LOW-VOLTAGE NETWORK WITH A DC-DC CONVERTER AND METHOD FOR TESTING A LOW-VOLTAGE BATTERY

• US 20150219725A1
• Filed: 07/05/2013
• Published: 08/06/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Fassnacht, Jochen, Schmucker, Clemens
• Granted Patent: US 9,983,267 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 29/02 Measuring characteristics of individual pulses, e.g. deviation from pulse flatness, rise time or duration
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/36 Arrangements for testing, measuring or monitoring the electrical condition of accumulators or electric batteries, e.g. capacity or state of charge [SoC]
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/385 Arrangements for measuring battery or accumulator variables for monitoring G01R31/382

Abstract

The invention relates to a DC-DC converter which is designed to supply a low-voltage network comprising a low-voltage battery and a battery sensor circuit with a low voltage, having a pulse generation device which is designed to feed electrical pulses into the low-voltage network in order to test the low-voltage battery using the battery sensor circuit.

Claims

1. A DC-DC converter, which is configured to supply a low voltage to a low-voltage network that includes a low-voltage battery and a battery sensor circuit (3), the DC-DC converter comprising:

a pulse generation device, which is configured to feed electrical pulses for testing the low-voltage battery through the battery sensor circuit into the low-voltage network.

2. The DC-DC converter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pulse generation device is configured to feed a multiplicity of electrical pulses in a predetermined sequence into the low-voltage network.

3. The DC-DC converter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pulse generation device is configured to generate at least one of a group consisting of current pulses, voltage pulses, and power pulses.

4. The DC-DC converter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pulse generation device is configured to transmit parameters relating to electrical pulses to a grid management device via a communications interface.

5. A low-voltage network, comprising:

a DC-DC converter as claimed in claim 1;

a low-voltage battery; and

a battery sensor circuit, which is configured to detect operational parameters of the low-voltage battery depending on the electrical pulses generated by the DC-DC converter.

6. The low-voltage network as claimed in claim 5, further comprising:

a grid management device, which is coupled to the DC-DC converter and the battery sensor circuit, and which is configured to synchronize the generation of the electrical pulses by the DC-DC converter with the detection of the operational parameters of the low-voltage battery by the battery sensor circuit.

7. The low-voltage grid as claimed in claim 5, wherein the battery sensor circuit has a detection device, a current sensor and a voltage sensor, and wherein the detection device is configured to detect the current from the low-voltage battery or into the low-voltage battery via the current sensor and to detect the voltage drop across the low-voltage battery via the voltage sensor.

8. A method for testing a low-voltage battery, the method comprising:

generating electrical pulses by means of a DC-DC converter, which is configured to supply a low voltage to a low-voltage network that includes a low-voltage battery and a battery sensor circuit;

feeding the electrical pulses into the low-voltage network; and

detecting operational parameters of the low-voltage battery by means of the battery sensor circuit depending on the electrical pulses.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the electrical pulses include at least one of a group consisting of current pulses, voltage pulses, and power pulses.

10. The method as claimed in claim 8, further comprising:

synchronizing the generation of the electrical pulses by means of the DC-DC converter with the detection of the operational parameters of the low-voltage battery by means of the battery sensor circuit with the aid of a grid management device.