# US 10,479,204 B2 · Failure determination apparatus and method for determining failure > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,479,204 B2 - Document ID: US10479204B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/265,850 - Filed: 2016-09-15 - Published: 2017-03-16 - Granted: 2019-11-19 - Earliest claimed: 2015-09-15 - Assignees: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Naoko Murai; Hidehiro Tsubokura - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10479204B2 ## CPC - B60L 3/0046: {relating to electric energy storage systems, e.g. batteries or capacitors} - B60L 58/13: Maintaining the SoC within a determined range - B60L 58/16: responding to battery ageing, e.g. to the number of charging cycles or the state of health [SoH] - B60L 58/22: Balancing the charge of battery modules - B60L 58/26: by cooling - G01R 31/392: Determining battery ageing or deterioration, e.g. state of health - G01R 31/396: Acquisition or processing of data for testing or for monitoring individual cells or groups of cells within a battery - G01R 35/00: Testing or calibrating of apparatus covered by the other groups of this subclass - H02J 7/52: for charge balancing, e.g. equalisation of charge between batteries - B60L 2240/545: Temperature - B60L 2240/547: Voltage - B60L 2240/549: Current - H02J 2105/37: exchanging power with electric vehicles [EV] or with hybrid electric vehicles [HEV] - Y02E 60/10: Energy storage using batteries - Y02T 10/70: Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries - B60L: PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (arrangements or mounting of electrical propulsion units or of plural diverse prime-movers for mutual or common propulsion in vehicles B60K1/00, B60K6/20; arrangements or mounting of electrical gearing in vehicles B60K17/12, B60K17/14; preventing wheel slip by reducing power in rail vehicles B61C15/08; dynamo-electric machines H02K; control or regulation of electric motors H02P); SUPPLYING ELECTRIC POWER FOR AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (electric coupling devices combined with mechanical couplings of vehicles B60D1/64; electric heating for vehicles B60H1/00); ELECTRODYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEMS FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL (control or regulation of electric motors H02P); MAGNETIC SUSPENSION OR LEVITATION FOR VEHICLES; MONITORING OPERATING VARIABLES OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRIC SAFETY DEVICES FOR ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES - G01R: MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES (indicating correct tuning of resonant circuits H03J3/12) - H02J: ELECTRIC POWER NETWORKS; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY - Y02E: REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION - Y02T: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION ## Abstract A failure determination apparatus includes an electricity storage, a state sensor, a data accumulator, and a controller. The state sensor is to detect a state of the electricity storage as data. The data accumulator is to accumulate the data acquired by the state sensor as accumulated data. The controller is to determine, based on the accumulated data, whether a failure occurs in at least one of the electricity storage and the state sensor. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A failure determination apparatus comprising: an electricity storage; a state sensor to detect a state of the electricity storage; a data accumulator to accumulate data including time-series states of the electricity storage acquired by the state sensor as accumulated data; and a controller to determine, based on the accumulated data, whether a failure occurs in at least one of the electricity storage or the state sensor, wherein the electricity storage comprises a plurality of electricity storage cells, the state sensor detects equalizing time required to equalize storage capacity among the electricity storage cells as the data, the data accumulator detects a total value of the equalizing time as the accumulated data, the controller determines, based on the total value, whether a failure occurs in at least one of the electricity storage and the state sensor, and the controller determines that a failure occurs in the plurality of electricity storage cells if the total value of the equalizing time is lower than an equalization time threshold. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The failure determination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the accumulation data include time stamps that are associated with the time-series states of the electricity storage, respectively. ### Claim 3 A method for determining failure, comprising: detecting a state of an electricity storage with a state sensor; accumulating data including time-series states of the electricity storage as accumulated data; and determining, based on the accumulated data, whether a failure occurs in at least one of the electricity storage or the state sensor, wherein the electricity storage comprises a plurality of electricity storage cells, the state sensor detects equalizing time required to equalize storage capacity among the electricity storage cells, a total value of the equalizing time is detected, and it is determined that a failure occurs in the plurality of electricity storage cells if the total value of the equalizing time is lower than an equalization time threshold. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method according to claim 3, wherein the accumulation data include time stamps that are associated with the time-series states of the electricity storage, respectively. ### Claim 5 A failure determination apparatus comprising: an electricity storage; a state sensor to detect a state of the electricity storage; a data accumulator to accumulate data including time-series states of the electricity storage acquired by the state sensor as accumulated data; and a controller to determine, based on the accumulated data, whether a failure occurs in at least one of the electricity storage or the state sensor, wherein the state sensor measures voltage of the electricity storage as the data, the data accumulator accumulates a differential value between a first voltage value acquired from the electricity storage and a second voltage value acquired after the first voltage value is acquired, the data accumulator accumulating the differential value as the accumulated data, the controller determines, based on the differential value, which a failure occurs in at least one of the electricity storage and the state sensor, and the controller determines whether the failure occurs in at least one of the electricity storage or the state sensor if an absolute value of a change rate of the accumulated differential value is larger than a voltage differential threshold. ### Claim 6 A method for determining failure, comprising: detecting a state of an electricity storage with a state sensor; accumulating data including time-series states of the electricity storage as accumulated data; and determining, based on the accumulated data, whether a failure occurs in at least one of the electricity storage or the state sensor, wherein the state sensor measures voltage of the electricity storage, a differential value between a first voltage value and a second voltage value is accumulated, the first voltage value being acquired from the electricity storage, a second voltage value being acquired later than the first voltage value, and it is determined whether the failure occurs in at least one of the electricity storage or the state sensor if an absolute value of a change rate of the accumulated differential value is larger than a voltage differential threshold.