# US 12,181,532 B2 · Battery system diagnosing apparatus and method > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,181,532 B2 - Document ID: US12181532B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/018,789 - Filed: 2022-01-04 - Published: 2023-11-09 - Granted: 2024-12-31 - Earliest claimed: 2021-01-19 - Assignees: LG Energy Solution, Ltd. - Applicants: LG Energy Solution, Ltd. - Inventors: Su-Hyun Chae; Bom-Jin Lee - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12181532B2 ## CPC - G01R 31/385: Arrangements for measuring battery or accumulator variables (for monitoring G01R31/382) - G01R 31/367: Software therefor, e.g. for battery testing using modelling or look-up tables - G01R 31/3835: involving only voltage measurements - G01R 31/396: Acquisition or processing of data for testing or for monitoring individual cells or groups of cells within a battery - G01R 31/54: Testing for continuity - G01R 31/66: Testing of connections, e.g. of plugs or non-disconnectable joints (testing for incorrect line connections G01R31/55) - H01M 10/42: Methods or arrangements for servicing or maintenance of secondary cells or secondary half-cells (H01M10/60 takes precedence) - H01M 10/4285: {Testing apparatus} - H01M 10/48: Accumulators combined with arrangements for measuring, testing or indicating the condition of cells, e.g. the level or density of the electrolyte (constructional details of current conducting connections for detecting conditions inside cells or batteries, e.g. details of voltage sensing terminals, H01M50/569) - H01M 10/482: {for several batteries or cells simultaneously or sequentially} - H01M 2010/4271: {Battery management systems including electronic circuits, e.g. control of current or voltage to keep battery in healthy state, cell balancing} - Y02E 60/10: Energy storage using batteries - G01R: MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES (indicating correct tuning of resonant circuits H03J3/12) - H01M: PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY - Y02E: REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION ## Abstract Disclosed is a battery diagnosing technology capable of effectively diagnosing a defective battery cell among a plurality of battery cells included in a battery system at an early stage. The battery system diagnosing apparatus diagnoses a battery system including a plurality of battery cells having electrode tabs therein, and includes a voltage measuring unit for measuring an end voltage at every charging or discharging for each of the plurality of battery cells; and a processor for accumulating the end voltage of each battery cell measured by the voltage measuring unit over time and detecting a battery cell having a defect in the electrode tab among the plurality of battery cells based on the accumulated end voltage trend. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A battery system diagnosing apparatus, which diagnoses a battery system including a plurality of battery cells having electrode tabs therein, the apparatus comprising: a voltage measuring unit configured to measure an end voltage at every charging or discharging for each of the plurality of battery cells; and a processor configured to accumulate the end voltage of each battery cell measured by the voltage measuring unit over time to form an end voltage trend for each battery cell and detect a battery cell having a defect in one of the electrode tabs among the plurality of battery cells based on the accumulated end voltage trend. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The battery system diagnosing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to separately detect a disconnection defect and an incomplete contact defect as the defect of one of the electrode tabs. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The battery system diagnosing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to obtain a deviation trend between the end voltage trend and a reference trend and detect whether each battery cell has the defect in one of the electrode tabs based on the obtained deviation trend. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The battery system diagnosing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the processor is configured to obtain an average trend of the end voltages for the plurality of battery cells included in the battery system as the reference trend and compare the reference trend with the end voltage trend. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) The battery system diagnosing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein when the deviation trend is equal to or greater than a criterion deviation, the processor is configured to detect that the corresponding battery cell among the plurality of battery cells has a disconnection defect. ### Claim 6 (depends on 3) The battery system diagnosing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein when the case where the deviation trend is equal to or greater than a criterion deviation and the case where the deviation trend is equal to or less than the criterion deviation are repeated, the processor is configured to detect that the corresponding battery cell among the plurality of battery cells has an incomplete contact defect. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The battery system diagnosing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the criterion deviation includes a first criterion deviation and a second criterion deviation. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The battery system diagnosing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to detect whether each battery cell is defective by distinguishing a charging process and a discharging process. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) A battery system, comprising the battery system diagnosing apparatus according to claim 1. ### Claim 10 A battery system diagnosing method, which diagnoses a battery system including a plurality of battery cells having electrode tabs therein, the method comprising: measuring an end voltage at every charging or discharging for each of the plurality of battery cells; accumulating the end voltage of each battery cell measured in the measuring step over time to form an end voltage trend; and detecting a battery cell having a defect one of the electrode tabs among the plurality of battery cells based on the end voltage trend formed in the forming step.