VEHICULAR BATTERY PACK

• US 20120101755A1
• Filed: 08/17/2011
• Published: 04/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: HIRASAWA, Hidefumi
• Application Number:
  US13/211,607
• Publication Number:
  US 20120101755A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/63
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/11 DC charging controlled by the charging station, e.g. mode 4
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/10 for monitoring or controlling batteries
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0645 Rental transactions; Leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/4257 Smart batteries, e.g. electronic circuits inside the housing of the cells or batteries
• 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: H02J 7/007 Regulation of charging or discharging current or voltage
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/04 Regulation of charging current or voltage
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/12 Electric charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 Plug-in electric vehicles

Abstract

A battery pack includes a battery module that charges and discharges electricity to be used to drive a vehicle, and a monitoring controller for monitoring charge of the battery module. The monitoring controller stores past charge records and past discharge records in a charge-discharge history. Based on an analysis of learning data of a charge-discharge cycle in the charge-discharge history, the monitoring controller determines a charge operation, which may either be a normal charge or a quick charge, for charging the battery. The normal charge provides a charging electric current per unit time that is less than the charging current per unit time of the quick charge.

Claims

1. A vehicular battery pack comprising:

a battery that provides electric power to a vehicle;

a control unit that stores a charge record and a discharge record in a charge-discharge history of the battery, and the control unit determines a charge operation of the battery based on an analysis of the charge-discharge history; and

wherein the control unit determines the charge operation to either be a normal charge or a quick charge, the quick charge is different from the normal charge, and the normal charge provides a charging electric current per unit time that is less than the charging current per unit time of the quick charge.

2. The vehicular battery pack of claim 1, wherein

the control unit at least communicates with a vehicle operation management server that manages an operation reservation data regarding a future operation of the vehicle, and

the control unit analyzes the charge-discharge history and the operation reservation data acquired from the vehicle operation management server in order to determine the charge operation.

3. The vehicular battery pack of claim 2, wherein the control unit determines whether the quick charge is required based on an analysis of (a) time to a next planned use according to the operation reservation data and (b) a remaining electric charge in the battery.

4. The vehicular battery pack of claim 1, wherein the control unit transmits a charge monitoring data to a responsible organization, wherein the responsible organization determines a degree of degradation of the battery.

5. The vehicular battery pack of claim 1, wherein the control unit performs the quick charge upon acquiring a quick charge request from a user of the vehicle, even when the control unit determines that the quick charge is not required.