Balancing of battery packs via DC-to-DC converters and motor inverter circuits

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12388272-B2
Application number	US-202217678143-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 23, 2022
Priority date	Feb 23, 2022
Publication date	Aug 12, 2025
Grant date	Aug 12, 2025

Abstract

A charging system includes: a charge port that receives shore power; a DC-to-DC converter or a motor inverter circuit; switches that connect the charge port and the DC-to-DC converter or the motor inverter circuit to battery packs; and a control module. The control module: determines open circuit voltages or states of charges of the battery packs; based on the open circuit voltages or the states of charges of the battery packs, determines whether to connect at least one of the battery packs to the charge port, the DC-to-DC converter, and the motor inverter circuit; and based on the determination of whether to connect at least one of the battery packs, control states of the switches to charge the at least one of the battery packs by selectively connecting the at least one of the battery packs to (a) the charge port, or (b) the DC-to-DC converter or motor inverter circuit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A charging system comprising:
one or more charge ports configured to receive shore power from a charging station;
at least one of a direct current (DC)-to-DC converter or a motor inverter circuit;
a plurality of switches configured to connect a plurality of battery packs (i) to the charging station via the one or more charge ports and (ii) to the at least one of the DC-to-DC converter or the motor inverter circuit;
a control module configured to (i) determine at least one of open circuit voltages or states of charges of the plurality of battery packs, (ii) based on the at least one of the open circuit voltages or the states of charges of the plurality of battery packs, determine whether to connect at least one of the plurality of battery packs to the one or more charge ports, the DC-to-DC converter, and the motor inverter circuit, and (iii) based on the determination of whether to connect the at least one of the plurality of battery packs, control states of the plurality of switches to charge the at least one of the plurality of battery packs by selectively connecting the at least one of the plurality of battery packs to at least one of (a) the one or more charge ports, or (b) the at least one of the DC-to-DC converter or the motor inverter circuit; and
a contactor circuit connected between i) the one or more charge ports and ii) the plurality of battery packs and the DC-to-DC converter,
wherein
the plurality of battery packs comprise a first battery pack and a second battery pack,
the plurality of switches comprise a first switch, a second switch, a third switch, a fourth switch, and a fifth switch,
the first switch is connected between the contactor circuit and the first battery pack,
the second switch connected between the first battery pack and the contactor circuit,
the third switch is connected between the contactor circuit and the second battery pack,
the fourth switch is connected between the second battery pack and the contactor circuit, and
the fifth switch is connected between i) the first switch and the first battery pack and ii) the second battery pack and the fourth switch.

2. The charging system of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of sensors configured to detect the open circuit voltages of the plurality of battery packs.

3. The charging system of claim 1 , wherein:
the plurality of switches are configured to connect the one or more charge ports to the plurality of battery packs; and
the control module is configured to, based on the at least one of the open circuit voltages or the states of charges of the plurality of battery packs, control the states of the plurality of switches to charge at least one of the plurality of battery packs by selectively connecting the at least one of the plurality of battery packs to the one or more charge ports.

4. The charging system of claim 1 , wherein:
the charging system comprises the DC-to-DC converter;
the plurality of switches are configured to connect the one or more charge ports and the DC-to-DC converter to the plurality of battery packs; and
the control module is configured, based on the at least one of the open circuit voltages or the states of charges of the plurality of battery packs, to control the states of the plurality of switches to charge the at least one of the plurality of battery packs by selectively connecting the at least one of the plurality of battery packs to the DC-to-DC converter.

5. The charging system of claim 4 , wherein the control module is configured to control the states of the plurality of switches to charge a selected one or more of the plurality of battery packs via the one or more charge ports and the DC-to-DC converter.

6. The charging system of claim 1 , wherein:
the plurality of switches are configured to connect the motor inverter circuit to the plurality of battery packs; and
the control module is configured to, based on the at least one of the open circuit voltages or the states of charges of the plurality of battery packs, control the states of the plurality of switches to charge at least one of the plurality of battery packs by selectively connecting the at least one of the plurality of battery packs to the motor inverter circuit.

7. The charging system of claim 6 , wherein the control module is configured to control the states of the plurality of switches to charge a selected one or more of the plurality of battery packs via the one or more charge ports and the motor inverter circuit.

8. The charging system of claim 6 , wherein the motor inverter circuit comprises:
an inverter; and
a motor configured to receive power from the plurality of battery packs or the one or more charge ports via the inverter.

9. The charging system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured to:
control the states of the plurality of switches to connect (i) the plurality of battery packs in series and to terminals of the one or more charge ports; and
change the states of the plurality of switches to connect the one or more charge ports to an input of the DC-to-DC converter, and (ii) an output of the DC-to-DC converter to one or more of the plurality of battery packs.

10. The charging system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured to control the states of the plurality of switches to (i) connect the first battery pack to an input of the DC-to-DC converter, and (ii) an output of the DC-to-DC converter to the second battery pack to perform charge balancing via the DC-to-DC converter.

11. The charging system of claim 1 , wherein:
the one or more charge ports comprise a plurality of charge ports;
each of the plurality of charge ports are configured to be connected to each of the plurality of battery packs based on states of the plurality of switches; and
the control module is configured to independently charge each of the plurality of battery packs with one or more of the plurality of charge ports.

12. The charging system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured to:
control the states of the plurality of switches to series charge the plurality of battery packs; and
subsequent to series charging the plurality of battery packs, cease charging of a first one of the plurality of battery packs and continue charging of a second one of the battery packs until an open circuit voltage of the second one of the plurality of battery packs is within a predetermined range of an open circuit voltage of the first one of the plurality of battery packs.

13. The charging system of claim 12 , wherein the charging of the second one of the plurality of battery packs is performed via the at least one of the DC-to-DC converter or the motor inverter circuit.

14. The charging system of claim 13 , wherein subsequent to charging the second one of the plurality of battery packs, the control module is configured to control states of the plurality of switches to connect the plurality of battery packs in parallel.

15. The charging system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured to calculate an open circuit voltage of one of the plurality of battery packs based on open circuit voltages of a plurality of modules of the one of the plurality of battery packs.

16. The charging system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured to subsequent to series charging the plurality of battery packs, determine a first one of the plurality of battery packs has a lower capacity and a higher open circuit voltage than a second one of the plurality of battery packs, and charge the second one of the plurality of battery packs via the first one of the plura

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Hao Lei
• Wang Yue-Yun
• Zhu Yongjie

Classifications

• H02J7/855

  with circuits adapted for supplying loads from the battery · CPC title

• H02J7/575

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

• H02J7/96

  in response to battery voltage · CPC title

• H02J7/82

  Control of state of charge [SOC] · CPC title

• H02J7/56 Primary

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