Length expansion monitoring for determining the aging of a battery cell or a battery module

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10862178-B2
Application number	US-201715488993-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 17, 2017
Priority date	Apr 20, 2016
Publication date	Dec 8, 2020
Grant date	Dec 8, 2020

Abstract

An apparatus ( 1 ) for determining the aging of a battery cell ( 2 ), the battery cell ( 2 ) having at least one galvanic element ( 3 ) for converting chemical energy into electrical energy and a housing ( 4 ) which surrounds the galvanic element ( 3 ) and has a wall ( 8 ) formed at least on one side of the galvanic element ( 3 ), comprising at least one length sensor ( 5 ) for sensing a length change of the galvanic element ( 3 ), the aging of the battery cell ( 2 ) being able to be determined via the length change of the galvanic element ( 3 ).

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A battery cell module ( 100 ) for providing electrical energy, the battery cell module comprising
at least first and second battery cells ( 2 ) having respective first and second galvanic elements ( 3 ) for converting chemical energy into electrical energy,
wherein the battery cells ( 2 ) have a common housing ( 4 ) which surrounds the galvanic elements ( 3 ) and has a wall ( 8 ) formed at least on one side of the first galvanic element ( 3 ),
wherein the first battery cell ( 2 ) has an apparatus ( 1 ) for determining the aging of the first battery cell ( 2 ), the apparatus ( 1 ) comprising at least one length sensor ( 5 ) for sensing a length change of the first galvanic element ( 3 ) and thereby determining the aging of the first battery cell ( 2 ),
wherein the apparatus ( 1 ) is arranged in a clearance ( 6 ), the clearance ( 6 ) being formed between an end face ( 7 ) of the first battery cell ( 2 ) and the wall ( 8 ) of the housing ( 4 ) surrounding the battery cells ( 2 ), and/or
wherein the apparatus ( 1 ) is formed at least in sections in the wall ( 8 ) of the common housing ( 4 ) surrounding the battery cells ( 2 ).

2. The battery cell module ( 100 ) according to claim 1 , characterized in that the length sensor ( 5 ) is arranged in a clearance ( 6 ) between the galvanic element ( 3 ) and the housing ( 4 ) surrounding the galvanic element ( 3 ).

3. The battery cell module ( 100 ) according to claim 1 , the wall ( 8 ) of the housing ( 4 ) surrounding the galvanic element ( 3 ) being in the form of the length sensor ( 5 ) at least in sections, the wall ( 8 ) being able to be deformed in such a manner that the length change of the galvanic element ( 3 ) can be sensed via the deformation of the wall.

4. The battery cell module ( 100 ) according to claim 1 , characterized in that the length sensor ( 5 ) measures the length change of the galvanic element ( 3 ) directly or indirectly.

5. The battery cell module ( 100 ) according to claim 1 , characterized in that the length sensor ( 5 ) measures the length change discretely or continuously.

6. The battery cell module ( 100 ) according to claim 1 , characterized in that the length sensor ( 5 ) is a force sensor ( 9 ) which can be operatively connected to a spring element ( 10 ) which can be arranged in the clearance ( 6 ) between the end face ( 7 ) of the galvanic element ( 3 ) and the housing ( 4 ) in such a manner that, in the event of a length change of the galvanic element ( 3 ) which causes deformation of the spring element ( 10 ), the deformation of the spring element ( 3 ) can be sensed.

7. The battery cell module ( 100 ) according to claim 6 , characterized in that the measured deformation of the spring element ( 10 ) can be converted into the length change of the galvanic element ( 3 ), as a result of the deformation of the spring element ( 10 ), the application of force being able to be measured as a change in the electrical resistance of the force sensor ( 9 ).

8. The battery cell module ( 100 ) according to claim 1 , characterized in that the length sensor ( 5 ) is in the form of a length measuring system having at least one length measuring element, the length measuring element recording the length change of the end face ( 7 ) of the galvanic element ( 3 ) relative to the housing ( 4 ) surrounding the galvanic element ( 3 ) if the length of the galvanic element ( 3 ) changes by making electrical contact.

9. The battery cell module ( 100 ) according to claim 1 , characterized in that the length sensor ( 5 ) is in the form of at least one contact element ( 11 ), contact being able to be made with the contact element ( 11 ) via the end face ( 7 ) of the galvanic element ( 3 ) if the length of the galvanic element ( 3 ) changes.

