Battery quality monitoring method

• US 20040222770A1
• Filed: 01/10/2003
• Published: 11/11/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Einar Gottas
• Original Assignee: Einar Gottas
• Inventors: Gottas, Einar
• Application Number:
  US10/297,075
• Publication Number:
  US 20040222770A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 320/134
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/48 Accumulators combined with arrangements for measuring, testing or indicating the condition of cells, e.g. the level or density of the electrolyte constructional details of current conducting connections for detecting conditions inside cells or batteries, e.g. details of voltage sensing terminals, H01M50/569
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

Battery quality is monitored by means of a monitoring system that presents current physical parameters of single cells as deviations from the average parameter value of all cells. Battery performance is calculated from the time progress of a number of the largest deviations for single cells.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring and determining quality of a battery consisting of several single cells in series, all cells, or a quite significant number of the cells, being monitored with regard to variations in one or more physical battery parameters, using a monitoring system, said monitoring system presenting all parameters as deviations from average values for all cells,

characterized in that the monitoring system calculates battery performance from progress in time of a number of the largest deviations for single cells.

2. The method of claim 1,

characterized in that said monitoring system presents both primary parameters and possibly measured secondary parameters as such a deviation from the cell average.

3. The method of claim 1,

characterized in that an integral of all deviations over time is calculated, and that said integral is used as a measure of performance for each single cell and hence for the complete battery.

4. The method of claim 1,

characterized in that a time integral is calculated for the temperature deviation above 20°

C. in each respective cell, and that maximum lifetime for the battery is computed from the largest deviation integrals.

5. The method of claim 1,

characterized in that the general quality of the battery is stated by means of dispersion or standard deviation in the measured single cell values.

6. The method of claim 1,

characterized in that change over time in the deviation for each single cell, relative to the battery average for every parameter, is used as a measure of quality, and that the same measurements are used, by extrapolation, for estimating the battery quality in the future.

7. The method of claim 1,

characterized in that a battery charger is controlled for executing automatic extended test routines and special recharging programs for counter-acting deviating characteristics about to be developed in single cells.

8. The method of claim 1,

characterized in that a current shunt is connected periodically across cells exhibiting a high voltage during maintenance charging, and that the charging current is increased, so that cells originally exhibiting a low voltage, receive a higher charging current.

9. The method of claim 1,

characterized in that the monitoring system presents parameters from a group that includes terminal voltage, temperature, acid level, internal resistance, “

voltage sack” and

symmetry between cells in a small group of cells.