Battery with switched accumulators

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11876390-B2
Application number	US-201816772105-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 6, 2018
Priority date	Dec 12, 2017
Publication date	Jan 16, 2024
Grant date	Jan 16, 2024

Abstract

A battery with switched accumulators, including: a first cell; a plurality of second cells series-connected with the first cell, each first and second cell including: an electric accumulator series-connected with a first switch, a second switch connected in parallel with the accumulator and the first switch, and a first diode, the cathodes of the first diodes being connected to an output node, the anode of the accumulator of the first cell being connected to ground, the anode of the first diode of each second cell being coupled to the cathode of the accumulator by at least one third switch; and a control circuit capable of measuring characteristics of at least certain accumulators and of controlling the first, second, and third switches according to the characteristics.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An electric system with switched cells comprising:
a first unit;
a plurality of second units series-connected with the first unit, each first and second unit comprising:
an electric cell series-connected, by the cathode of the cell, with a first switch,
a second switch connected in parallel with the cell and the first switch, and
a first diode, the anode of the first diode being coupled to the cathode of the cell,

the cathodes of the first diodes being connected to an output node, the anode of the cell of the first unit being connected to ground, the anode of the first diode of each second unit being connected to the cathode of the cell of the second unit by at least one third switch;
a first transistor coupling a node of one of the plurality of second units to a first output node;
a second transistor coupling the node of the one of the plurality of second units to a second output node; and
a control circuit configured to be powered by a voltage at the output node, the control circuit capable of measuring characteristics of at least certain cells and of controlling the first, second, and third switches according to the characteristics, wherein:
the cathode of the cell of each second unit is coupled to the anode of the first diode of the second considered unit by as many third switches as there are first and second units located between the second considered unit and the ground; and
the control circuit controls the first transistor and the second transistor such that
when the first transistor is on, the second transistor is off; and
when the second transistor is on, the first transistor is off.

2. The electric system with switched cells according to claim 1 , comprising:
a third transistor coupling the first output node to the ground,
a fourth transistor coupling the second output node to the ground, wherein:
the control circuit controls the third transistor and the fourth transistor such that
when the first transistor is on, the fourth transistor is on; and
when the second transistor is on, the third transistor is on.

3. The electric system with switched cells according to claim 1 , wherein the first diodes form a block implementing logic function OR.

4. The electric system with switched cells according to claim 1 , wherein each of the third switches has the same state, on or off, as one of the second switches.

5. The electric system with switched cells according to claim 1 , wherein the states of the third switches are independent from the states of the first and second switches.

6. The electric system with switched cells according to claim 1 , wherein:
each second unit further comprises one or more of the at least one third switches depending on the number of second units between the second unit and the first unit, the one or more of the at least one third switches connecting the anode of the first diode of the second unit to the cathode of the cell of the second unit.

7. The electric system with switched cells according to claim 6 , wherein for each second unit, the number of third switches equals to the number of second units between the second unit and the first unit plus one.

8. The electric system with switched cells according to claim 6 , wherein:
the first diodes form a block implementing logic function OR.

9. The electric system with switched cells according to claim 6 , wherein the control circuit is configured to be powered by a voltage at the output node.

10. The electric system with switched cells according to claim 6 , wherein each of the third switches has the same state, on or off, as one of the second switches.

11. The electric system with switched cells according to claim 6 , wherein the states of the third switches are independent from the states of the first and second switches.

12. The electric system with switched cells according to claim 1 , wherein the cathode of the cell of the first unit is coupled to the anode of the first corresponding diode via a fourth switch.

13. The electric system with switched cells according to claim 1 , wherein the state of the first switch and the state of the second switch of each first or second unit are opposite.

14. The electric system with switched cells according to claim 1 , wherein the anode of the cell of each second unit is connected to the cathode of a second diode, the anode of said second diode being coupled to ground by a resistor.

15. A method for using the electric system according to claim 1 , comprising the steps of:
detecting the failure of a cell of a unit among the first unit or one of the second units;
turning on the second switch of said unit and turning off the first switch of said unit; and
turning on at least one third switch of another unit among the first unit or one of the second units.

Assignees

• Commissariat Energie Atomique

Inventors

• Lopez Yan
• Fernandez Eric
• Bacquet Sylvain
• Cassarino Léandro
• Despesse Ghislain
• Thomas Rémy

Classifications

• H02J7/96

  in response to battery voltage · CPC title

• H02J7/94

  in response to battery current · CPC title

• H02J7/60

  including safety or protection arrangements · CPC title

• H02J7/575 Primary

  Parallel/serial switching of connection of batteries to charge or load circuit · CPC title

• H02J7/0024 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic