Management system and management method of battery and battery charger, and battery charger

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9931955-B2
Application number	US-201414894765-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 11, 2014
Priority date	Jun 7, 2013
Publication date	Apr 3, 2018
Grant date	Apr 3, 2018

Abstract

A management system and a management method of a battery and a battery charger, and a battery charger are provided that can obtain information on the state of a battery and information on the usage state of a battery charger even during charging so as to monitor/control the battery and the battery charger even during the charging.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A management system of a battery and a battery charger connected to a first battery charger via a communication network from among the first battery charger and a second battery charger, the first battery charger being provided outside a first vehicle, the second battery charger being provided outside a second vehicle, wherein
the first vehicle includes a first battery connected to the first battery charger, and a first battery control unit that controls charging of the first battery and that monitors a state of the first battery,
the first battery charger includes a first charge control unit that is connected to the first battery control unit via a connector and that communicates with the first battery control unit, and a communication unit that is connected to the first charge control unit and that communicates with the management system via the communication network,
the second vehicle includes a second battery connected to the second battery charger, and a second battery control unit that controls charging of the second battery and that monitors a state of the second battery,
the second battery charger does not include a communication unit that communicates with the management system via the communication network, and includes a second charge control unit that is connected to the second battery control unit via a connector and that communicates with the second battery control unit,
the first charge control unit transmits, to the communication unit, information on the state of the first battery received from the first battery control unit and information on a usage state of the first battery charger,
the second charge control unit transmits, to the communication unit, information on the state of the second battery received from the second battery control unit and information on a usage state of the second battery charger, and
the management system receives, via the communication network, the information on the state of the first battery, the information on the state of the second battery, the information on the usage state of the first battery charger, and the information on the usage state of the second battery charger, all of which are transmitted from the communication unit.

2. The management system of the battery and the battery charger according to claim 1 , the management system comprising:
a management terminal configured to transmit first control information and second control information to the communication unit of the first battery charger via the communication network, the first control information being for controlling an operation of charging of the first battery conducted by the first battery charger, the second control information being for controlling an operation of charging of the second battery conducted by the second battery charger, wherein
the communication unit sends, to the first charge control unit, the first control information transmitted from the management terminal and received via the communication network, and sends the second control information received via the communication network to the second charge control unit,
the first charge control unit controls the operation of charging of the first battery in accordance with the first control information, and
the second charge control unit controls the operation of charging of the second battery in accordance with the second control information.

3. The management system of the battery and the battery charger according to claim 1 , wherein
the information on the usage states of the first and second battery chargers includes an identification number of the battery charger, a charge state, a charging power of the battery charger, and a charging elapsed time, the charge state indicating whether the battery charger is currently charging, whether the battery charger has completed charging, or whether the battery charger has been halted due to an abnormality.

4. The management system of the battery and the battery charger according to claim 1 , wherein
the information on the states of the first and second batteries includes an identification number of the battery, a charge state, a state of charge of the battery, a fully-charged capacity of the battery, an internal resistance of the battery, and the accumulated number of times of detection of overcharging of the battery, the charge state indicating whether the battery is being currently charged or whether charging of the battery has been halted.

5. The management system of the battery and the battery charger according to claim 1 , the management system comprising:
a storage unit configured to receive communication data containing information on states of the first and second batteries and information on usage states of the first and second battery chargers from the communication unit provided in the first battery charger via the communication network, to store the information on the states of the first and second batteries contained in the communication data in association with time information for each of the batteries, and to store the information on the usage states of the first and second battery chargers in association with time information for each of the battery chargers; and
a unit configured to process the information stored in the storage unit as statistic data for each of the batteries, to process the information stored in the storage unit for each of the battery chargers as statistic data, and to display the processed statistic data.

6. A management method of a battery and a battery charger in a management system connected to a first battery charger via a communication network from among the first battery charger and a second battery charger, the first battery charger being provided outside a first vehicle, the second battery charger being provided outside a second vehicle wherein
the first vehicle includes a first battery connected to the first battery charger, and a first battery control unit that controls charging of the first battery and that monitors a state of the first battery,
the first battery charger includes a first charge control unit that is connected to the first battery control unit via a connector and that communicates with the first battery control unit, and a communication unit that is connected to the first charge control unit and that communicates with the management system via the communication network,
the second vehicle includes a second battery connected to the second battery charger, and a second battery control unit that controls charging of the second battery and that monitors a state of the second battery,
the second battery charger does not include a communication unit that communicates with the management system via the communication network, and includes a second charge control unit that is connected to the second battery control unit via a connector and that communicates with the second battery control unit, and
the management method comprises:
transmitting, by the first charge control unit and to the communication unit, information on the state of the first battery received from the first battery control unit and information on a usage state of the first battery charger;
transmitting, by the second charge control unit and to the communication unit, information on the state of the second battery received from the second battery control unit and information on a usage state of the second battery charger; and
receiving, by the communication unit, the information on the state of the first battery, the information on the state of the second battery, the information on the usage state of the first battery charger, and the information on the usage state of the second battery charger, and transmitting, by the communication unit, the received information to the management system via the communic

Assignees

• Toyota Jidoshokki Kk

Inventors

• Kuraishi Mamoru
• Hirose Shinji
• Nishigaki Kenji
• Hatano Junichi

Classifications

• H02J13/10

  characterised by displaying of information or by user interaction, e.g. supervisory control and data acquisition [SCADA] systems · CPC title

• H02J4/25

  for transfer of electric power between AC and DC networks, e.g. for supplying the DC section within a load from an AC mains system · CPC title

• H02J7/84

  Control of state of health [SOH] · CPC title

• H02J7/82

  Control of state of charge [SOC] · CPC title

• H02J13/1323 Primary

  using optical fibres · CPC title