Battery supervisor system having smart winch control

• US 8,958,956 B1
• Filed: 03/10/2014
• Issued: 02/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2014
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Jimmie Doyle Felps
• Original Assignee: Jimmie Doyle Felps
• Inventors: Felps, Jimmie Doyle
• Primary Examiner(s): Trammell, James
• Assistant Examiner(s): SMITH-STEWART, DEMETRA R
• Application Number:
  US14/202,523
• Time in Patent Office: 344 Days
• US Class Current: 701/49
• CPC Class Codes: B66D 1/00 Rope, cable, or chain winding mechanisms; Capstans portable or mobile lifting or hauling appliances B66D3/00
• CPC Class Codes: B66D 1/12 incorporating electric motors
• CPC Class Codes: B66D 1/40 Control devices
• CPC Class Codes: B66D 3/26 Other details, e.g. housings
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/40 The network being an on-board power network, i.e. within a vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00302 Overcharge protection
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00306 Overdischarge protection
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00309 Overheat or overtemperature protection
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0047 with monitoring or indicating devices or circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0048 Detection of remaining charge capacity or state of charge [SOC]

Abstract

A battery supervisor system having an integral smart winch controller is provided for a vehicle equipped with an electric winch system and especially for off-road vehicles such as all-terrain-vehicles (ATVs), utility-task-vehicles (UTVs). and extreme-terrain-vehicles (XTVs) which are generally equipped with small batteries. The purpose of this invention is to prevent over discharge of the vehicle battery to a point where it would be difficult or impossible to start the vehicle engine and to prevent damage to the electric winch system, either of which has the potential of stranding an operator in a remote area. The battery supervisor monitors the state-of-charge of the vehicle'"'"'s battery to automatically control the power to the winch and the vehicle'"'"'s accessory loads. In addition, the smart winch controller takes a unique approach to protecting the winch by controlling the short term pulse (or pulses) of energy delivered to the winch and by forcing a fixed off time for the winch system to cool down, in lieu of trying to determine if components in the winch system are experiencing excessive temperatures and then turning the winch off.

Claims

1. A control system for an electric winch system of a vehicle, the control system comprising:

a current sense resistor for measuring an engine current between a battery and an engine of said vehicle and producing a first current sense voltage proportional to said engine current; and

a battery supervisor having a battery status circuit and a smart winch controller, the battery supervisor comprising;

a first input via a power cable for receiving current from said battery;

a second input via a sense cable for receiving said first current sense voltage;

a third input via said sense cable for receiving a battery voltage of said battery;

a fourth input from an ignition switch of said vehicle for providing bias power to said battery supervisor when said ignition switch is on and a toggle switch with external access on said battery supervisor is off, and when both said ignition switch and said toggle switch are off said battery supervisor is in its off state;

the toggle switch is an alternate method of supplying said bias power to said battery supervisor when said toggle switch is switched on, but use of said toggle switch is generally reserved for operating a said vehicle accessory such as a radio or for an emergency use of said winch;

an accessory drive output for delivering accessory current to accessory loads of said vehicle;

a winch drive output for delivering winch current to a winch mounted on said vehicle;

a first current sense circuit for measuring said accessory current and producing a second current sense voltage proportional to said accessory current, wherein said second current sense voltage is to be summed with said first current sense voltage to provide a net current sense voltage representing said net battery current, all occurring when said winch is not being operated;

a second current sense circuit for measuring said winch current when said winch is being operated and producing a third current sense voltage proportional to said winch current, for use by said smart winch controller,

a first latching circuit breaker circuit integral to said battery supervisor to provide over-current protection for said accessory loads and said accessory load wiring of said vehicle and if said first latching circuit breaker circuit is tripped, it can be reset by placing said battery supervisor in its said off state;

a second latching circuit breaker circuit integral to said battery supervisor to provide short-circuit protection for said winch drive output and if said second latching circuit breaker circuit is tripped, it can be reset by placing said battery supervisor in its said off state; and

a status indicator for indicating, with different colors or no color, a status of various states of said accessory drive output and said winch drive output of said battery supervisor, since both said accessory drive output and said winch drive output can be on or off at different times,

the battery status circuit for determining if sufficient energy remains in said battery to allow said accessory drive output and said winch drive output to be on, the battery status circuit comprising;

a voltage measurement circuit for measuring said battery voltage of said battery, wherein said battery voltage is a measure of a state-of-charge of said battery;

a load compensation circuit for compensating said voltage measurement circuit for a voltage drop that occurs across an internal resistance of said battery caused by a net battery current, said engine current added to said accessory current, thus producing a load compensated battery voltage, wherein said internal resistance varies with an ampere-hour rating of said battery;

a first potentiometer with external access on said battery supervisor for setting said ampere-hour rating of said battery installed on said vehicle;

a temperature compensation circuit for linearly increasing a threshold level of said load compensated battery voltage to require a minimum value of said state-of-charge of said battery to be typically 42% at approximately 70°

