Battery management apparatus and battery management method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10109900-B2
Application number	US-201715403864-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 11, 2017
Priority date	Jan 12, 2016
Publication date	Oct 23, 2018
Grant date	Oct 23, 2018

Abstract

A battery management apparatus for a battery including battery units, the apparatus including a voltage sensor configured to sense a voltage of each of the battery units; a phase difference calculator configured to calculate a phase difference between the voltage of each of the battery units and a reference voltage; and a temperature controller configured to control a temperature of each of the battery units based on the calculated phase difference.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A battery management apparatus for a battery comprising battery units, the apparatus comprising:
a voltage sensor configured to sense a voltage of each of the battery units;
a phase difference calculator configured to calculate a phase difference between the voltage of each of the battery units and a reference voltage; and
a temperature controller configured to control a temperature of each of the battery units based on the calculated phase difference.

2. The battery management apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the battery comprises a battery pack; and
the battery unit comprises a battery module.

3. The battery management apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the battery comprises a battery module; and
the battery unit comprises a battery cell.

4. The battery management apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a reference voltage setter configured to set either one or both of a battery voltage or the voltage of a battery unit of the battery units as the reference voltage.

5. The battery management apparatus of claim 4 , further comprising:
a reference voltage converter configured to change the set reference voltage.

6. The battery management apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the reference voltage converter is further configured to determine whether a reference voltage phase substantially corresponds to a median among voltage phases of the battery units, and in response to the determined result not substantially corresponding to the median, the reference voltage converter being further configured to change the reference voltage to the voltage of a battery unit with a voltage phase sensed as the median.

7. The battery management apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the reference voltage converter is further configured to determine whether a reference voltage phase is closest to a mean of voltage phases of the battery units, and in response to the determined result not being closest to the mean, the reference voltage converter being further configured to change the reference voltage to the voltage of a battery unit with a voltage phase is sensed as being closest to the mean.

8. The battery management apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the temperature controller is further configured to decrease the temperature of the battery unit with a voltage sensed as having an earlier phase than the reference voltage, and increase the temperature of the battery unit with a voltage sensed as having a later phase than the reference voltage.

9. The battery management apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a temperature estimator configured to either one or both of sense and estimate a reference temperature of a battery unit;
a state of charge (SOC) estimator configured to estimate a reference SOC of a battery unit; and
a temperature distribution estimator configured to estimate a temperature distribution for each of the battery units based on the calculated phase difference, either one or both of the sensed and estimated reference temperature, and the estimated reference SOC,
wherein the reference temperature and the reference SOC are a temperature and an SOC of a battery unit corresponding to the reference voltage.

10. The battery management apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the temperature distribution estimator is further configured to estimate the temperature distribution for each of the battery units using a temperature graph based on an SOC and a phase difference between a current and a voltage.

11. A battery management method for a battery comprising battery units, the method comprising:
sensing a voltage of each of the battery units;
calculating a phase difference between the voltage of each of the battery units and a reference voltage; and
controlling a temperature of each of the battery units based on the calculated phase difference.

12. The battery management method of claim 11 , wherein:
the battery comprises a battery pack; and
the battery unit comprises a battery module.

13. The battery management method of claim 11 , wherein:
the battery comprises a battery module; and
the battery unit comprises a battery cell.

14. The battery management method of claim 11 , further comprising:
setting either one or both of a battery voltage or the voltage of a battery unit among the battery units as the reference voltage.

15. The battery management method of claim 14 , further comprising:
changing the set reference voltage.

16. The battery management method of claim 15 , wherein the changing of the reference voltage comprises:
determining whether a reference voltage phase substantially corresponds to a median among voltage phases of the battery units, and in response to the determined result not substantially corresponding to the median, changing the reference voltage to a voltage of a battery unit with a voltage phase sensed as the median.

17. The battery management method of claim 15 , wherein the changing of the reference voltage comprises:
determining whether a reference voltage phase is closest to a mean of voltage phases of the battery units and in response to the determined result not being closest to the mean changing the reference voltage to a voltage of a battery unit with a voltage phase sensed as being closest to the mean.

18. The battery management method of claim 11 , wherein the controlling of the temperature of each of the battery units comprises decreasing the temperature of the battery unit with a voltage sensed as having an earlier phase than the reference voltage, and increasing the temperature of the battery unit with a voltage sensed as having a later phase than the reference voltage.

19. The battery management method of claim 11 , further comprising:
either one or both of sensing and estimating a reference temperature of a battery unit;
estimating a reference state of charge (SOC) of a battery unit; and
estimating a temperature distribution for each of the battery units based on the calculated phase difference, either one or both of the sensed and estimated reference temperature, and the estimated reference SOC.

20. The battery management method of claim 19 , wherein the estimating of the temperature distribution for each of the battery units comprises estimating a temperature distribution for each of the battery units using a temperature graph based on an SOC and a phase difference between a current and a voltage.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Jin Ho
• Lim Ju Wan
• Song Tae Won
• Yeo Tae Jung

Classifications

• H02J7/84

  Control of state of health [SOH] · CPC title

• H02J7/82

  Control of state of charge [SOC] · CPC title

• H02J7/52

  for charge balancing, e.g. equalisation of charge between batteries · CPC title

• H02J7/50

  acting upon multiple batteries simultaneously or sequentially · CPC title

• H02J7/977

  of the battery · CPC title