Systems and methods for detecting charge switching element failure in a battery system
First Claim
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1. A method of detecting charge switching element failure in a battery system, comprising:
- monitoring for the presence of a battery charging current flowing to one or more battery cells of said battery system;
monitoring voltage of said one or more battery cells of said battery system;
using a combination of said monitored voltage and said monitored battery charging current to sense failure of said charge switching element and without disabling the battery system due to a false charging current indication; and
taking one or more failure state actions only if both of the following conditions are detected to exist at the same time when said charge switching element of said battery system is supposed to be in a state that prevents flow of battery charging current to said one or more, battery cells of said battery system and not taking said one or more failure state actions if both of the following conditions are not detected to exist at the same time when said charge switching element of said battery system is supposed to be in a state that prevents flow of battery charging current to said one or more battery cells of said battery system;
(i) battery charging current is flowing to said one or more battery cells, and(ii) voltage of said one or more battery cells is detected to be increasing;
wherein said charge switching element forms a part of a charge circuit that is controllable to allow or disallow charging current to said one or more battery cells from said battery charging apparatus; and
wherein said method further comprises controlling said charge switching element to allow or disallow charging current to said one or more battery cells.
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Abstract
Systems and methods for detection of charge switching element failure (e.g., charge FET switching element) in a battery system, such as a battery system of an information handling system (e.g. notebook computer), in which an increase in cell voltage is employed as a criteria for detecting charge switching element failure.
59 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method of detecting charge switching element failure in a battery system, comprising:
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monitoring for the presence of a battery charging current flowing to one or more battery cells of said battery system; monitoring voltage of said one or more battery cells of said battery system; using a combination of said monitored voltage and said monitored battery charging current to sense failure of said charge switching element and without disabling the battery system due to a false charging current indication; and taking one or more failure state actions only if both of the following conditions are detected to exist at the same time when said charge switching element of said battery system is supposed to be in a state that prevents flow of battery charging current to said one or more, battery cells of said battery system and not taking said one or more failure state actions if both of the following conditions are not detected to exist at the same time when said charge switching element of said battery system is supposed to be in a state that prevents flow of battery charging current to said one or more battery cells of said battery system; (i) battery charging current is flowing to said one or more battery cells, and (ii) voltage of said one or more battery cells is detected to be increasing; wherein said charge switching element forms a part of a charge circuit that is controllable to allow or disallow charging current to said one or more battery cells from said battery charging apparatus; and wherein said method further comprises controlling said charge switching element to allow or disallow charging current to said one or more battery cells. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 21)
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9. A battery system configured to be coupled to a battery charging apparatus, said battery system comprising:
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one or more battery cells; battery current control circuitry configured to be coupled between said battery charging apparatus and said one or more battery cells, said battery current control circuitry comprising at least one charge switching element configured to control flow of said charging current to said battery cells from said battery charging apparatus; a switching element failure detector configured to use a combination of monitored voltage of said one or more battery cells and monitored battery charging current flowing to said one or more battery cells to sense failure of one or more charge switching elements without disabling the battery system due to a false charging current indication and configured to take one or more failure state actions only if both of the following conditions are detected to exist at the same time when said charge switching element of said battery system is supposed to be in a state that prevents flow of battery charging current to said one or more battery cells of said battery system and configured not to take said one or more failure state actions if both of the following conditions are not detected to exist at the same time when said charge switching element of said battery system is supposed to be in a state that prevents flow of battery charging current to said one or more battery cells of said battery system; (i) battery charging current is flowing to said one or more battery cells, and (ii) voltage of said one or more battery cells is detected to be increasing; wherein said charge switching element forms a part of a charge circuit that is controllable to allow or disallow charging current to said one or more battery cells from said battery charging apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 22, 23)
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17. A replaceable battery pack for a portable information handling system configured to be coupled to a battery charging apparatus, said replaceable battery pack comprising:
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one or more battery cells; a charge circuit configured to be coupled between said battery charging apparatus and said one or more battery cells, said charge circuit comprising a charge FET switching element and being configured to receive a charging current from said battery charging apparatus, said charge FET switching element forming a part of a charge circuit that is controllable to allow or disallow charging current to said one or more battery cells from said battery charging apparatus; an inline fuse configured to be coupled between said battery charging apparatus and said one or more battery cells; a battery management unit (BMU) coupled to said charge circuit, said BMU comprising a microcontroller and being configured to control said charge FET switching element to allow or disallow charging current to said one or more battery cells; wherein said BMU is configured to sense failure of said charge FET switching element without disabling the battery system due to a false charging current indication and configured to control operation of said inline fuse so as to permanently disable said battery system only if both of the following conditions are detected to exist at the same time when said charge FET switching element of said battery system is supposed to be off to prevent flow of battery charging current to said one or more battery cells of said battery system and configured not to take said one or more failure state actions if both of the following conditions are not detected to exist at the same time when said charge FET switching element of said battery system is supposed to be in a state that prevents flow of battery charging current to said one or more battery cells of said battery system; (i) battery charging current is flowing to said one or more battery cells, and (ii) voltage of said one or more battery cells is detected to be increasing. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification