Discharge monitoring and isolating system for batteries
First Claim
1. A battery cell protection system comprising:
- a processor responsive to a plurality of voltages received in parallel from a plurality of cells in a battery for detecting any of the voltages being less than or equal to a predetermined threshold voltage, and for identifying at least one cell having an associated voltage being less than or equal to said predetermined threshold voltage; and
an isolation switch responsive to the identification of said at least one cell for selectively electrically isolating said at least one identified cell from the other cells of the battery.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A battery-cell protection system includes a processor, a wake-up circuit, and a shunt or isolation switch. The processor responds to voltages from cells in a battery by detecting any of the voltages being less than or equal to a predetermined threshold voltage. The processor samples cell voltages at a fast sampling rate and compares the sampled voltages to a predetermined threshold value. The processor further identifies any cell having an associated voltage that is less than or equal to the predetermined threshold voltage. The wake-up circuit responds to a current load from the battery by activating the processor. The shunt switch responds to the identification of the cell by selectively electrically shunting the identified cell to allow the other cells of the battery to continue to supply power to a connected load. The monitoring and identification of cells are performed in parallel to rapidly monitor all of the cells at once. In addition, the monitoring of the cells adaptive in modifying the sampling rate for improved detection and isolation of discharged cells. The processor may further include appropriate memory for recording information, such as total load current, which may later be used as a battery-usage clock to determine the "age" and remaining "life" of the battery.
191 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A battery cell protection system comprising:
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a processor responsive to a plurality of voltages received in parallel from a plurality of cells in a battery for detecting any of the voltages being less than or equal to a predetermined threshold voltage, and for identifying at least one cell having an associated voltage being less than or equal to said predetermined threshold voltage; and an isolation switch responsive to the identification of said at least one cell for selectively electrically isolating said at least one identified cell from the other cells of the battery. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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4. The battery cell protection system of clam 3 further comprising:
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a current monitor responsive to a current load from the battery for generating a sampling rate correction signal; and wherein the processor responsive to the sampling rate correction signal adaptively modifies the sampling to be at a second predetermined sampling rate greater than the first sampling rate, and compares samples of the cell voltages to the predetermined threshold at the second predetermined sampling rate.
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9. The battery cell protection system of clam 1 further comprising:
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an analog-to-digital converter for converting the plurality of voltages to a corresponding digital signal; and wherein the processor processes the digital signal for detecting any of the voltages corresponding to the digital signal being less than predetermined threshold voltage. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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11. A battery cell protection system comprising:
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a processor responsive to a plurality of voltages received in parallel from a plurality of cells in a battery for detecting any of the voltages being less than or equal to a predetermined threshold voltage, using samples of the cell voltages obtained at a first sampling rate to compare the samples to a predetermined threshold value, and for identifying at least one cell having an associated voltage being less than or equal to the predetermined threshold voltage; a wake-up circuit responsive to a current load from the battery for activating the processor; and a shunt switch responsive to the identification of the at least one cell for selectively electrically shunting-out the at least one identified cell to prevent the at least one identified cell from becoming reverse charged. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A method for protecting the cells of a multi-cell battery comprising the steps of:
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receiving in parallel a plurality of voltages from the cells; detecting for any of the plurality of voltages being less than or equal to a predetermined threshold voltage; identifying at least one cell having an associated voltage being less than or equal to the predetermined threshold voltage; and selectively electrically isolating the at least one identified cell from the other cells of the battery to protect the other cells. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification