Device and method for power supply

Abstract

The present invention describes a traction power source for an electric vehicle as a single unit. Specifically, the present invention integrates several functions, such as a battery and an inverter. In addition, other functions that are traditionally in separate units can be integrated into the system and effectively performed by the same electronics, such as battery management and thermal management. The solution provides high efficiency, low cost, and increased reliability.

Description

Field of the Invention

[0001] The invention relates in particular to the supply of electrical power from a battery source, for example to electric drives on board ships, vehicles, aircraft or the like.

[0002] Background and Summary of the Invention

[0003] The present invention describes the following novel technology, which can be integrated with the hitherto separate power units of the drive systems of vehicles, ships and aircraft, for example. Thus, the conventional separate units including:

[0004] One or more DC / DC converters that regulate the battery voltage for one or more electric machines; one or more drive inverters that invert the DC voltage output of the one or more DC / DC converters or for one or more AC or multi-phase electric machines; one or more chargers, which may include converters; one or more buck converters, which are used to include low voltages such as 12V / 24V / 48V auxiliary power buses in the car; a battery management system that monitors, controls and / or balances, for example, state of charge, temperature, power of the current load, and / or aging of sub-portions of the battery or individual battery cells.

[0005] Electric trains, electric boats and electric vehicles (including hybrid electric, fuel cell electric, diesel electric, and battery electric) of the prior art typically include at least one energy source and / or electrical storage element that provides energy to at least one electric machine. However, earlier electric vehicles preferably use DC motors as electric machines, and newer vehicles implement multiphase AC motors (such as synchronous machines and induction machines) and are typically not able to operate directly with the power provided by the available one or more energy source elements and / or one or more electrical storage elements. For example, most electrical storage elements use DC voltage, which is not compatible with the AC power required by the machine. In addition, the characteristics of the AC power used for the machine (such as amplitude, frequency, and phase relationship with the rotor position) determine the working point of the machine. At least one separate power electronic converter of a conventional powertrain converts electrical power between units such as one or more electrical storage elements, one or more power sources, or one or more electric machines, and adjusts the characteristics of the electrical power. The power electronic converter converts, for example, a DC voltage into a single-phase, or single-phase or multi-phase AC voltage; converts a DC voltage having one voltage into a DC voltage having another voltage; or converts an AC voltage into a DC voltage. Furthermore, typically such power electronic converters may be current controlled.If not specified further, the term "converter" will refer to inverters, rectifiers and converters hereinafter.

[0006] The prior art strictly separates the power supply and the electrical storage element from the power electronic converter, as shown in the document [M. Ehsani, Y. Gao, JM Miller (2007). Hybrid electric vehicles: architecture and motor drives. Proceedings of the IEEE, 95 (4): 719-728.]. This separation is usually also manifested as a separate housing for each individual unit. It is demonstrated in the prior art that the separation of the power supply (e.g., battery) and the power electronic unit (e.g., inverter) in the drive unit is very mature and has no doubts for those skilled in the art, as supported by Rozman et al. in US 8,536,729, Schleser et al. in US 2013 / 0317686, and Plant et al. in US 2014 / 0312619.

[0007] In many conventional electric drives incorporating batteries (e.g., battery electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles), the batteries involved typically have a voltage lower than the voltage that the installed electric motor should require for its peak power. For example, in electric vehicles, battery pack voltages of about 200V to 400V and machine peak voltages of about 600V to 1000V are often used, as shown, for example, by Hatanaka in CA 2806817, Liu et al. in DE 10 2012 007 158, and Zhu et al. in US 2003 / 0214826. The reasons for using a battery pack voltage lower than the machine peak voltage include safety and stability over a wide range of state of charge (SOC). Since the battery pack in conventional applications is hard-wired and therefore presents a peak voltage all the time, and also when the machine is not running and / or the system is turned off, this is considered a major safety risk and complicates the work of rescue teams in the event of an accident. Regarding SOC, for example, manufacturers of electric vehicles expect to have rated peak mechanical power and speed at one or several machines even for low SOC, for example 20% to 40% SOC. Therefore, the DC / DC converter can further compensate for the voltage drop of the battery to achieve the requirements of the machine.

