Multi-battery charging station which selectively connects battery sub-modules to a common power bus for charging

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10333328-B1
Application number	US-201816135851-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Sep 19, 2018
Priority date	Jan 31, 2018
Publication date	Jun 25, 2019
Grant date	Jun 25, 2019

Abstract

Battery sub-modules are selecting to electrically connect to a common power bus, including by: determining if a discharge-related fault indication for a given battery sub-module indicates that the given battery sub-module is in a discharge-related fault condition. If so, the given battery sub-module is excluded from the selected battery sub-modules such that said given battery sub-module is electrically disconnected from the common power bus. The selected battery sub-modules are configured so that the selected battery sub-modules are electrically connected to the common power bus; the selected battery sub-modules that are electrically connected to the common power bus are charged.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory coupled with the processor, wherein the memory is configured to provide the processor with instructions which when executed cause the processor to:
select one or more battery sub-modules from a plurality of battery sub-modules to electrically connect to a common power bus, including by:
determining if a discharge-related fault indication for a given battery sub-module in the plurality of battery sub-modules indicates that said given battery sub-module is in a discharge-related fault condition; and
in response to determining that the discharge-related fault indication indicates that said given battery sub-module is in the discharge-related fault condition, excluding the given battery sub-module from the selected battery sub-modules such that said given battery sub-module is electrically disconnected from the common power bus;

configure the selected battery sub-modules so that the selected battery sub-modules are electrically connected to the common power bus, wherein in response to determining that the discharge-related fault indication indicates that said given battery sub-module is in the discharge-related fault condition, the given battery sub-module is excluded from the selected battery sub-modules such that said given battery sub-module is not electrically connected to the common power bus whereas the selected battery sub-modules are electrically connected to the common power bus; and
charge the selected battery sub-modules that are electrically connected to the common power bus, wherein in response to determining that the discharge-related fault indication indicates that said given battery sub-module is in the discharge-related fault condition, the given battery sub-module is excluded from the selected battery sub-modules such that said given battery sub-module is not charged whereas the selected battery sub-modules that are electrically connected to the common power bus are charged.

2. The system recited in claim 1 , wherein the discharge-related fault indication is determined based at least in part on the given battery sub-module being in a state of discharge for more than a specific amount of time.

3. The system recited in claim 1 , wherein the discharge-related fault indication is determined by a built-in battery management system in the given battery sub-module.

4. The system recited in claim 1 , wherein the memory is further configured to provide the processor with instructions which when executed cause the processor to determine whether to perform a charge-only or a charge-and-update, including by: in response to determining that the discharge-related fault indication indicates that said given battery sub-module is in the discharge-related fault condition, determining to perform the charge-and-update.

5. The system recited in claim 1 , wherein:
in response to determining that the discharge-related fault indication indicates that said given battery sub-module is in the discharge-related fault condition, replacing said given battery sub-module with a second battery sub-module; and
charging the selected battery sub-modules that are electrically connected to the common power bus includes performing a charge-and-update such that a health metric for the second battery sub-module is generated.

6. A method, comprising:
selecting one or more battery sub-modules from a plurality of battery sub-modules to electrically connect to a common power bus, including by:
determining if a discharge-related fault indication for a given battery sub-module in the plurality of battery sub-modules indicates that said given battery sub-module is in a discharge-related fault condition; and
in response to determining that the discharge-related fault indication indicates that said given battery sub-module is in the discharge-related fault condition, excluding the given battery sub-module from the selected battery sub-modules such that said given battery sub-module is electrically disconnected from the common power bus;

configuring the selected battery sub-modules so that the selected battery sub-modules are electrically connected to the common power bus, wherein in response to determining that the discharge-related fault indication indicates that said given battery sub-module is in the discharge-related fault condition, the given battery sub-module is excluded from the selected battery sub-modules such that said given battery sub-module is not electrically connected to the common power bus whereas the selected battery sub-modules are electrically connected to the common power bus; and
charging the selected battery sub-modules that are electrically connected to the common power bus, wherein in response to determining that the discharge-related fault indication indicates that said given battery sub-module is in the discharge-related fault condition, the given battery sub-module is excluded from the selected battery sub-modules such that said given battery sub-module is not charged whereas the selected battery sub-modules that are electrically connected to the common power bus are charged.

7. The method recited in claim 6 , wherein the discharge-related fault indication is determined based at least in part on the given battery sub-module being in a state of discharge for more than a specific amount of time.

8. The method recited in claim 6 , wherein the discharge-related fault indication is determined by a built-in battery management system in the given battery sub-module.

9. The method recited in claim 6 further comprising determining whether to perform a charge-only or a charge-and-update, including by: in response to determining that the discharge-related fault indication indicates that said given battery sub-module is in the discharge-related fault condition, determining to perform the charge-and-update.

10. The method recited in claim 6 , wherein:
the method further includes: in response to determining that the discharge-related fault indication indicates that said given battery sub-module is in the discharge-related fault condition, replacing said given battery sub-module with a second battery sub-module; and
charging the selected battery sub-modules that are electrically connected to the common power bus includes performing a charge-and-update such that a health metric for the second battery sub-module is generated.

11. A computer program product, the computer program product being embodied in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:
selecting one or more battery sub-modules from a plurality of battery sub-modules to electrically connect to a common power bus, including by:
determining if a discharge-related fault indication for a given battery sub-module in the plurality of battery sub-modules indicates that said given battery sub-module is in a discharge-related fault condition; and
in response to determining that the discharge-related fault indication indicates that said given battery sub-module is in the discharge-related fault condition, excluding the given battery sub-module from the selected battery sub-modules such that said given battery sub-module is electrically disconnected from the common power bus;

configuring the selected battery sub-modules so that the selected battery sub-modules are electrically connected to the common power bus, wherein in response to determining that the discharge-related fault indication indicates that said given battery sub-module is in the discharge-related fault condition, the given battery sub-module is excluded from the selected battery sub-modules such that said given battery sub-module is not electrically connected to the common powe

Assignees

• Kitty Hawk Corp

Inventors

• Hom Lewis Romeo
• Viele Brian Robert
• Furman Scott

Classifications

• H02J7/977

  of the battery · CPC title

• H02J7/975

  in response to temperature · CPC title

• H02J7/875

  Charging or discharging for charge maintenance, battery initiation or rejuvenation · CPC title

• H02J7/96

  in response to battery voltage · CPC title

• H02J7/94

  in response to battery current · CPC title