# US 12,763,589 B2 · Control system for managing battery cells with one or more DC-to-DC converters > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,763,589 B2 - Document ID: US12763589B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/644,644 - Filed: 2021-12-16 - Published: 2022-12-01 - Granted: 2026-10-13 - Earliest claimed: 2021-05-28 - Assignees: Deere & Company - Applicants: Deere & Company - Inventors: Abraham Alberto Martinez Barron; Ricardo Schacht Rodriguez; Gerardo Escobar Valderrama - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12763589B2 ## CPC - H02J 7/50: acting upon multiple batteries simultaneously or sequentially - H02J 1/106: {for load balancing, symmetrisation, or sharing} - H02J 7/855: {with circuits adapted for supplying loads from the battery} - H02M 3/158: including plural semiconductor devices as final control devices for a single load - H02J: ELECTRIC POWER NETWORKS; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY - H02M: APPARATUS FOR CONVERSION BETWEEN AC AND AC, BETWEEN AC AND DC, OR BETWEEN DC AND DC, AND FOR USE WITH MAINS OR SIMILAR POWER SUPPLY SYSTEMS; CONVERSION OF DC OR AC INPUT POWER INTO SURGE OUTPUT POWER; CONTROL OR REGULATION THEREOF (transformers H01F; dynamo-electric converters H02K47/00; controlling transformers, reactors or choke coils, control or regulation of electric motors, generators or dynamo-electric converters H02P) ## Abstract A first direct-current to direct-current (DC-to-DC) converter is configured to convert an input direct-current voltage to an output direct-current voltage with a regulated charging current consistent with a target charging current limit or range established by the current estimator for the charging mode and respective cell identifier(s) determined by a cell balancing module for the charging mode for the time interval. A first controller is capable of controlling the charging, individually or collectively, of each of the battery cells by adjusting/controlling the regulated charging current outputted by the first DC-DC converter and/or the duty cycle of switches of the first DC-to-DC converter based on the target charging current limit or range for the time interval. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A control system for managing battery cells for a series of successive time intervals, the control system comprising: a battery including battery terminals and an array of battery cells, the array of battery cells including a plurality of battery cells, each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells including cellular terminals; an electronic data processor configured to execute software instructions of a cell balancing module and a current estimator, wherein the cell balancing module and the current estimator are storable in a data storage device in communication with the electronic data processor; wherein the current estimator is configured to estimate a target charging current limit or a range of target charging current for a charging mode and a target discharging current limit or a range of target discharging current for a discharging mode for each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells for a time interval; a first direct-current to direct-current (DC-to-DC) converter configured to convert a first input direct-current voltage to a first output direct-current voltage with a regulated charging current, the first output direct-current voltage consistent with the target charging current limit or the range of target charging current for the charging mode estimated by the current estimator for the charging mode, and consistent with respective cell identifiers determined by the cell balancing module for the charging mode for the time interval; a first controller configured to control the charging, individually or collectively, of each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells by adjusting at least one of the regulated charging current outputted by the first DC-to-DC converter or a duty cycle of switches of the first DC-to-DC converter based on the target charging current limit or the range of target charging current for the charging mode for the time interval; a second direct-current to direct-current (DC-to-DC) converter configured to convert a second input direct-current voltage to a second output direct-current voltage with a regulated discharging current, the second output direct-current voltage consistent with the target discharging current limit or the range of target discharging current for the discharging mode estimated by the current estimator for the discharging mode, and consistent respective cell identifiers determined by the cell balancing module for the discharging mode for the time interval; a second controller configured to control discharging, individually or collectively, of each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells by adjusting at least one of the regulated discharging current outputted by the second DC-to-DC converter or a duty cycle of switches of second DC-to-DC converter based on the target discharging current limit or the range of target discharging current the discharging mode for the time interval; a switch matrix interface including a set of switches configured to enable or disable, selectively by the electronic data processor, a first electrical connection between DC output terminals of the first DC-to-DC converter and one or more cellular terminals of the battery cells, and the set of switches is further configured to enable or disable, selectively by the electronic data processor, a second electrical connection between DC output terminals of the second DC-to-DC converter and the one or more cellular terminals of the battery cells, wherein each battery cell of the battery cells is configured to operate in a mutually exclusive charging mode or discharging mode during any time interval; and a plurality of sensors associated with the battery, or each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells, the plurality of sensors including a voltage sensor and a current sensor configured to provide sensed voltages and sensed currents for corresponding battery cells, for any time interval, to at least one of the electronic data processor and the cell balancing module, or the current estimator; wherein at least one of the cell balancing module or the current estimator is configured to cause the control system to determine whether each battery cell of the battery cells operates in the charging mode or the discharging mode for any time interval based on the sensed voltages and the sensed currents for the corresponding battery cells, the cell balancing module configured to provide control signals to enable or disable switching states of the switches within the switch matrix interface to establish the first electrical connection or the second electrical connection for each battery cell of the battery cells, wherein at least one of the electronic data processor, the cell balancing module, or the current estimator is configured to cause the control system to determine a state of power (SOP) of each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells, and determine whether to individually apply the regulated charging current or the regulated discharging current to at least one battery cell of the plurality of battery cells based on the SOP determined for the at least one battery cell of the plurality of battery cells, and wherein the electronic data processor or the first controller is configured to determine the target charging current limit that has a lower target charging current limit and an upper target charging current limit for one or more battery cells in the charging mode based on a state-of-charge (SOC) and the state of power (SOP) for the one or more battery cells in the charging mode for any time interval. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The control system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the electronic data processor, the cell balancing module, or the current estimator is configured to determine a State of Charge of the battery or any battery cell within the battery. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The control system of claim 1, further comprising: a load that is switchably coupled to the battery terminals of the battery during an operational mode or a loaded mode of the battery in which the battery is configured to provide energy to a load coupled to the battery, wherein the charging mode or the discharging mode of the first DC-to-DC converter and the second DC-to-DC converter overlaps with or is conducted simultaneously with the operational mode or the loaded mode of the battery. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The control system of claim 1, further comprising: a charger that is switchably coupled to the battery terminals of the battery during the charging mode of the battery in which the charger provides electrical energy (DC voltage) to the battery via the battery terminals, wherein the charging mode or the discharging mode of the first DC-to-DC converter and the second DC-to-DC converter overlaps with or is conducted simultaneously with the charging mode of the battery. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The control system of claim 1, wherein: the first controller is configured to output a duty cycle command to the first DC-to-DC converter based on a number of cells in the charging mode and the target charging current limit associated with each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells in the charging mode, wherein the duty cycle command is a value between 0 and 1, or a percentage of a maximum pulse width (or pulse duration) of one or more switches of the first DC-to-DC converter that is pulse-width modulated, the one or more switches including at least one of a low-side switch or a high-side switch. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The control system of claim 1, wherein: the second controller is configured to output a duty cycle command to the second DC-to-DC converter based on a number of cells in the discharging mode and the target discharging current limit associated with each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells in the discharging mode, wherein the duty cycle command is a value between 0 and 1, or a percentage of a maximum pulse width (or pulse duration) of one or more switches of the second DC-to-DC converter that is pulse-width modulated, the one or more switches including a low-side switch or a high-side switch. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The control system of claim 1, wherein the electronic data processor or the first controller is configured to determine the target discharging current limit that has a lower target discharging current limit and an upper target discharging current limit for one or more battery cells in the discharging mode based on a state of charge (SOC) and the state of power (SOP) for the one or more battery cells in the discharging mode for any time interval. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The control system of claim 1, wherein the electronic data processor or the first controller is configured to determine the target charging current limit, between a Voltage-dependent, a State-of-Power maximum current (IChargeMaxSOPV) and a State-of-Charge-dependent State-of-Power maximum current (IChargeMaxSOPSOC), that has a lower target charging current limit in the charging mode determined in accordance with: I ChargeMaxSOPV = VOC - V max R Series I ChargeMaxSOPSOC = SOC - SOC max ( t Charge ) ⁢ ( Capacity ) ⁢ ( 3600 ) wherein VOC is an open-circuit voltage for a corresponding battery cell; Vmax is a maximum DC voltage for charging the corresponding battery cell, and Rseries is a series resistance or modeled series resistance of the corresponding battery cell; where SOC is a state of charge for a corresponding battery cell, SOCmax is a maximum state of charge for the corresponding battery cell, tcharge is a duration of a charging time in the charging mode for the corresponding battery cell, and Capacity is a capacity of the corresponding battery cell, wherein the charging time is provided in units of second and the Capacity is provided in Amp*Hour units. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The control system of claim 1, wherein the electronic data processor or the second controller is configured to determine the target discharging current limit, between a Voltage-dependent, a State-of-Power maximum current (IDischargeMaxSOPV) and a State-of-Charge-dependent State-of-Power maximum current (IDischargeMaxSOPSOC), that has a lower target charging current limit for one or more battery cells in the discharging mode in accordance with: I DischargeMaxSOPV = VOC - V min R Series I DischargeMaxSOPSOC = SOC - SOC min ( t Discharge ) ⁢ ( Capacity ) ⁢ ( 3600 ) where VOC is an open-circuit voltage for a corresponding battery cell; Vmin is a minimum DC voltage for discharging the corresponding battery cell, and Rseries is a series resistance or modeled series resistance of the corresponding battery cell; where SOC is a state of charge for the corresponding battery cell, SOCmin is a minimum state of charge for the corresponding battery cell, tdischarge is a duration of a discharging time in the discharging mode for the corresponding battery cell, and capacity is a capacity of the corresponding battery cell, wherein the discharging time is provided in units of second and the Capacity is provided in Amp*Hour units. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The control system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensors further includes a temperature sensor associated with the battery or associated with one or more battery cells of the battery. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The control system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensors further includes a state-of-charge sensor for providing the state-of-charge of each battery cell. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The control system of claim 1, wherein the current estimator is configured to estimate at least one of the state-of-charge for each battery cell or the state of power for each battery cell for any time interval.