[0008] The invention allows to eliminate such a DC / DC stage. As a solution, the same number of battery cells as in a conventional battery pack can be distributed in multiple modules so that the sum of the module voltages for each phase is higher than the phase voltage required to achieve maximum power in the machine, also when the SOC of the battery cells is low (e.g. 20% or 40%). For example, if the SOC of the battery cells is 800V peak and Figure 3b5-7 to use a 3-phase electric machine, the module voltage in each string (also referred to as a module string, arm, module arm) must total above 800 V for the entire specified peak power SOC range. Since conventional battery packs are constructed of hard-wired battery cells in parallel and series, the number of total battery cells in the present invention can remain the same.

[0009] By occasionally switching the modules into parallel, bypass, or passive mode states when the machine is not running, the safety of the drive train can be improved. Therefore, the highest voltage between any two electrical contacts or metal points in the entire system is the highest module voltage when the machine is not running as described. Since the module voltage (preferably between 0V and 200V, particularly preferably between 3V and 60V) is typically less than the battery pack voltage (typically in the range of 200V to 400V), this control law together with the presented system is significantly safer than conventional battery packs. In addition, the magnetic components required in the DC / DC stage can be omitted, thereby reducing cost, space and losses.

[0010] In conventional drive systems, multiple inverters (e.g., multiple push-pull half-bridge stages or multi-stage half-bridges, each of which is formed by at least two semiconductor switches) each typically provide a (usually alternating) voltage output to the at least one electric machine in at least one phase and preferably in three phases. In the present invention, this function can be achieved by reconfiguring the electrical interconnection of these modules and thus reconfiguring the battery connection. Therefore, the present invention can provide AC or multi-phase voltage or current that is actually freely controlled in amplitude and frequency without the need for additional inverters. In addition, if these modules provide a parallel mode / state in which at least two modules are connected to the battery and are used with an appropriate control method, the source impedance of the compared present invention is lower than that of a conventional battery. In the case of such a parallel mode that can be used dynamically, efficiency can be significantly improved compared to the prior art.

[0011] Furthermore, in conventional drive systems, at least one separate charging unit (a) converts the power (AC or DC) provided via an external charging connector into a DC voltage and current suitable for battery charging; (b) controls power delivery, charging speed, charging method / protocol (e.g., constant current, constant voltage, or more complex charging methods, and variations between respective phases); and (c) detects the charging endpoint. The charging unit is typically combined with a converter, which (a) increases cost; (b) requires space; and (c) adds weight. To save on all three aspects, the charger is typically rated for much lower power than the at least one electric machine, resulting in long charging times.

[0012] Finally, although one or more electric machines of conventional systems require relatively high voltages, many electrical loads such as lights, controllers, servos, driver assistance systems, and communication systems (collectively referred to as auxiliary devices) require low voltage power supply. Typically, 12V, 24V, or 48V are currently considered to be the standard for vehicles. Comparable rated voltage levels for ships, aircraft, and other vehicles deviate from this but do not lose generality. In a typical conventional system, a DC / DC buck converter allows energy exchange between the drive battery and these auxiliary devices. In a vehicle, several units such as anti-lock braking systems (ABS), electronic stability programs (ESP), and servo-assisted brakes can quickly increase the current by more than 100A and are safety-related. A cost-effective DC / DC buck converter cannot follow such rapid load fluctuations. Therefore, at least one conventional 12V, 24V, or 48V automotive battery is usually connected to the low voltage side for filtering and response to cope with rapid load fluctuations. However, this low-voltage battery (usually lead-acid technology) adds additional weight and cost.

