Method and apparatus for the continuous performance monitoring of a lead acid battery system

A battery monitoring system comprising:

• a) a plurality of batteries connected in series to form at least one string of batteries;
• b) a plurality of probes for respectively probing a portion of said at least one string, each probe of the plurality of probes include:
• i) a controllable sensing means for sensing a plurality of parameters of the portion of said at least one string;
• ii) a communication means for communicating data to and from the controllable sensing means, the data including control signals and information signals relating to the plurality of parameters of the portion of said at least one string;
• iii) a memory for memorizing an address assigned to said probe of the plurality of probes upon reception of an initialization signal;
• iv) a bus for serially interconnecting the communication means of each of said plurality of probes in a daisy chain manner wherein said bus is a five wire bus, where a first wire is used exclusively for addressing purposes, a second wire is used as a broadcast in channel, a third wire is used a broadcast out channel, and a fourth and fifth wires are used for supplying voltage;
• and
• c) a system server connected to said bus and configured to transmit said initialization signal, to receive respective addresses from each of said plurality of probes, to select one of said plurality of probes, to transmit control signals to a selected one of said plurality of probes and to receive information signals relating to the characteristics of the portion of said at least one string, memory means for storing said information signals, calculating means for calculating a plurality of values relating to said characteristics and alarm means for raising an alarm when one or more of said plurality of values are outside a predetermined range.

A battery monitoring system comprising:

• a) a plurality of batteries connected in series to form at least one string of batteries;
• b) a plurality of probes each of said plurality of probes for probing a corresponding portion of said at least one string, each of said plurality of probes including:
• i) a controllable sensing means for sensing a plurality of parameters of the corresponding portion of said at least one string;
• ii) a communication means for communicating data to and from the controllable sensing means, the data including control signals and information signals relating to the plurality of parameters of the corresponding portion that are selected by the control signals;
• c) a bus for serially interconnecting the communication means of each one of said plurality of probes in a daisy chain manner;
• d) at least one current injection means connected to said at least one string for injecting a current in said at least one string upon receipt of a control signal;
• and
• e) a system server connected to said bus and configured to select one of said plurality of probes, to transmit control signals to said one of the plurality of probes and to receive information signals relating to the characteristics of the corresponding portion, said system server comprising memory means for storing said information signals, calculating means for calculating a plurality of values relating to said characteristics and alarm means for raising an alarm when one or more of said plurality of values is outside a predetermined range, said system server being operatively connected to said at least one current injection means for sending a control signal to said at least one current injection means to inject a current in said at least one string.