System and method for measuring fuel cell voltage
First Claim
1. A system for measuring individual cell voltages of a fuel cell stack, said system comprising a plurality of voltage scanning units (VSU), each VSU arranged for being connected to a group of cells, belonging to said fuel cell stack, said group of cells being provided with terminals providing for measuring a cell voltage,wherein each VSU comprises a filter/regulator providing a voltage reference signal said voltage reference signal being applied to a first terminal of a first cell of said group of cells, said VSU further comprising a multiplexer arranged for consecutively connecting the other terminals of said group of cells to a first input of an analog to digital converter, said analog to digital converter further being provided with a second input for receiving said voltage reference signal, said analog to digital converter further arranged for being fed with a supply voltage and for analog to digital converting a signal derived from said signals at said first and said second input.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for measuring individual cell voltages of a fuel cell stack includes a plurality of voltage scanning units (VSU). Each VSU is arranged for being connected to a group of cells, belonging to the fuel cell stack, the group of cells being provided with terminals that allow measuring a cell voltage. Each VSU comprises a filter/regulator that provides a voltage reference signal Vref, that is applied to a first terminal of a first cell of the group of cells. The VSU further includes a multiplexer arranged for consecutively connecting the other terminals of the group of cells to a first input of an A/D converter, whereby the A/D converter is further provided with a second input for receiving the voltage reference signal Vref. The ADC is further arranged for being fed with a supply voltage Vsup+ and for A/D converting a signal derived from the signals at the first and second input.
13 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A system for measuring individual cell voltages of a fuel cell stack, said system comprising a plurality of voltage scanning units (VSU), each VSU arranged for being connected to a group of cells, belonging to said fuel cell stack, said group of cells being provided with terminals providing for measuring a cell voltage,
wherein each VSU comprises a filter/regulator providing a voltage reference signal said voltage reference signal being applied to a first terminal of a first cell of said group of cells, said VSU further comprising a multiplexer arranged for consecutively connecting the other terminals of said group of cells to a first input of an analog to digital converter, said analog to digital converter further being provided with a second input for receiving said voltage reference signal, said analog to digital converter further arranged for being fed with a supply voltage and for analog to digital converting a signal derived from said signals at said first and said second input.
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8. A method for measuring individual cell voltages of a group of cells belonging to a fuel cell stack, said group of cells being provided with terminals, said method comprising the steps of:
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connecting a voltage scanning unit (VSU) to said group of cells, providing a voltage reference signal to a first terminal of a first cell of said group of cells, applying said voltage reference signal to a first input of an analog to digital converter, said analog to digital converter being comprised in said VSU and being fed by a supply voltage, connecting consecutively a voltage signal from the other terminals of said group of cells to be measured to a second input of said analog to digital converter, said analog to digital converter thereby converting a signal derived from said signals at said first and said second input. - View Dependent Claims (9)
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12. A voltage scanning unit for measuring individual cell voltages of a fuel cell stack, the VSU arranged for being connected to a group of cells belonging to said fuel cell stack, said group of cells being provided with terminals, wherein the voltage scanning unit comprises:
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a filter/regulator providing a voltage reference signal output; a multiplexer; and an analog to digital converter having a negative power supply, a positive power supply, a first input and a second input, and configured to analog to digital converting a signal derived from a signal at the first input and a signal at the second input; wherein the voltage reference signal output is connected to the second input of the analog to digital converter and is configured to be connected to the terminal of the cell having the lowest voltage level of said group of cells, and wherein the multiplexer is configured to be connected to the other terminals of said group of cells for consecutively connecting the other terminals to the first input of the analog to digital converter. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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Specification