[0013] To date, the present invention typically divides a hard-wired battery with fixed connections (i.e., its sub-sections and / or battery cells are electrically connected in an electrical series and / or parallel and / or bypass configuration) into at least two battery modules. The battery module according to the present invention comprises at least one battery sub-section and two electrical switches, wherein the at least two electrical switches allow the connection of at least two battery sub-sections to be dynamically changed, as described below. Such dynamic reconfiguration can provide at least one voltage of at least one electrical terminal, such as an AC output, a DC output or an arbitrary waveform output. In addition, such dynamic reconfiguration allows energy exchange between different battery modules to support, for example, charge balancing.

[0014] Attached photos

[0015] Figure 1a , 1b 1c shows three examples of battery modules according to the present invention, incorporating at least two electrical switches (1105, 1106, 1107, 1108; 1207, 1208; 1307, 1308) and at least one battery subsection (1101, 1102; 1201, 1202; 1301, 1302), the at least one battery subsection comprising at least one battery cell electrically connected in a series and / or parallel configuration. Preferably, the at least one battery subsection may include at least one capacitor (1102; 1202; 1302).

[0016] Figures 2a, 2b, 2c show three alternative examples of a battery module according to the invention incorporating at least one battery subsection (2101, 2102; 2201, 2202; 2301, 2302) comprising at least one battery cell which may be a capacitor.

[0017] Figure 3a An example of a powertrain of a vehicle according to the prior art is shown, the vehicle having: an isolated battery (3101) (typically with high voltage); at least one inverter (3105) typically producing a two-level or three-level pulse width modulated voltage (3106); an optional DC / DC converter (3104); an electric machine (3107) (typically AC or multi-phase); a battery charger (3108); a charging plug, for example according to SAE J1772, CHAdeMO or Combined Charging System (CCS) standards (3109); and one or more optional step-down power converters (3102) that can convert power from the high voltage battery (3101) to one or more auxiliary power lines (3103) and vice versa. All electrical connections can be equipped with additional switches, circuit breakers and / or fuses.

[0018] Figure 3b A preferred embodiment of the invention is shown, which comprises at least one modular battery (3264), which comprises: at least six battery modules (3265) electrically interconnected; here a 12V auxiliary power bus (3255); at least three battery terminals provided by the modular battery (3264) and electrically connected to at least three electrical connectors of at least one electric machine (3257). A particularly preferred embodiment further comprises at least one charging connector (3259), for example according to SAE J 1772, CHAdeMO or Combined Charging System (CCS) standards. For single-phase AC and DC charging, one of its at least two electrical connectors (3267) can be connected to an additional battery terminal of the modular battery (3264), for example a star point (3266) of the modular battery (3264) formed by the electrical interconnection of at least three battery modules (3265), and another electrical connector (3260) of the charging connector (3259) can be connected to the neutral point of one of the windings of the at least one electric machine. All electrical connections with a charging connector may be equipped with additional switches, circuit breakers and / or fuses.

[0019] Figure 4A subset of operating modes for two battery modules according to a modular battery embodiment of the present invention is shown, including a series positive state (4001), a series negative state (4002), a parallel state (4003), and a bypass state (4004).

[0020] Figure 5a Another embodiment of the present invention is shown, which includes at least six battery modules (5101-5112), at least one multi-phase electric machine (5113), at least one auxiliary power bus (5114) (for example, with 12V or 48V DC), at least one charging terminal (5115) for obtaining DC or AC power (wherein AC power includes single-phase and multi-phase AC power), and at least one electronic controller (5116). In this embodiment, at least one auxiliary power bus connects at least two battery module strings, preferably at least one battery module of each battery module string, and thus, for example, equal load can be achieved on each battery module string. The auxiliary power bus may include at least one battery and / or capacitor.

[0021] Figure 5b Another embodiment of the present invention having at least one auxiliary power bus (5214) is shown, wherein the at least one auxiliary power bus (5214) includes at least two charging terminals (5217, 5218), each of which is connected to another inter-module connector (5219, 5220), and the inter-module connectors (5219, 5220) to which the at least two terminals (5217, 5218) are connected preferably belong to the same battery module string (5232).