10. The battery cell module ( 100 ) according to claim 1 , characterized in that the length sensor ( 5 ) is arranged in a clearance ( 6 ) between the galvanic element ( 3 ) and the housing ( 4 ) surrounding the galvanic element ( 3 ), the clearance ( 6 ) being formed between at least one end face ( 7 ) of the galvanic element ( 3 ) and the wall ( 8 ) of the housing ( 4 ) surrounding the galvanic element ( 3 ), and/or the wall ( 8 ) of the housing ( 4 ) surrounding the galvanic element ( 3 ) being in the form of a length sensor ( 5 ) at least in sections, the wall ( 8 ) being able to be deformed in such a manner that the length change of the galvanic element ( 3 ) can be sensed via the deformation of the wall.

11. The battery cell module ( 100 ) according to claim 1 , characterized in that the length sensor ( 5 ) measures the length change of the galvanic element ( 3 ) directly, as a length change, or indirectly, as a curvature change.

12. The battery cell module ( 100 ) according to claim 1 , characterized in that the length sensor ( 5 ) is a strain gage which can be operatively connected to a spring element ( 10 ) which can be arranged in the clearance ( 6 ) between the end face ( 7 ) of the galvanic element ( 3 ) and the housing ( 4 ) in such a manner that, in the event of a length change of the galvanic element ( 3 ) which causes deformation of the spring element ( 10 ), the deformation of the spring element ( 3 ) can be sensed.

13. The battery cell module ( 100 ) according to claim 12 , characterized in that the measured deformation of the spring element ( 10 ) can be converted into the length change of the galvanic element ( 3 ), as a result of the deformation of the spring element ( 10 ), the application of force being able to be measured as a change in the electrical resistance of the force sensor ( 9 ), the change in the electrical resistance being passed to a management system ( 50 ) for the battery cell ( 2 ) in the form of an electrical signal, and the signal being evaluated by the management system ( 50 ).

14. The battery cell module ( 100 ) according to claim 1 , characterized in that the length sensor ( 5 ) is in the form of a length measuring system having at least one length measuring element, the length measuring element recording the length change of the end face ( 7 ) of the galvanic element ( 3 ) relative to the housing ( 4 ) surrounding the galvanic element ( 3 ) if the length of the galvanic element ( 3 ) changes by making electrical contact, in a resistance-based, inductive and/or optical manner.

15. The battery cell module ( 100 ) according to claim 1 , characterized in that the length sensor ( 5 ) is in the form of a proximity switch, contact being able to be made with the contact element ( 11 ) via the end face ( 7 ) of the galvanic element ( 3 ) if the length of the galvanic element ( 3 ) changes, a signal generated by the contact element ( 11 ) when contact is made being passed to the management system ( 50 ) for the battery cell ( 2 ), and the signal being evaluated by the management system ( 50 ) and/or being converted into an optical and/or acoustic signal.

16. A method ( 200 ) for monitoring the length change of a galvanic element ( 3 ) of a battery cell ( 2 ), the method ( 200 ) comprising the steps of:
directly measuring ( 210 ) or indirectly measuring ( 220 ) the length change of the galvanic element ( 3 ) with an apparatus ( 1 ) according to claim 1 ,
converting ( 230 ) the measurement data obtained during the measurement of the length change into electrical signals,
forwarding ( 240 ) the electrical signals to a battery management system ( 50 ),
correcting ( 250 ) the measured values converted via the electrical signals by capturing a state of charge of the battery cell, and
determining the aging ( 255 ) of the battery cell ( 2 ) on the basis of the corrected

Assignees

• Bosch Gmbh Robert

Inventors

• Haug Karsten

Classifications

• H01M10/0525 Primary

  Rocking-chair batteries, i.e. batteries with lithium insertion or intercalation in both electrodes; Lithium-ion batteries · CPC title

• H01M10/482 Primary

  for several batteries or cells simultaneously or sequentially · CPC title

• H01M10/488

  Cells or batteries combined with indicating means for external visualization of the condition, e.g. by change of colour or of light density · CPC title

• H01M50/204

  Racks, modules or packs for multiple batteries or multiple cells · CPC title

• G01B7/24 Primary

  using change in magnetic properties · CPC title