Method of determining lifetime of electrical and mechanical components

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11366173-B2
Application number	US-202017091037-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 6, 2020
Priority date	Nov 6, 2020
Publication date	Jun 21, 2022
Grant date	Jun 21, 2022

Abstract

The disclosure is directed to systems and methods by which the lifetime, e.g., remaining life or amount of life used, of variable use items, such as rechargeable batteries, battery relays, vehicles and power tools, can be determined that takes into account the conditions of the use of the item. The systems and methods involve an algorithm that can be described as accumulating points based on the real time utilization of the item, e.g., rechargeable battery, battery relay, vehicle, or power tool, and when an agreed-upon number of points have been accumulated, the item can be considered to be at end of life or end of warranty.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of determining remaining life of a battery relay, the method comprising:
detecting a current through a relay during each cycle that the relay is closed;
determining a cycle endurance value for each of the cycles during which the relay is closed, the cycle endurance value being dependent upon the current detected for a respective cycle;
assigning a point value to each of the cycles, the point value being a natural log of the cycle endurance value for the respective cycle; and
combining the point values for each of the cycles to arrive at a life score for the relay.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
comparing the life score for the relay to a predetermined threshold value; and
determining a life remaining for the relay based on the comparison.

3. A rechargeable battery system comprising:
a rechargeable battery including a relay;
a sensor system configured to detect a battery current through the relay; and
a control system configured to receive the battery current from the sensor system, the control system being configured to:
determine the battery current through the relay during each cycle that the relay is closed;
determine a cycle endurance value for each of the cycles during which the relay is closed, the cycle endurance value being dependent upon the battery current through the relay for a respective cycle;
assign a point value to each of the cycles, the point value being a natural log of the cycle endurance value for the respective cycle; and
combine the point values for each of the cycles to arrive at a life score for the relay.

4. The system of claim of claim 3 , wherein the control system is further configured to:
compare the life score for the relay to a predetermined threshold value; and
determine a life remaining for the relay based on the comparison.

Assignees

• Bosch Gmbh Robert

Inventors

• Kotik Mark

Classifications

• G01R31/3648

  comprising digital calculation means, e.g. for performing an algorithm · CPC title

• H01H2071/044

  Monitoring, detection or measuring systems to establish the end of life of the switching device, can also contain other on-line monitoring systems, e.g. for detecting mechanical failures · CPC title

• H01H47/002

  Monitoring or fail-safe circuits · CPC title

• G05B23/02

  Electric testing or monitoring · CPC title

• G01R31/382

  Arrangements for monitoring battery or accumulator variables, e.g. SoC · CPC title