[0022] Figure 5c Another embodiment of the present invention having at least one auxiliary power bus (5314) is shown, wherein the at least one auxiliary power bus (5314) includes at least two charging terminals (5317, 5318), each of which is connected to another inter-module connector (5319, 5320), and the inter-module connectors (5319, 5320) to which the at least two terminals (5317, 5318) are connected preferably belong to different battery module strings (5331, 5332).

[0023] Figure 5dA preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown having at least one auxiliary power bus (5414), which includes: at least one transformer (5423), which at least one transformer is electrically connected to at least two inter-module connection parts (5422; 5419, 5420, 5421) through at least one pair of terminals (5417, 5418); and at least one rectifier (5424), in such a way that the at least one auxiliary power bus (5414) is electrically isolated from these inter-module connection parts (5422; 5419, 5420, 5421) and the battery module.

[0024] Figure 5e A preferred embodiment of the invention is shown, wherein the at least one transformer (5523) galvanically isolating at least one auxiliary power bus (5514) from the battery modules is a multiphase transformer having at least two phases on one side, preferably at least three phases on one side and / or as many phases as the at least one electric machine (5513). Preferably, the at least one multiphase transformer (5523) further comprises as many output phases as input phases forming the input of at least one multiphase rectifier (5524). Preferably, the input terminals of the multiphase transformer (5523) are electrically connected to a plurality of inter-module connection locations (5519, 5520, 5521) in different battery module strings.

[0025] Figures 5f and 5g show a preferred embodiment of the present invention further comprising at least one switch (5623) allowing interruption of the electrical connection between at least one terminal of the auxiliary power bus (5614) and the inter-module connection site to which it is connected. Preferably, the at least one switch can be operated using switch modulation, such as pulse width modulation.

[0026] Figure 6 Another embodiment of the present invention is shown comprising at least one auxiliary power bus (6014a, 6014b) electrically connected to at least one battery subsection of at least one battery module (6001) via at least two terminals (6017, 6018). Preferably, the at least two terminals can be electrically separated from the at least one battery subsection by at least one electrical switch. This embodiment can include at least one transformer. Furthermore, this embodiment can include at least one switch that generates at least one alternating input for the at least one optional transformer.

[0027] Figure 7a A preferred structure for combining independent modules (7102) into a power supply according to the present invention is shown.

[0028] Figure 7bAnother preferred structure for combining independent modules (7202) into a power supply according to the present invention is shown.

[0029] Figure 8a A battery module is shown that includes at least one voltage balancing unit (8117), which is composed of at least one limiter (8109, 8110, 8111) electrically connected in parallel with at least one battery (8106, 8107, 8108), wherein the at least one limiter (8109, 8110, 8111) can at least temporarily change the charging stage of the at least one battery (8106, 8107, 8108) by discharging the at least one battery (8106, 8107, 8108), and / or transfer charge between different parts of the at least one battery (8106, 8107, 8108) and can also be implemented in any module type, such as shown in Figures 1 and 2 without loss of generality.

[0030] Figure 8b A battery module is shown that includes at least one voltage balancing unit (8209), which is connected to at least three different electrodes of at least two batteries (8206, 8207, 8208), wherein the at least one voltage balancing unit (8209) can at least temporarily change the charging stage of the at least two batteries (8206, 8207, 8208) by discharging the at least two batteries (8206, 8207, 8208), and / or transfer charge between different batteries in the at least two batteries (8206, 8207, 8208) and can also be implemented in any module type, such as shown in Figures 1 and 2 without loss of generality.

[0031] Figure 8c Seven different implementations of at least one limiter (8109, 8110, 8111; 8301) according to the present invention are shown, the at least one limiter comprising: a transient voltage suppressor (8304); an electronic switch (8307) electrically connected in series with an impedance (8305), such as a resistor; a Zener diode (8308); a voltage-sensitive resistor (8309), such as a varistor; an electronic switch (8311); and an impedance (8312), such as a resistor, on a series-connected switch (8313).

