Power supplying apparatus

• US 8,536,833 B2
• Filed: 03/10/2010
• Issued: 09/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Ohnuki, Yasumichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Ramadan, Ramy
• Application Number:
  US12/721,501
• Publication Number:
  US 20100231167A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,287 Days
• Field of Search: 320/119
• US Class Current: 320/119
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2207/20 Charging or discharging characterised by the power electronics converter
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0018 using separate charge circuits
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries

Abstract

A power supplying apparatus for supplying power to a plurality of loads has been needed. Therefore, a power supplying apparatus for supplying power to a plurality of loads, including: a rectifying circuit connected to each of the plurality of loads; an AC circuit to sequentially connect between the rectifying circuits; and an AC generating circuit to apply AC voltage to the AC circuit, in which the AC circuit includes a capacitor and an inductor connected in series is provided.

Claims

1. A power supplying apparatus for supplying power to a plurality of loads connected in series, comprising:

a plurality of rectifying circuits connected to the plurality of loads respectively;

one or more AC circuits sequentially connected with the adjacent rectifying circuits;

a plurality of AC generating circuits to apply AC voltages to the respective AC circuits; and

switch elements connected between the loads and the rectifying circuits, the switch elements being configured to open and close for selecting the loads to be power supplied from the plurality of loads;

wherein

the plurality of cell modules are charged;

each of the AC circuits comprises a capacitor and an inductor connected in series, and the power supplying apparatus is connected to an assembled battery comprising a plurality of cell modules connected in series, the plurality of cell modules being portions of the plurality of loads;

the plurality of rectifying circuits have first and second controlling terminals on an AC side and positive and negative terminals on a DC side, convert alternating currents input from the first and second controlling terminals into direct currents, and supply the direct currents to the plurality of loads via the positive and negative terminals respectively;

the first controlling terminals are connected each other via the AC circuits so as to transmit the alternating current having a first-phase, and the second controlling terminals are connected with each other via the AC circuits so as to transmit the alternating current having a second-phase; and

the plurality of AC generating circuits have positive electrode input terminals and negative electrode input terminals on the DC side and two AC output terminals on the AC side respectively, convert the direct currents input from the positive and negative electrode input terminals into alternating currents respectively, and apply the AC voltages to the AC circuits via the two AC output terminals respectively.

2. The power supplying apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

products of the equivalent capacitances of the plurality of capacitors connected in series from the AC generating circuits to the respective rectifying circuits and the equivalent inductances of the plurality of inductors from the AC generating circuits to the respective rectifying circuits are set to be the same in any combination of the loads.

3. The power supplying apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the AC circuits are configured to transmit two or more phases alternating currents.

4. The power supplying apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the AC generating circuits generate AC voltages having frequencies which are approximate to resonance frequencies of the series circuits of the capacitors and the inductors.

5. The power supplying apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

when AC voltages having frequencies which are approximate to the resonance frequencies of the series circuits of the capacitors and the inductors are generated by the AC generating circuits and the amplitudes of input voltages of the respective rectifying circuits have deviations, the AC generating circuits adjust the frequencies of the generated AC voltages to keep the amplitudes of the input voltages constant.

6. The power supplying apparatus of claim 1,

further comprising a first capacitor connected between the AC generating circuit and the AC circuit.

7. The power supplying apparatus of claim 1,

further comprising a second capacitor connected between the rectifying circuit and the AC circuit.

8. The power supplying apparatus of claim 1, wherein the switch elements connect the cell modules and the rectifying circuits,

wherein the AC generating circuits are connected to the plurality of cell modules, so as to use the plurality of cell modules as power sources to generate AC voltages;

and

the AC generating circuits are operated to discharge the connected cell modules, meanwhile the switch elements of other cell modules are closed so that DC voltages output from the rectifying circuits are applied to the connected cell modules connected thereto.

9. A power supplying apparatus for supplying power to a plurality of loads, comprising:

rectifying circuits connected to the plurality of loads respectively;

AC circuits to sequentially connect between the rectifying circuits; and

AC generating circuits to apply AC voltages to the AC circuits,

wherein the AC circuits comprise capacitors connected in series, frequencies of AC voltages generated by the AC generating circuits are variable in accordance with the transfer characteristics of the AC circuits formed between the AC generating circuits and the selected rectifying circuits.

10. A power supplying apparatus for independently adjusting charged amounts of cell modules of an assembled battery in which the cell modules composed of at least one cell are connected in series, comprising:

a plurality of control modules connected to positive and negative electrodes of the cell modules;

wherein each of the control modules comprises;

a positive terminal and a negative terminal connected to each of the cell modules;

an AC generating circuit which is connected to the positive terminal and the negative terminal and generates an AC voltage by using the cell module as a power source;

a rectifying circuit to rectify the AC voltage;

a control terminal which connects the output side of the AC generating circuit to the input side of the rectifying circuit and to which the AC voltage is applied; and

a switch element to connect or disconnect between at least one of the positive terminal and the negative terminal and the output terminal of the rectifying circuit;

wherein capacitors are connected between the control terminals of the adjacent control modules, and

the AC generating circuit in any one of the control modules is operated to discharge cell modules connected to the control modules, meanwhile the switch elements in other control modules are closed so that DC voltages output from the rectifying circuits of the other control modules are applied to the cell modules connected to the other control modules.

11. The power supplying apparatus of claim 10, wherein:

the rectifying circuit outputs a DC voltage greater than the peak-to-peak value of its input AC voltage.

12. The power supplying apparatus of claim 10, wherein:

the AC generating circuit generates an AC voltage having a peak-to-peak value greater than the value of the applied DC voltage.

13. The power supplying apparatus of claim 10, wherein:

the AC generating circuit generates a further AC voltage having phase inverted relative to the phase of the AC voltage;

each of the control modules controls connected terminals to output the further AC voltage;

the rectifying circuit performs full-wave rectification on the voltages applied on the control terminals and the further control terminals;

further capacitors are connected between the further control terminals of the adjacent control modules.

14. The power supplying apparatus of claim 10, wherein:

the AC generating circuit generates m-phase AC voltages;

the control module further comprises m−

1 control terminals to output the m-phase AC voltages together with the control terminal;

the rectifying circuit performs m-phase full-wave rectification on the m-phase voltages applied on the m control terminals;

m capacitors are connected between the m control terminals of the adjacent control modules.

15. The power supplying apparatus of claim 10, wherein:

the AC voltage generating circuit generates AC voltages having rectangular waveforms.

16. The power supplying apparatus of claim 10, wherein:

communication clock signals for performing serial communication between the control modules are supplied in a manner that the respective control modules are concatenated;

the communication clock signals function as the oscillating sources of the AC generating circuits.

17. The power supplying apparatus of claim 10, wherein:

communication clock signals for indicating the states of the control modules are supplied in a manner that the respective control modules are concatenated;

the communication clock signals function as the oscillating sources of the AC generating circuits.