Battery Module For High-Current Rapid Charging
AssigneeElectricab Corporation
InventorRobert P. Kittell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A high-current rapid charging battery module for an electric vehicle including a case, one or more battery cells inside the case, a ventilation system that draws air upward through holes in the bottom of the case from the exterior of the vehicle, massive copper busbars, each busbar electrically connecting a positive lead on one battery cell to a negative lead on a different battery cell, an air flow cartridge between each pair of adjacent battery cells, and one or more fans arranged on top of one or more cells that blow air drawn upward through the holes in the bottom of the case away from the top of the battery module.
Claims9
A high-current rapid charging battery module for an electric vehicle comprising:
- a case;
- one or more battery cells inside the case;
- a ventilation system that draws air upward through holes in the bottom of the case from the exterior of the vehicle;
- massive copper busbars, each busbar conducting current from a positive lead on one battery cell to a negative lead on a different battery cell;
- an air flow cartridge between each pair of adjacent battery cells;
- and
- one or more fans arranged on top of one or more cells that blow air drawn upward through the holes in the bottom of the case away from the top of the battery module.
A method for high-current rapidly charging a battery module, comprising:
- determining the internal resistance added to each cell in the battery module by a busbar connection at each terminal of a cell;
- calculating an overshoot voltage for the battery cell based on the internal resistance of each cell's busbar connection in the battery module;
- applying a high-current rapid charge current to the battery module;
- measuring the voltage across each cell in the battery module;
- and
- periodically reducing the current applied to the battery module if the measured voltage of the battery module cells exceeds the overshoot voltage plus the maximum recommended charge voltage for each cell in the battery module.
A battery management system that implements a rapid charging algorithm that controls the level of current into each battery cell.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.