[0032] Figure 8dTwo further implementations of at least one limiter (8109, 8110, 8111; 8301) according to the present invention are shown, the at least one limiter comprising at least one electronic switch (8402; 8407), which is further controlled by a voltage across the at least one limiter, for example by using a resistor (8404; 8409) and a Zener diode (8403; 8408), a transient voltage suppressor, etc.

[0033] Fig. 9 A preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown, which includes, for example, eight electrical switches (9101-9104, 9112-9115), at least one battery subsection consisting of at least two batteries (9106, 9107, 9108), at least one voltage balancing unit (9109), and at least one current sensor (9120). Preferably, the embodiment further includes at least one voltage sensor, which can detect the voltage of at least one independent battery cell, and / or at least one overall battery subsection, and / or a part of at least one battery subsection. In addition, the embodiment may include at least one battery module electronic control unit, which processes information from the at least one current sensor and / or the at least one voltage sensor. Optionally, the embodiment may further include at least one electrical switch (9121), which preferably allows interruption of current flow into and / or out of at least one battery subsection.

[0034] Fig.10a A battery module having at least one DC / DC conversion output terminal according to the present invention is shown, and the battery module is electrically connected to at least one auxiliary power bus through at least one pair of electrical terminals.

[0035] Fig.10b A battery module according to the present invention is shown that incorporates a plurality of terminals that connect at least one auxiliary power bus to at least one battery subsection of the battery module.

[0036] Fig.10c A module according to the invention is shown having at least one galvanically isolated DC / DC converter output, which is electrically connected to at least one auxiliary power supply bus via at least one pair of electrical terminals.

[0037] Fig.10d A module according to the invention is shown having at least one galvanically isolated DC / DC converter output, which is electrically connected to at least one auxiliary power supply bus via at least one pair of electrical terminals.

[0038] Detailed description and implementation

[0039] The present invention integrates a traction battery for an electric vehicle and a variety of different power electronic converters into a single multifunctional unit. Specifically, the present invention can integrate a battery, a traction boost converter and inverter, a drive control, an auxiliary power bus converter, and a high-power charger for obtaining AC and DC power. In addition, other functions such as battery management and thermal management that are conventionally located in separate units can be combined into the system and effectively performed by the same electronic device. This solution provides unique advantages, including, among other things, higher efficiency, lower cost, and improved reliability. Batteries and / or battery sub-parts according to the present invention refer to all kinds of power and / or storage elements, including but not limited to galvanic cells, electrochemical primary cells, electrochemical secondary cells, various capacitors (including double-layer capacitors, electrolytic capacitors, and ceramic capacitors), DC generators, radioisotope generators, concentration cells, and fuel cells, and their electrical series and / or parallel configurations. The battery can include a single element of the latter, but typically includes at least two elements generally represented by a battery cell, which can be of the same kind or different kinds according to the above list. Preferably, the battery can include at least six such independent battery cells. The battery according to the present invention may further comprise electronics for controlling and / or monitoring the battery cell.Preferably, the battery cell is a DC source.A DC source according to the present invention does not necessarily require more or less regular polarity changes to operate.

[0040] The modular battery according to the present invention disassembles the battery pack of the prior art, which is usually in the series and parallel electrical configuration of battery cells with hard-wired configuration (for example, 102 series-connected cells, each cell includes seven parallel lithium-ion battery cells and typically provides a DC voltage), and divides the battery into battery modules, each battery module includes at least one sub-portion of the entire battery (the so-called battery sub-portion), in such a way that the electrical connection between the battery sub-portions of different battery modules can be dynamically changed. For example, 102×7 battery cells of such a conventional hard-wired battery can be distributed in at least 17 battery modules, each battery module including at least one battery sub-portion with 6 series multiplied by 7 parallel battery cells. The battery module further includes at least two electrical switches. The battery sub-portion incorporated into the module is itself a battery and includes at least one battery cell. Preferably, the sub-portion consists of at least four battery cells that can be in any series-parallel configuration.

