
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Specification