F. up to approximately 75% at −

40°

F., requiring a higher said state-of-charge of said battery for colder temperatures when it would be more difficult to start said engine;

a state-of-charge comparator for producing a signal, after a delay, for turning said accessory drive output and said winch drive output on when said state-of-charge level is above said threshold level and off when below said threshold level; and

a dual timer circuit for creating said delay of 1 minute for said net battery current of said battery >

2.5 A and said delay of 10 minutes for said net battery current <

2.5 A, to allow said battery voltage time to settle because of a chemical reaction going on inside said battery following various levels of said net battery current,

the smart winch controller comprising;

a short term energy measurement circuit for establishing an energy limit being delivered to said winch;

a 15 minute timer for creating a forced off time of 15 minutes following a winch on time of said winch that reaches said energy limit;

a 2.5 minute timer for controlling a maximum said winch on time of said winch for any continuous level of said winch current being delivered to said winch, regardless of whether or not said energy limit has been reached;

a hiccup mode, excessive voltage dip circuit for measuring a voltage of said battery during said winch operation and turning said winch drive output off for approximately 4 seconds when said voltage drops below approximately 8.2V, thus protecting said electric winch system from operating with insufficient voltage;

a hiccup mode circuit breaker circuit integral to said battery supervisor for providing over-current protection for said electric winch system and said winch drive output;

a second potentiometer with external access on said battery supervisor for setting a maximum current rating of said winch mounted on said vehicle;

a third current sense circuit determines when said winch is being operated and disables said battery status circuit, said third current sense circuit disables said battery status circuit when said winch current of said winch is greater than approximately 2.8 A of said maximum current rating of 110 A and greater than approximately 9.1 A of said maximum current rating of 360 A.

2. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said current sense resistor is manufactured from 304/304L stainless steel bar stock (0.75 inches wide by 0.188 inches thick by 2.89 inches long) creating a low cost, 4-terminal, 250 μ

Ω

resistor.

3. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said battery supervisor minimizes a risk of running said battery down to a point where it would be difficult to start said engine since a said winch on time is not allowed by said battery status circuit unless said state-of-charge of said battery is greater than approximately 42% and since said smart winch controller limits maximum energy taken from said battery during a complete said winch on time to be approximately 20% of said state-of-charge of said battery when said engine is not running, said battery is small (28 ampere-hours), said winch is large (330 A maximum current rating) and said winch current is maximum for 2.5 minutes (approximately 85 A), leaving sufficient energy for starting said engine.

4. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said second current sense circuit produces said third current sense voltage by combining a current sense output from each of three, paralleled, intelligent switches (that produce said winch drive output and are integral to said battery supervisor) in a resistor that is referenced to ground.

5. The control system according to claim 4, wherein said second latching circuit breaker circuit is integral to each of said three, paralleled, intelligent switches (that produce said winch drive output and are integral to said battery supervisor) and if a short circuit exists on said winch drive output, one of said three, paralleled, intelligent switches will latch first and is quickly followed by a latching of other two, paralleled, intelligent switches because said other two, paralleled, intelligent switches are suddenly delivering all of said short circuit current.

6. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said load compensation circuit combines said accessory current and said engine current (which may be charging or discharging said battery) to determine said net battery current for compensating for said internal resistance of said battery;

said winch current is not included as part of said net battery current because said internal resistance of said battery, which is in series with resistance of wiring and wire connections of said winch, become difficult to predict at currents of 100 A or more;

therefore, said battery status circuit ensures said sufficient energy exists in said battery before allowing a said winch on time and disabling said battery status circuit during said winch on time operated.

7. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said temperature compensation circuit is a diode connected transistor, for measuring ambient temperature, coupled through a peak detector which prevents decreasing a 600 mV reference voltage in said voltage measurement circuit, but allows a linear increase of said 600 mV reference voltage, for said ambient temperatures below approximately 70°

F., to approximately 740 mV at −

40°

F.

8. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said state-of-charge comparator produces a signal, SOCGOOD, to turn said accessory drive output on when said SOCGOOD is a high voltage and off when said SOCGOOD is a low voltage and a voltage on a timing capacitor in said dual timer circuit turns said winch drive output off (provided said winch drive output is on) when said SOCGOOD is pending a possible said low voltage.

9. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said bias power for said battery supervisor is provided by a said fourth input from said ignition switch (for normal operation when said engine of said vehicle is running and producing a charge current) or by said toggle switch on said battery supervisor (for operation when said engine of said vehicle is not running).

10. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said battery supervisor has a low bias current, being typically less than 200 uA when said status indicator is green and said accessory drive output and said winch drive output are both off, and typically 17 mA when said status indicator is green and said accessory drive output and said winch drive output are both on.

11. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said hiccup mode, excessive voltage dip circuit uses a power-on-reset, integrated circuit to pull down a “

wired-or”

signal, ˜

RESET, for turning said winch drive output off when said battery voltage drops below a threshold of approximately 8.2V, and approximately 4 seconds after said battery voltage recovers to greater than approximately 8.2V, said winch drive output turns back on.

12. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said status indicator is a red-green-blue LED that can have no LEDs on to indicate no said battery connection or insufficient said state-of-charge of said battery, a red LED on to indicate a fault such as a reverse connection of said battery or said accessory drive output being latched off, a green LED on to indicate said accessory drive output and said winch drive output are both on, a said green LED on and a blue LED on, emitting an aqua color, to indicate said accessory drive output is on and said winch drive output is off or latched off and said red LED on and said blue LED on, emitting a purple color to indicate said accessory drive output is latched off and said winch drive output is off.

13. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said battery supervisor meets or exceeds an ambient temperature range of −

40°

F. (−

40°

C.) to +131°

F. (+55°

C.) (which an off-road vehicle can experience in normal use) by using components that meet or exceed an automotive operating temperature range of −

40°

C. to +125°

C.

14. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said battery has a longer life since said battery status circuit prevents deep discharges of said battery by loads connected to at least one of said accessory drive or said winch drive outputs and because said deep discharges may cause permanent damage to said battery.

15. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said battery status circuit will continue to protect against a low state-of-charge of an aging said battery as said internal resistance of said battery gradually increases over time, since load compensation circuit of said battery status circuit will gradually provide insufficient said load compensation which will result in a premature indication that a low state-of-charge exists in said battery.

16. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said battery status circuit has a fast recovery, typically less than 2 minutes, overcoming a low state-of-charge level of said battery and returning to an acceptable state-of-charge level, the fast recovery occurring when said net battery current is charging said battery and said winch is not in said forced off time.

17. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said short term energy measurement circuit utilizes a surge current integral, “

I²T”

, as a measure of said energy limit that said winch can withstand without damage, where “

I”

is said winch current and “

t”

is time said winch is on and “

I²t”

is calculated from said maximum current rating of said winch as “

I” and

“

t”

=10 seconds (often specified as the maximum said winch on time at said maximum current rating of said winch), the short term energy measurement circuit comprising;

a precision multiplier integrated circuit that can “

square”

said third current sense voltage proportional to said winch current to produce an “

I²”

term which is 733 mV full scale;

a precision operational amplifier integrated circuit, as a precision analog integrator having a non-inverting input reference voltage of 7.74 mV, and having a rail-to-rail output, a common mode input voltage that exceeds a negative voltage rail, an input offset voltage of less than 100 μ

V and an input bias current of less than 1 nA;

a capacitor, as said analog integrator capacitor, with tolerances equal to or better than a 40 μ

F±

10% 50V X7R multilayer ceramic capacitor;

a resistor, as said analog integrator input resistor, of 37.4 kΩ

for generating said 2.5 minute timer, 38.225 kΩ

for generating said 15 minute timer and 39.05 kΩ

for generating said energy limit, “

I²t”

; and

an integrator output comparator with a positive going input threshold voltage of 4.8V and a negative going input threshold voltage of 0.2V for establishing an output voltage range of said analog integrator, wherein said analog integrator normally integrates from 5.0V to said 0.2V to determine said energy limit and immediately starting said forced off time of said winch.

18. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said 15 minute timer is generated by said short term energy measurement circuit by said analog integrator integrating from 0.2V to 4.8V to produce said forced off time of said winch which allows time for said electric winch system to cool down before allowing another said winch on time.

19. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said 2.5 minute timer is generated by said short term energy measurement circuit and is a maximum amount of time allowed for a said winch on time operating at any said winch current.

20. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said hiccup mode circuit breaker circuit uses a comparator that detects when said third current sense voltage exceeds approximately 130% of full scale (approximately 3.25V) and a power-on-reset integrated circuit to pull down said “

wired-or”

signal, ˜

RESET, for turning said winch drive output off, and after approximately 4 seconds, said winch drive output is turned back on.

21. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said smart winch controller anticipates a low threshold level of said state-of-charge may be pending by detecting when a voltage of a timer capacitor in said dual timer circuit exceeds approximately 63 mV and then shutting down said winch drive output, and wherein said voltage of said timer capacitor is approximately 211 mV for said 1 minute timer and approximately 1.3V for said 10 minute timer.

22. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said third current sense circuit is a comparator that determines when said winch is being operated by detecting said winch current that is greater than 0 A but less than 10 A (approximately 2.8 A for said maximum current rating of 110 A and approximately 9.1 A for said maximum current rating of 360 A), chosen to be less than any unloaded current rating of probable winches to be mounted on said vehicle, wherein said third current sense circuit then disables said battery status circuit by decreasing said 600 mV reference voltage for said voltage measurement circuit from typically 600 mV to approximately 318 mV.

23. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said first potentiometer is a gain adjustment for a current sense amplifier in said load compensation circuit that is set to match said ampere-hour rating (from 15 to 45 ampere-hours) of said battery installed on said vehicle, wherein said ampere-hour rating (as well as marine-cranking-amp rating) of said battery is a measure of said internal resistance of said battery and said internal resistance is required by said load compensation circuit.

24. The control system according to claim 1, wherein said second potentiometer is a gain adjustment for said third current sense voltage that is set to match said maximum current rating (from 100 A minimum to 360 A maximum) of said winch installed on said vehicle, wherein a proportional full scale range of said third current sense voltage is 2.5V for said smart winch controller.