Gauging method for battery discharge-capacity corresponding to temperature and electronic device using the same

• US 10,020,548 B2
• Filed: 08/08/2016
• Issued: 07/10/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Getac Technology Company Limited (MiTAC Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Getac Technology Company Limited (MiTAC Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Yu, Wen-Huan
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Vincent Q
• Application Number:
  US15/231,721
• Publication Number:
  US 20180040928A1
• Time in Patent Office: 701 Days
• Field of Search: 324430-434, 320134, 320136, 320162
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/374 with means for correcting the measurement for temperature or ageing
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/3842 combining voltage and current measurements
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/389 Measuring internal impedance, internal conductance or related variables
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/425 Structural combination with electronic components, e.g. electronic circuits integrated to the outside of the casing printed circuits H05K1/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/443 in response to temperature
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/486 for measuring temperature
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/488 Cells or batteries combined with indicating means for external visualization of the condition, e.g. by change of colour or of light density
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2010/4271 Battery management systems including electronic circuits, e.g. control of current or voltage to keep battery in healthy state, cell balancing
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2220/30 Batteries in portable systems, e.g. mobile phone, laptop
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

A gauging method for a battery discharge-capacity corresponding to a temperature includes steps of detecting a temperature of a battery module of an electronic device according to a predetermined condition; detecting an internal impedance of the battery module and estimating the battery discharge-capacity of the battery module according to the internal impedance if the temperature meets the predetermined condition; and detecting an output current and a voltage of the battery module according to the temperature and calculating the battery discharge-capacity of the battery module according to the temperature, the voltage and the output current if the temperature does not meet the predetermined condition.

Claims

1. A gauging method for a battery discharge-capacity corresponding to a temperature, applicable to an electronic device, the gauging method comprising the steps of:

detecting a temperature of a battery module of the electronic device according to a predetermined condition;

detecting the internal impedance of the battery module and estimating the battery discharge-capacity of the battery module according to the internal impedance when the temperature meets the predetermined condition; and

detecting a voltage and an output current of the battery module and calculating the battery discharge-capacity of the battery module according to the temperature, the voltage and the output current when the temperature does not meet the predetermined condition.

2. The gauging method for a battery discharge-capacity corresponding to a temperature according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined condition is that the received temperature is higher than a temperature threshold, wherein the step of detecting a temperature of a battery module of the electronic device according to a predetermined condition comprises:

measuring the temperature of the battery module; and

comparing the temperature threshold with the temperature.

3. The gauging method for a battery discharge-capacity corresponding to a temperature according to claim 2, wherein the temperature meets the predetermined condition when the temperature is higher than the temperature threshold, whereas the temperature does not meet the predetermined condition when the temperature is lower than or equal to the temperature threshold.

4. The gauging method for a battery discharge-capacity corresponding to a temperature according to claim 1, wherein the step of estimating the battery discharge-capacity of the battery module according to the internal impedance comprises estimating the battery discharge-capacity of the battery module with a TI algorithm according to the internal impedance.

5. The gauging method for a battery discharge-capacity corresponding to a temperature according to claim 1, wherein the step of calculating the battery discharge-capacity of the battery module comprises calculating the battery discharge-capacity corresponding to the temperature, the voltage and the output current with a corresponding data.

6. The gauging method for a battery discharge-capacity corresponding to a temperature according to claim 5, further comprising, before the step of detecting a temperature of a battery module of the electronic device according to a predetermined condition, conducting a discharging test on a plurality of battery modules with the same delivery condition as the battery module to create the corresponding data.

7. The gauging method for a battery discharge-capacity corresponding to a temperature according to claim 5, further comprising, before the step of detecting a temperature of a battery module of the electronic device according to a predetermined condition, conducting a plurality of discharging tests on the battery module to create the corresponding data.

8. The gauging method for a battery discharge-capacity corresponding to a temperature according to claim 5, wherein the step of calculating the battery discharge-capacity of the battery module according to the temperature, the voltage and the output current comprises calculating the battery discharge-capacity with the corresponding data by interpolation.

9. The gauging method for a battery discharge-capacity corresponding to a temperature according to claim 1, further comprising displaying a power percentage on a display unit according to the battery discharge-capacity.

10. An electronic device for gauging a battery discharge-capacity corresponding to a temperature, comprising:

a battery module for supplying power to the electronic device;

a temperature sensing unit for measuring a temperature of the battery module;

a storing unit for storing a predetermined condition; and

a processing unit coupled to the battery module, the temperature sensing unit, and the storing unit to receive the temperature, wherein, when the temperature meets the predetermined condition, the processing unit will detect the internal impedance of the battery module and estimate the battery discharge-capacity of the battery module according to the internal impedance, wherein, when the temperature does not meet the predetermined condition, the processing unit will detect a voltage and an output current of the battery module and calculate the battery discharge-capacity of the battery module according to the temperature, the voltage and the output current.

11. The electronic device for gauging a battery discharge-capacity corresponding to a temperature according to claim 10, wherein the predetermined condition is a temperature threshold.

12. The electronic device for gauging a battery discharge-capacity corresponding to a temperature according to claim 11, wherein the temperature meets the predetermined condition when the temperature is higher than the temperature threshold, and the temperature does not meet the predetermined condition when the temperature is not higher than the temperature threshold.

13. The electronic device for gauging a battery discharge-capacity corresponding to a temperature according to claim 10, wherein the storing unit further stores a TI algorithm such that, when the temperature meets the predetermined condition, the processing unit estimates the battery discharge-capacity of the battery module with the TI algorithm according to the internal impedance.

14. The electronic device for gauging a battery discharge-capacity corresponding to a temperature according to claim 10, wherein the storing unit further stores a corresponding data such that, when the temperature does not meet the predetermined condition, the processing unit calculates the battery discharge-capacity corresponding to the temperature, the voltage and the output current with the corresponding data.

15. The electronic device for gauging a battery discharge-capacity corresponding to a temperature according to claim 10, further comprising a display unit coupled to the processing unit to display a power percentage indicative of the battery discharge-capacity.