[0041] In a preferred embodiment, the electrical connection of at least two battery subsections (parts of different battery modules) can be dynamically changed between at least: a series connection, in which the positive pole of a battery subsection of one battery module is conductively connected to the negative battery subsection of another of the battery modules; a bypass connection, in which at most one pole of at least two poles of a battery subsection of one of the modules is conductively connected to the other pole of a battery subsection of any other module. The battery modules each share at least one electrical interconnect with another of the battery modules.

[0042] In another preferred embodiment, the electrical connection of at least two battery subsections (parts of different battery modules) can be dynamically changed between at least the following: a series connection, in which the positive electrode of the battery subsection of one battery module is conductively connected to the negative battery subsection of another battery module; a parallel connection, in which the positive electrodes of the battery subsections of at least two battery modules are conductively connected to the negative electrodes of the at least two battery modules, respectively. Each of the battery modules shares at least one electrical interconnect with another of the battery modules.

[0043] In another preferred embodiment, the electrical connection of two battery subsections (parts of different battery modules) can be dynamically changed between at least the following: a positive series connection, in which the positive pole of the battery subsection of the first battery module is conductively connected to the negative battery subsection of another said battery module; a negative series connection, in which the negative pole of the battery subsection of the first battery module is conductively connected to the positive battery subsection of another said battery module; a bypass connection, in which at most one pole of at least two poles of the battery subsection of one of the modules is conductively connected to the other pole of the battery subsection of any other module. Each of the battery modules shares at least one electrical interconnect with another of the battery modules.

[0044] In another preferred embodiment, the electrical connection of at least two battery subsections (parts of different battery modules) can be dynamically changed between at least the following: a positive series connection, in which the positive electrode of the battery subsection of the first battery module is conductively connected to the negative battery subsection of another battery module; a negative series connection, in which the negative electrode of the battery subsection of the first battery module is conductively connected to the positive battery subsection of another battery module; a parallel connection, in which the positive electrodes of the battery subsections of at least two battery modules are conductively connected to the negative electrodes of the at least two battery modules, respectively. Each of the battery modules shares at least one electrical interconnect with another of the battery modules.

[0045] In a preferred embodiment, one of the above embodiments further comprises at least one AC electric machine.

[0046] In a preferred embodiment, the present invention comprises at least one AC electric machine using a plurality of permanent magnets. In another preferred embodiment, the present invention comprises at least one electric machine conforming to the principle of an asynchronous induction motor.

[0047] In another preferred embodiment, at least one of the battery modules of one of the above embodiments further includes at least one pair of terminals, which preferably provide a controlled low voltage DC voltage at a voltage of 12V, 24V, 48V or 60V, which further allows a current flow of 100A for at least ten seconds. This voltage can be used to provide the necessary power for an auxiliary power bus of, for example, a car, a ship or an aircraft. Typically, the auxiliary power bus of a vehicle is represented by at least two terminals, one of which represents a "+" terminal of, for example, a twelve-volt voltage, and the other is a "-" terminal that is usually connected to the vehicle body. Commonly used industry standards, such as DIN 72552, specify how the auxiliary power bus in a vehicle can be set and what components they can include, such as the so-called terminal 31 for the negative terminal of the auxiliary power bus, the terminal 30 for the positive terminal of the auxiliary power bus, and several related terminals such as terminal 15.

[0048] In another preferred embodiment, the present invention comprises at least one battery module, the at least one battery module comprising at least one battery subsection of a low voltage DC voltage of preferably 12V, 24V, 48V or 60V, wherein the at least one battery module further comprises at least one pair of electrical terminals electrically connecting at least one of the at least one battery subsection to at least one auxiliary power bus. Preferably, the voltage of the at least one auxiliary power bus is equal to the voltage of the at least one battery module electrically connected to the at least one auxiliary power bus through the at least one pair of electrical terminals. The auxiliary power bus can be directly connected to at least one battery subsection incorporated into the battery module.

