Battery module, battery unit, and converter device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12155257-B2
Application number	US-202217752254-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 24, 2022
Priority date	Nov 25, 2019
Publication date	Nov 26, 2024
Grant date	Nov 26, 2024

Abstract

Provided is a battery module. The battery module includes a battery pack including cells connected in series with an amount of s and cells connected in parallel with an amount of p (s is an integer of 1 or more and p is an integer of 1 or more), and a bidirectional DC/DC converter. The converter is configured to generate a voltage nV (n is −1 or 2) with respect to a voltage V of the battery pack.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A battery module comprising:
a battery pack including cells connected in series with an amount of s and cells connected in parallel with an amount of p, wherein s is an integer of 1 or more and p is an integer of 1 or more; and
a bidirectional DC/DC converter,
wherein the bidirectional DC/DC converter is configured to generate a voltage nV with respect to a voltage V of the battery pack, and wherein n is −1 or 2, and
wherein the bidirectional DC/DC converter is configured to be switched between ON and OFF;
a first voltage measurement unit configured to measure a voltage between a negative terminal and a positive terminal;
a second voltage measurement unit configured to measure a voltage between a converter terminal and the negative terminal; and
a voltage comparator configured to compare a voltage measured by the first voltage measurement unit with a voltage measured by the second voltage measurement unit,
wherein when a ratio of the voltages measured by the first and second voltage measuring devices is equal to or more than a threshold value, the operation of the bidirectional DC/DC converter is turned on to generate a voltage −1V, and when the ratio of the voltages measured by the first and second voltage measuring devices is less than the threshold value, the operation of the bidirectional DC/DC converter is turned off to stop the generation of the voltage −1V.

2. A battery module comprising:
a battery pack including cells connected in series with an amount of s and cells connected in parallel with an amount of p, wherein s is an integer of 1 or more and p is an integer of 1 or more;
a bidirectional DC/DC converter,
wherein the bidirectional DC/DC converter is configured to generate a voltage nV with respect to a voltage V of the battery pack, and wherein n is −1 or 2, and
wherein the bidirectional DC/DC converter is configured to be switched between ON and OFF;
a first voltage measurement unit configured to measure a voltage between a negative terminal and a positive terminal;
a third voltage measurement unit configured to measure a voltage between a converter terminal and the positive terminal; and
a voltage comparator configured to compare a voltage measured by the first voltage measurement unit with a voltage measured by the third voltage measurement unit,
wherein when a ratio of the voltages detected by the first and third voltage measuring devices is equal to or more than a threshold value, the operation of the bidirectional DC/DC converter is turned on to generate a voltage 2 V, and when the ratio of the voltages detected by the first and third voltage measuring devices is less than the threshold value, the operation of the bidirectional DC/DC converter is turned off to stop the generation of the voltage 2 V.

3. A battery unit comprising a plurality of battery modules wherein the battery modules each including:
a battery pack including cells connected in series with an amount of s and cells connected in parallel with an amount of p, wherein s is an integer of 1 or more and p is an integer of 1 or more, and
a bidirectional DC/DC converter,
wherein the bidirectional DC/DC converter is configured to generate a voltage nV with respect to a voltage V of the battery pack, and wherein n is −1 or 2,
wherein the battery modules each including a converter configured to generate a voltage −1V are connected in series, and
wherein the voltage −1V generated by a battery module is supplied to a negative terminal of another battery module which is connected to a negative terminal side of the battery module.

4. The battery unit according to claim 3 , wherein the converter which is respectively provided in the battery modules is configured to be switched between ON and OFF.

5. A battery comprising a plurality of battery modules wherein the battery modules each including:
a battery pack including cells connected in series with an amount of s and cells connected in parallel with an amount of p, wherein s is an integer of 1 or more and p is an integer of 1 or more, and
a bidirectional DC/DC converter,
wherein the bidirectional DC/DC converter is configured to generate a voltage nV with respect to a voltage V of the battery pack, and wherein n is −1 or 2,
wherein the battery modules each including a converter configured to generate a voltage 2 V are connected in series, and
wherein the voltage 2 V generated by a battery module is supplied to a positive terminal of another battery module which is connected to a positive terminal side of the battery module.

6. The battery unit according to claim 5 , wherein the converter which is respectively provided in the battery modules is configured to be switched between ON and OFF.

Assignees

• Murata Manufacturing Co

Inventors

• Shimura Jusuke
• Mori Michiya

Classifications

• H02J7/96 Primary

  in response to battery voltage · CPC title

• H02J7/56

  Active balancing, e.g. using capacitor-based, inductor-based or DC-DC converters · CPC title

• H02M3/33584

  Bidirectional converters · CPC title

• H01M10/482

  for several batteries or cells simultaneously or sequentially · CPC title

• G01R19/0084

  Measuring voltage only · CPC title