Apparatus and method for battery module balancing
AssigneeLG Chem, Ltd.
InventorChang-Hyun SUNG
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for equalizing the charge of a plurality of battery modules while balancing the plurality of battery modules included in a battery pack. The present disclosure has an advantage of allowing easy manufacture of the battery pack with a reduced size since of the battery pack connectors may be simplified and the volume of wire harness may be reduced.
Claims10
An apparatus for balancing of a plurality of battery modules electrically connected in series, each battery module having a cell assembly with a secondary battery, the apparatus comprises for each battery module:
- a monitoring unit configured to monitor at least one of voltage, temperature and current of the cell assembly;
- a self-circulating path electrically connected to both ends of cell assembly to form a closed circuit, the self-circulating path including:
- an inductor configured to allow a charging current and a discharging current to flow on the self-circulating path;
- and
- a first discharge MOSFET configured to open or close the self-circulating path;
- a connector having a plurality of connection terminals;
- a connection path electrically connecting both ends of the inductor to the plurality of connection terminals and electrically connecting the battery module to a neighboring battery module among the plurality of battery modules through the plurality of connection terminals, the connection path having a second discharge MOSFET to open or close the connection path;
- and
- a processor configured to receive a state of the cell assembly from the monitoring unit and control opening and closing operations of the first discharge MOSFET and the second discharge MOSFET on the basis of the received state the cell assembly so that the plurality of battery modules are balanced.
A method for balancing a plurality of battery modules electrically connected in series, each battery module having a cell assembly with a secondary battery, the method comprising:
- monitoring at least one of voltage, temperature and current of each cell assembly;
- and
- receiving a state of each cell assembly, which is monitored in the monitoring step;
- and
- controlling, for each cell assembly, opening and closing operations of a respective first discharge MOSFET that opens and closes a self-circulating path, each first discharge MOSFET being electrically connected to both ends of the respective cell assembly to form a closed circuit and having an inductor that allows a charging and discharging current to flow on the respective self-circulating path, and
- controlling, for each cell assembly, a respective second discharge MOSFET that opens and closes a connection path, each second discharge MOSFET being electrically connects both ends of the respective inductor to a plurality of connection terminals and electrically connects neighboring battery modules to each other through the plurality of connection terminals, based on the received state of each cell assembly so that the plurality of battery modules are balanced.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.