[0049] Figure 6 An embodiment is presented that includes at least six battery modules and at least one electric machine that preferably has at least three phases. Further, two battery modules are shown in this figure, each of which further includes at least one pair of electrical terminals electrically connected to at least one auxiliary power bus. At least one battery subsection incorporated into each of the battery modules provides power to the auxiliary power bus through the at least one pair of electrical terminals of each of the battery modules. Since the battery modules are further electrically connected to other modules and allow dynamic reconfiguration of the connections between the battery sections incorporated into the modules, power can be exchanged with other modules and the auxiliary power bus. The present invention does not have any preferred direction of current or power flow. Therefore, very efficient bidirectional power exchange is allowed between the auxiliary power bus and the battery. Switching controls or magnetic components that increase losses are not necessarily required.

[0050] Furthermore, the depicted embodiments and the embodiments derived therefrom do not necessarily involve switching modulation of the auxiliary power bus if the auxiliary power bus is electrically connected to at least one battery section having the same voltage as the auxiliary power bus. This substantially simplifies the control and allows. Furthermore, rapid and high load power fluctuations of the auxiliary power supply are allowed, which is a critical problem, for example, in conventional automobiles. Rapid and high load fluctuations cause the DC / DC converters implemented in conventional vehicles, ships, aircraft, etc., whose output voltage and / or power need to be actively controlled by switching modulation, to reach their limits or above and necessitate low-voltage buffer batteries in conventional systems.

[0051] Preferably, the present invention comprises at least two battery modules, each battery module containing a battery sub-section with a low DC voltage of preferably 12V, 24V, 48V or 60V, and wherein each battery module further comprises at least one pair of electrical terminals electrically connected to at least one auxiliary power bus, and wherein the at least one auxiliary power bus electrically connected to one of the at least two battery modules is not electrically connected to any other battery module of the at least two battery modules, thereby forming at least two independent power buses, and wherein the present invention further comprises at least two auxiliary devices that implement the same function, wherein at least one group of two auxiliary devices are each powered by electrical connectors of different buses in the independent power buses.

[0052] Preferably, the at least two auxiliary devices that implement the same function provide safety functions, such as power steering (PAS), anti-lock braking system (ABS), electronic stability program (ESP), brake control, passenger airbag, and emergency brake assist system, as well as an electronic control unit (ECU) for any of the latter safety items.

[0053] The safety and hazard characteristics of auxiliary equipment are typically specified by the Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) according to the national standard ISO 26262. The failure of auxiliary equipment and higher ASIL level functions may cause significant harm, including the lives of occupants, and it is therefore expected to provide measures to counteract failure, including both the failure of the auxiliary equipment as a device and the failure of all constraints with a risk of failure (such as power supply). In the present invention, ASIL C and D auxiliary equipment and / or functions provided by ASIL C and D auxiliary equipment are considered to be safety-related, while the requirements for redundant implementation and the described redundant power supply increase from ASIL A to D. The present invention allows both safety-related auxiliary equipment and / or functions to be implemented independently with redundant units to ensure operation through the independent auxiliary power bus after power failure in these independent situations.

[0054] Preferably, all auxiliary devices in the vehicle according to the invention are grouped with safety power in such a way that such auxiliary devices which may not fail simultaneously are powered by electrical connections to independent power buses which are each electrically connected to a different battery module.

