Electricity: battery or capacitor charging or discharging – Serially connected batteries or cells – With discharge of cells or batteries
Patent
1998-07-23
2000-04-04
Tso, Edward H.
Electricity: battery or capacitor charging or discharging
Serially connected batteries or cells
With discharge of cells or batteries
H01M 1046
Patent
active
060465735
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The presently most used way to charge and discharge batteries is to connect charging or load to the pole bolts of the total battery. The battery consists normally of a number of cells which are connected in series. At charging or discharging the same current will go through all the battery cells.
PRIOR ART
In charging or discharging of batteries there are normally a control systems, with varying degree of complexity, which control the process. Charging or discharging is done by supplying or loading a current in the battery. The size of this current is controlled by a number of parameters e.g. current battery voltage, temperature at battery, battery performance, current charging level etc. One problem which occurs with the use batteries connected in series is that the battery cells have different pole voltages, temperatures, performance, charging levels etc. One method, which is used to minimize this problem, is to equally discharge the battery. I.e. that the whole battery is emptied of energy to get the cells on as equal a charging level as possible, at the next charging cycle. As the demands of availability and lifetime increase, charging systems have been developed which can equalise charging. These systems have an electrical connection to each battery cell or battery block. This means that the main charging current is supplied as usual via the pole bolts. In addition, extra currents, to the battery cells or battery blocks which need extra charging to reach full charging level, can be supplied via the separate connections. One disadvantage with this type of system is that the cable arrangement becomes very complex, and that equalising only can be done at charging.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to considerably avoid the above mentioned problems and by an equalising system direct charging currents between different battery cells or battery blocks in the battery during all operating conditions, without having an inconvenient cable installation.
These objects are achieved by a voltage converter, mounted on each battery cell or battery block. These voltage converter units are connected to a common current path, which is connected to the pole bolts, of the total battery, where the energy is transferred from the cells which have a higher charging level, temperature, pole voltage etc. As this current path is connected to the pole bolts of the total battery an equalisation of the charging levels is made.
The system can also have an alternative technical solution where energy is transferred from the common current path via the voltage converter units to the respective battery cell or battery block. The energy is now transferred in the opposite direction, compared to the above solution, but this gives the same effect if the energy now is supplied to the battery cells or battery blocks which have a lower charging level, temperature, pole voltage etc. compared to the other battery cells or battery blocks.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will now be described below with the schematic connection diagrams where
FIG. 1 shows a battery where the charge level equalising system is connected to each battery cell in the battery.
FIG. 2 shows a battery where the charge level equalising system is connected to each battery block in the battery.
FIGS. 3-4 are alternate embodiments.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 shows in principal a connection diagram of a system for charge level equalising in batteries, where the system is connected to the battery cell level. The battery having a positive pole 1 and a negative pole 2 comprises a number of cells 3 connected in series. The system for charge level equalising comprises a number of voltage converters 4 which are remotely controlled by a in relation to the battery centrally oriented control unit. The voltage converters 4 are on one side connected to positive pole 8 and negative pole 7, respectively, of the battery cells and the positive pole 10 and negative pole 11 respectively of the battery blocks as shown in
REFERENCES:
patent: 4331911 (1982-05-01), Park
patent: 5313152 (1994-05-01), Wozniak et al.
patent: 5592067 (1997-01-01), Peter et al.
patent: 5631534 (1997-05-01), Lewis
patent: 5646504 (1997-07-01), Feldstein
patent: 5767660 (1998-06-01), Schmidt
Tso Edward H.
Xicon Battery Electronics AB
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