Control of parallel battery utilization
US-9948119-B2 · Apr 17, 2018 · US
Electrified vehicle DC power conversion with balancing of battery states
US10793019B2 · US · B2
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Publication number | US-10793019-B2 |
| Application number | US-201816103981-A |
| Country | US |
| Kind code | B2 |
| Filing date | Aug 16, 2018 |
| Priority date | Aug 16, 2018 |
| Publication date | Oct 6, 2020 |
| Grant date | Oct 6, 2020 |
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Abstract
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A high voltage battery pack comprises series-connected battery units, each separately powering a respective DC/DC converter. The converter outputs are coupled in parallel to supply a low-voltage DC bus. A central module has 1) an outer loop controller generating a target current to regulate the bus voltage and 2) an allocator distributing the target current via allocated current commands for respective converters. Local controllers each regulate an output current of a respective converter. The allocator identifies battery units having a predetermined deviation from a reference metric that characterizes the battery pack, allocates reverse currents to respective converters for the identified battery units, and increases the target current commanded for the DC/DC converters not allocated to have a reverse current by the allocated reverse currents. Battery units with extremely low or high states as compared with the other units are quickly balanced, thereby improving overall performance of the battery pack.
First claim
Opening claim text (preview).
What is claimed is: 1. Electrified vehicle apparatus comprising: a battery pack comprising series-connected battery units providing a main voltage; a plurality of DC/DC converters, each having an input powered by a respective battery unit; a low-voltage bus, wherein the DC/DC converters have respective outputs coupled in parallel to the low-voltage bus; a central module having an outer loop controller generating a target current adapted to regulate a bus voltage on the low-voltage bus to a predetermined voltage, and having an allocator distributing the target current into a plurality of allocated current commands for respective DC/DC converters; and a plurality of local controllers each adjusting an output current of a respective DC/DC converter; wherein the allocator 1) identifies a battery unit having a predetermined deviation from a reference metric that characterizes the battery pack, 2) allocates a reverse current to a respective DC/DC converter for the identified battery unit, and 3) increases the target current commanded for the DC/DC converters not allocated to have a reverse current by the allocated reverse current. 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the reference metric is comprised of an average battery unit capacity, and the predetermined deviation is comprised of a predetermined difference between the average battery unit capacity and a capacity of a respective battery unit. 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the reference metric is comprised of a state of charge. 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the allocator deallocates the reverse current after the respective DC/DC converter no longer exhibits the predetermined deviation. 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein allocation and deallocation of the reverse current is subject to hysteresis for the predetermined deviation. 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the reverse current has a magnitude comprising a fixed proportion of a maximum current of the respective DC/DC converter. 7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the reverse current has a magnitude proportional to a difference between the reference metric and a corresponding metric of the identified battery unit. 8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the increased target current distributed among DC/DC converters not allocated a reverse current are assigned according to weighting factors determined according to a plurality of ranges of an absolute state of charge of each respective battery unit. 9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the ranges are comprised of a low region, a mid region, and a high region, and wherein when there are battery units within more than one of the ranges, then the weighting factors are determined according to a formula: w ( i ) = { W high if SOC of battery unit is in high region W mid if SOC of battery unit is in mid region 0 if SOC of battery unit is in low
Assignees
Inventors
Classifications
Control of state of charge [SOC] · CPC title
in response to battery voltage · CPC title
Active balancing, e.g. using capacitor-based, inductor-based or DC-DC converters · CPC title
Passive balancing, e.g. using resistors or parallel MOSFETs · CPC title
for charge balancing, e.g. equalisation of charge between batteries · CPC title
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- What does patent US10793019B2 cover?
- A high voltage battery pack comprises series-connected battery units, each separately powering a respective DC/DC converter. The converter outputs are coupled in parallel to supply a low-voltage DC bus. A central module has 1) an outer loop controller generating a target current to regulate the bus voltage and 2) an allocator distributing the target current via allocated current commands for re…
- Who is the assignee on this patent?
- Ford Global Tech Llc
- What technology area does this patent fall under?
- Primary CPC classification B60L58/22. Mapped technology areas include Operations & Transport.
- When was this patent published?
- Publication date Tue Oct 06 2020 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) (B2). Legal status and post-grant events are not shown on this page.
- What related patents are in patentsdb?
- We list 5 related publications on this page (citations in our corpus or others sharing the same primary CPC).