Device for determining physical quantity of battery pack

• US 6,603,287 B2
• Filed: 04/09/2002
• Issued: 08/05/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation), Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation), Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Maki, Ichiro, Morimoto, Naohisa
• Primary Examiner(s): Tso, Edward H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): TIBBITS, PIA FLORENCE
• Application Number:
  US10/119,572
• Publication Number:
  US 20020149357A1
• Time in Patent Office: 483 Days
• Field of Search: 320/150, 320/152, 320/153, 320/154, 324/426, 324/427, 324/431, 324/441, 340/636
• US Class Current: 320/150
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/3648 comprising digital calculation means, e.g. for performing an algorithm

Abstract

A device is provided that allows a physical quantity of a battery pack to be determined at low cost with high accuracy with respect to variations in environmental temperature. A voltage regulator supplies a temperature detecting part and an A/D converter with reference voltages as a reference voltage for detection and a reference voltage for conversion, respectively, and supplies a storage part and a signal processing part with the reference voltage as a supply voltage. Based on signal levels obtained from physical quantity detecting parts and the temperature detecting part via the A/D converter so as to correspond to a plurality of temperatures in a predetermined temperature range, which have been stored in the storage part, a signal level obtained from the physical quantity detecting part via the A/D converter is corrected in the signal processing part.

Claims

1. A device for determining a physical quantity of a battery pack as a combined body of a plurality of a single secondary battery cells, comprising:

a physical quantity detecting part for generating a signal of a level corresponding to a value of physical quantity of the battery pack to be detected;

an environmental temperature detecting part for generating a signal of a level corresponding to an ambient temperature in the device;

an A/D converter for converting analog signals from the physical quantity detecting part and the environmental temperature detecting part into digital signals;

a storage part for storing in advance signal levels that are obtained from the physical quantity detecting part and the environmental temperature detecting part via the A/D converter so as to correspond to a plurality of environmental temperatures in a predetermined temperature range;

a signal processing part for correcting a signal level obtained from the physical quantity detecting part via the A/D converter, based on the signal levels corresponding to the plurality of environmental temperatures that have been stored in the storage part; and

a voltage regulator for regulating a voltage level of an input power source to supply the environmental temperature detecting part and the A/D converter with reference voltages as a reference voltage for detection and a reference voltage for conversion, respectively, and supply the storage part and the signal processing part with the reference voltage as a supply voltage.

2. The device for determining the physical quantity of the battery pack according to claim 1, wherein the physical quantity to be detected is at least one selected from the group consisting of output voltage of the battery pack, charge/discharge current of the battery pack, and temperature in the battery pack.

3. The device for determining the physical quantity of the battery pack according to claim 1, wherein the environmental temperature detecting part includes a fixed resistance element and a thermosensitive resistance element, by which the reference supply voltage from the voltage regulator is divided to be output therefrom.

4. The device for determining the physical quantity of the battery pack according to claim 1, wherein the environmental temperature detecting part is provided so as to be adjacent to the voltage regulator.

5. The device for determining the physical quantity-of the battery pack according to claim 1, wherein in the storage part, the signal levels, each of which is output from the physical quantity detection part so as to correspond to a reference value of the physical quantity to be detected that has been supplied to the physical quantity detecting part, are stored in advance so as to correspond to the plurality of environmental temperatures.

6. The device for determining the physical quantity of the battery pack according to claim 1, wherein the secondary batteries are connected in series.