Inductor-based active balancing for batteries and other power supplies
AssigneeTexas Instruments Incorporated
InventorQINGGUO LIU
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system includes multiple power supplies connected in series and an active balancing circuit. The active balancing circuit includes an LC resonance circuit and multiple switches configured to selectively couple different ones of the power supplies to the LC resonance circuit. The LC resonance circuit includes an inductor, a capacitor, and an additional switch. The inductor is configured to store energy to be transferred between two or more of the power supplies. The additional switch is configured to selectively create a resonance between the inductor and the capacitor in order to reverse a direction of a current flow through the inductor. The active balancing circuit can transfer energy between individual power supplies or groups of power supplies.
Claims20
An apparatus comprising:
- an LC resonance circuit;
- and
- multiple switches configured to selectively couple different power supplies connected in series to the LC resonance circuit;
- wherein the LC resonance circuit comprises:
- an inductor configured to store energy to be transferred between two or more of the power supplies;
- a capacitor;
- and
- an additional switch configured to selectively create a resonance between the inductor and the capacitor in order to reverse a direction of a current flow through the inductor.
A method comprising:
- transferring energy from at least one first power supply to an inductor;
- selectively creating a resonance between the inductor and a capacitor in order to reverse a direction of a current flow through the inductor;
- and
- transferring the energy from the inductor to at least one second power supply, the at least one first power supply and the at least one second power supply connected in series.
A system comprising:
- multiple power supplies connected in series;
- and
- an active balancing circuit comprising:
- an LC resonance circuit;
- and
- multiple switches configured to selectively couple different ones of the power supplies to the LC resonance circuit;
- wherein the LC resonance circuit comprises:
- an inductor configured to store energy to be transferred between two or more of the power supplies;
- a capacitor;
- and
- an additional switch configured to selectively create a resonance between the inductor and the capacitor in order to reverse a direction of a current flow through the inductor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.