Force based abnormality detection in battery pack modules

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12442864-B2
Application number	US-202217879842-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 3, 2022
Priority date	Aug 3, 2022
Publication date	Oct 14, 2025
Grant date	Oct 14, 2025

Abstract

A system includes a battery pack module and a control module. The battery pack module is configured to be implemented in a battery pack. The battery pack module includes cells and one or more force sensors configured to generate at least one force signal indicative of force on the cells within the battery pack module. The control module is configured to: receive the at least one force signal; based on the at least one force signal, detect a state of the cells; and based on the detected state of the cells, at least one of i) modify the state of the cells, ii) generate an alert message, and iii) perform a mitigation operation to address a detected abnormality of the cells.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a battery pack module configured to be implemented in a battery pack, the battery pack module comprising
a plurality of cells, and
one or more force sensors configured to generate at least one force signal indicative of force on the plurality of cells within the battery pack module; and

a control module configured to
receive the at least one force signal,
based on the at least one force signal, detect a state of the plurality of cells,
based on the detected state of the plurality of cells, at least one of i) modify the state of the plurality of cells, ii) perform targeted cooling of the battery pack module, iii) perform electrical isolation of the battery pack module, and iv) flood the battery pack module with coolant,
perform a first operation to determine at least one of i) whether measured force indicated by the at least one force signal is greater than a first threshold, and ii) whether a change in the measured force is greater than a second threshold,
based on a result of the first operation, perform a first mitigation strategy and operations to prevent a thermal runaway event,
subsequent to performing the first mitigation strategy and operations, perform a second operation to determine at least one of i) whether the measured force is greater than a third threshold, and ii) whether the change in the measured force is greater than a fourth threshold, wherein the third threshold is greater than the first threshold, and wherein the fourth threshold is greater than the second threshold, and
based on a result of the second operation, evaluate other parameters to detect a thermal runaway event.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured based on the at least one force signal to verify compression force on the battery pack module during assembly, and based on results of verifying the compression force, to readjust compression of the battery pack module.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured to based on the at least one force signal, detect an abnormality in the plurality of cells, and perform a mitigation operation to address the abnormality.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the battery pack module comprises only a single force sensor.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the battery pack module comprises a plurality of force sensors generating a plurality of force signals including the at least one force signal.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured to:
based on the at least one force signal, predict a thermal runaway event; and
perform a mitigation operation to at least one of prevent, slow down and stop the thermal runaway event.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured to at least one predict and detect a thermal runaway event based on a change in magnitude of the at least one force signal.

8. The system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one sensor configured to generate at least one sensor signal,
wherein the control module is configured to, based on the at least one sensor signal, detect or verify that an abnormality exists in the plurality of cells.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the control module is configured to:
based on precalibration, the at least one force signal and the at least one sensor signal, determine at least one of an average state-of-health of the battery pack module, an average state-of-charge of the battery pack module and an average cell temperature of the battery pack module, and
based on the determined the at least one of the average state-of-health of the battery pack module, the average state-of-charge of the battery pack module and the average cell temperature of the battery pack module, at least one of modify the state of the plurality of cells, generate an alert message, and perform a mitigation operation to address the detected abnormality of the plurality of cells,
wherein the at least one sensor comprises at least one of a voltage sensor, a current sensor, a temperature sensor, and gas sensor.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the battery pack module comprises at least one other sensor which operates in concert with the one or more force sensors; and
the control module is configured to confirm an abnormality based on at least one output of the at least one other sensor and the at least one force signal,
wherein the at least one other sensor comprises at least one of a voltage sensor, a current sensor, a gas sensor and a temperature sensor.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured to:
determine one or more parameters of the battery pack module selected from a state-of-charge, a state-of-health, a voltage, a current level, a pressure, a gas level, and a temperature; and
based on the at least one force signal and the one or more parameters, detect an abnormality in the plurality of cells.

12. The system of claim 1 , further comprising the battery pack, wherein:
the battery pack comprises a plurality of battery pack modules;
the plurality of battery pack modules include the battery pack module in which an abnormality is detected;
each of the plurality of battery pack modules includes a respective set of cells;
each one of the plurality of battery pack modules comprises a respective one or more force sensors configured to generate at least one force signal indicative of force on the plurality of cells within the one of the plurality of battery pack modules; and
the control module is configured to detect thermal runaway propagation from battery pack module-to-battery pack module based on the force signals received from the plurality of battery pack modules.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured to detect damage to the battery pack module based on the at least one force signal, and at least one of generate an alert message and perform a mitigation operation based on the detected damage.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured: based on the at least one force signal, to verify compression force on the battery pack module; and based on results of verifying the compression force, to readjust compression of the battery pack module.

15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured to:
based on the other parameters, detect a thermal runaway event; and
in response to detecting the thermal runaway event, perform a second mitigation strategy and operations to cease the thermal runaway event.

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured to, based on the detected state of the plurality of cells, modify the state of the plurality of cells.

17. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured to, based on the detected state of the plurality of cells, perform electrical isolation of the battery pack module.

18. A method of detecting an abnormality in a battery pack module of a battery pack, the method comprising:
generating at least one force signal via one or more force sensors, the at least one force signal indicative of force on a plurality of cells within the battery pack module;
receiving the at least one force signal;
based on the at least one force signal, detecting a state of the plurality of cells;
based on the detected state of the plurality of cells, at least one of i) modifying the state of the plurality of cells, ii) generating a message, and iii) performing a mitigation operation to address a detected abnormality of the plurality of cells;
perform a first operation to de

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Dernotte Jeremie
• Solomon Arun S
• Parrish Scott E
• Zeng Wei

Classifications

• G01R31/387

  Determining ampere-hour charge capacity or SoC · CPC title

• H01M10/482 Primary

  for several batteries or cells simultaneously or sequentially · CPC title

• H01M10/486 Primary

  for measuring temperature · CPC title

• G01R31/3646

  for indicating electrical conditions or variables, e.g. visual or audible indicators · CPC title

• Y02E60/10

  Energy storage using batteries · CPC title