Automatically determining alarm threshold settings for monitored battery system components in battery systems, and related components, systems, and methods
First Claim
1. A battery monitoring control unit configured to determine performance alarm threshold settings for battery system components in a battery system, the battery monitoring control unit configured to:
- before expiration of a defined battery settling time period;
instruct at least one battery monitoring device coupled to a plurality of battery system components to measure an initial performance value of each battery system component of the plurality of battery system components;
set an initial performance alarm threshold setting for each tested battery system component of the plurality of battery system components based on the at least one measured performance value of the tested battery system component, the initial performance alarm threshold setting to be used to determine battery performance characteristics of the tested battery system component during an initial battery testing time period; and
instruct at least one battery monitoring device coupled to the plurality of battery system components to measure at least one subsequent performance value of each battery system component of the plurality of battery system components; and
upon expiration of the defined battery settling time period, set a settled performance alarm threshold setting for each tested battery system component based on the at least one subsequent measured performance value for each tested battery system component, the settled performance alarm threshold setting to be used to determine battery performance characteristics of each tested battery system component after the battery settling time period.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments disclosed include automatically determining alarm threshold settings for monitored battery cells in battery systems. Battery monitoring control units are provided that are configured to initiate battery performance tests (e.g., ohmic tests) on battery cells in a battery system. Failing battery cells are identified as those battery cells having battery performance characteristics outside defined battery performance threshold settings. An initial performance alarm threshold setting is established for each battery cell because of unique performance characteristics that can substantially change during initial charging cycles before the battery cells have settled. A settled performance alarm threshold setting specific to each battery cell is then established based on battery cell performance during the defined settling time period. In this manner, more accurate performance alarm threshold settings are automatically established for monitoring each battery cell based on the individual performance characteristics of each battery cell during the settling time period.
17 Citations
45 Claims
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1. A battery monitoring control unit configured to determine performance alarm threshold settings for battery system components in a battery system, the battery monitoring control unit configured to:
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before expiration of a defined battery settling time period; instruct at least one battery monitoring device coupled to a plurality of battery system components to measure an initial performance value of each battery system component of the plurality of battery system components; set an initial performance alarm threshold setting for each tested battery system component of the plurality of battery system components based on the at least one measured performance value of the tested battery system component, the initial performance alarm threshold setting to be used to determine battery performance characteristics of the tested battery system component during an initial battery testing time period; and instruct at least one battery monitoring device coupled to the plurality of battery system components to measure at least one subsequent performance value of each battery system component of the plurality of battery system components; and upon expiration of the defined battery settling time period, set a settled performance alarm threshold setting for each tested battery system component based on the at least one subsequent measured performance value for each tested battery system component, the settled performance alarm threshold setting to be used to determine battery performance characteristics of each tested battery system component after the battery settling time period. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method of determining performance alarm threshold settings for a plurality of battery system components monitored by a battery monitoring system, comprising:
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before expiration of a defined battery settling time period; instructing at least one battery monitoring device coupled to the plurality of battery system components to measure an initial performance value of each battery system component of the plurality of battery system components; setting an initial performance alarm threshold setting for each tested battery system component of the plurality of battery system components based on the at least one measured performance value of the tested battery system component, the initial performance alarm threshold setting to be used to determine battery performance characteristics of the tested battery system component during an initial battery testing time period; and instructing at least one battery monitoring device coupled to the plurality of battery system components to measure at least one subsequent performance value of each battery system component of the plurality of battery system components; and upon expiration of the defined battery settling time period, setting a settled performance alarm threshold setting for each tested battery system component based on the at least one subsequent measured performance value for each tested battery system component, the settled performance alarm threshold setting to be used to determine the battery performance characteristics of each tested battery system component after the defined battery settling time period. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A battery monitoring system, comprising:
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a plurality of battery cell substrings each comprising a plurality of battery cells electrically connected in series; at least one inter-tier link electrically coupling one battery cell substring of the plurality of battery cell substrings to another battery cell substring of the plurality of battery cell substrings to form a battery from the plurality of battery cell substrings; a plurality of inter-cell links electrically couple adjacent battery cells of the plurality of battery cells together to form battery cell substrings; a plurality of battery monitoring devices, each battery monitoring device of the plurality of battery monitoring devices coupled to a battery cell substring among the plurality of battery cell substrings; and a battery monitoring control unit coupled to the plurality of battery monitoring devices; and the battery monitoring control unit configured to determine performance alarm threshold settings for battery system components, the battery monitoring control unit configured to; before expiration of a defined battery settling time period; instruct at least one of the plurality of battery monitoring devices coupled to a plurality of battery system components to measure an initial performance value of each battery system component of the plurality of battery system components; set an initial performance alarm threshold setting for each tested battery system component of the plurality of battery system components based on the at least one measured performance value of the tested battery system component, the initial performance alarm threshold setting to be used to determine battery performance characteristics of the tested battery system component during an initial battery testing time period; and instruct at least one of the plurality of battery monitoring devices coupled to the plurality of battery system components to measure at least one subsequent performance value of each battery system component of the plurality of battery cells; and upon expiration of the defined battery settling time period, set a settled performance alarm threshold setting for each tested battery system component based on the at least one subsequent measured performance value for each tested battery system component, the settled performance alarm threshold setting to be used to determine battery performance characteristics of each tested battery system component after the defined battery settling time period. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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Specification