Voltage detection apparatus

• US 8,278,878 B2
• Filed: 07/20/2009
• Issued: 10/02/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yazaki Corporation
• Original Assignee: Yazaki Corporation
• Inventors: Ishikawa, Satoshi, Matsuura, Kimihiro, Kawano, Ryosuke
• Primary Examiner(s): Ramadan, Ramy
• Application Number:
  US12/505,754
• Publication Number:
  US 20100060256A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,170 Days
• Field of Search: 320/116
• US Class Current: 320/116
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 19/10 Measuring sum, difference or ratio
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 19/16542 for batteries charge condition monitoring in G01R31/36
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/396 Acquisition or processing of data for testing or for monitoring individual cells or groups of cells within a battery

Abstract

A voltage detection apparatus includes: a battery including a plurality of unit cells mutually connected in series; a plurality of blocks, each block including at least one of the plurality of unit cells; a plurality of voltage detectors, each detector connected to respective one of the blocks, and detecting a voltage between both ends of the unit cell in the one of the blocks; a plurality of reference power sources, each source connected to respective one of the voltage detectors, and at least one of the reference power sources having higher accuracy than the other reference power sources; and a correcting unit which corrects a detection result of the voltage detector which is connected to the other reference power source on the basis of a detection result of the voltage detector which is connected to the reference power source with the higher accuracy.

Claims

1. A voltage detection apparatus, comprising:

a battery including a plurality of unit cells mutually connected in series;

a plurality of blocks, each block including at least one of the plurality of unit cells;

a plurality of voltage detectors, each detector connected to respective one of the blocks, and detecting a voltage between both ends of the unit cell in the one of the blocks;

a plurality of reference power sources, each source connected to respective one of the voltage detectors, and at least one of the reference power sources having higher accuracy than the other reference power sources;

a plurality of current detecting circuits;

each of the current detecting circuits connected to at least two adjacent voltage detectors, wherein each of the current detecting circuits comprises a first current detecting element, a second current detecting element, and a voltage regulating element connected between the first current detecting element and the second current detecting element, the first and the second current detecting elements receiving currents from the at least two voltage detectors to which they are connected to detect a voltage between both ends of the first current detecting element and a voltage between both ends of the second current detecting element; and

a correcting unit which corrects a detection result of the voltage detector which is connected to the other reference power source on the basis of a detection result of the voltage detector which is connected to the reference power source with the higher accuracy.

2. The voltage detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the correcting unit corrects a detection result of one of mutually-adjacent voltage detectors on the basis of a detection result of the other of the mutually-adjacent voltage detectors.

3. The voltage detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reference power source with the higher accuracy is connected to one of the voltage detectors which is connected to a centrally-positioned block of the plurality of blocks.

4. The voltage detection apparatus according to claim 2, wherein each of the voltage detectors detects a voltage between both ends of the unit cell in adjacent one of the blocks, and

wherein the correcting unit corrects the detection result of the one of the mutually-adjacent voltage detectors on the basis of the detection result of the other of the mutually-adjacent voltage detectors using a common unit cell among the plurality of the unit cells.

5. The voltage detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the each of the current detecting circuits detects a difference between the voltage between both ends of the first current detecting element and the voltage between both ends of the second current detecting element, and

the correcting unit corrects a value of the voltage detected by the voltage detector which is connected to the other reference power source by using the difference detected by the current detecting circuit connected to the voltage detector to which the reference power source with the higher accuracy is connected and the voltage detector to which the other reference power source is connected.