[0055] A preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises at least two battery modules, each battery module containing a battery subsection of a low voltage DC voltage of preferably 12V, 24V, 48V or 60V, wherein each of the at least two battery modules further comprises at least one pair of electrical terminals electrically connected to at least one auxiliary power bus, and wherein the at least one of the auxiliary power buses electrically connected to a first battery module of the at least two battery modules differs in voltage by more than 30% compared to another of the auxiliary power buses electrically connected to a second battery module of the at least two battery modules. Preferably, the voltage difference is greater than 50%. Preferably, the voltage of one of the auxiliary power buses is more than 2 times higher than the voltage of the other of the auxiliary power buses. Preferably, the rated voltage of one of the auxiliary power buses is 48V±12V, and the rated voltage of the other of the auxiliary power buses is 12V±6V.

[0056] Figure 5a-5c Additional or alternative ways of making one or more low voltage connections to at least one auxiliary power bus are shown.

[0057] A key advantage of the auxiliary power bus implemented according to these embodiments can be any form of output, such as DC voltage, AC voltage, and current-controlled output, and the voltage of the auxiliary power bus does not determine the voltage of the battery sub-section incorporated into the battery module, because the voltage and / or current of the auxiliary power bus implemented according to these embodiments can be controlled by appropriate time control of the switching state of the battery module.

[0058] Alternatively, one or more auxiliary power buses may be connected in pairs to any at least two battery-module interconnects that electrically interconnect at least two battery modules, such as Figure 5b and 5c In addition, each of these connection points electrically connecting the terminals of the at least one auxiliary power source to at least one module interconnect can shorten several different battery-module interconnection lines. Figure 5a As shown, at least one connection of the auxiliary power bus can, for example, shorten the interconnection of the battery modules of different arms. An important advantage of this shortening is that several modules and / or electrical switches can be operated in parallel.

[0059] If the voltage of an auxiliary power bus is the voltage of one or more battery sections in any series and / or parallel configuration that are incorporated into battery modules, where the battery modules are those battery modules through which current must flow when flowing from one terminal (i.e., the electrical connection point with at least one battery module) of the auxiliary power bus to another terminal, then the voltage control of the auxiliary power bus is simplified and does not require fast switching regulation. Instead, the system can use all of these series and / or parallel configurations of the modules that provide the required voltage and slowly alternate between these configurations to provide similar loads to each battery subsection.

[0060] Preferably, at least one auxiliary power bus is isolated from the high voltage system and from any battery module potential. This isolation can be achieved, for example, by including at least one transformer. Such a transformer can be a single-phase transformer or a multi-phase transformer. The transformation ratio further allows the voltage-current load on the battery module to be adjusted. Figure 5e As shown, the multi-phase transformer can be connected to any battery-module interconnect in a delta or star configuration; furthermore, the 2n primary-side terminals of the n-phase transformer can be more generally electrically connected to any 2n different battery-module interconnects.

[0061] If the auxiliary power supply further requires a DC voltage, the rectifier can convert the AC output required by the transformer into a DC voltage. Preferably, the multiphase rectifier powered by at least one multiphase transformer and / or more than one single-phase transformer can produce an output voltage with lower voltage and / or current ripple. The rectifier according to the present invention can be any electronic unit that converts alternating current into direct current, such as a passive rectifier (such as a diode rectifier) ​​and an active rectifier (such as a switching mode AC / DC rectifier). Such a rectifier can be bidirectional to allow discharging capacitors in the auxiliary power bus or recovering energy from power-generating auxiliary devices connected to the auxiliary power bus.

[0062] Another embodiment of the present invention comprises at least two battery modules, wherein each of these battery modules comprises at least one battery subsection; the embodiment further comprises at least one auxiliary power bus having at least two electrical terminals, wherein at least two of the electrical terminals are each electrically connected to at least two inter-module connectors. Preferably, the at least two inter-module connectors electrically connect the at least two battery modules to each other and are noncongruent. Preferably, the rated voltage of at least one of the auxiliary power buses is a DC voltage. Preferably, the voltage of at least one of the auxiliary power buses is further a multiple of 12V, or differs from a multiple of 12V by only 20% on average.

[0063] Preferably, the embodiment further comprises at least one switch and / or circuit breaker so that the current between at least one of the electrical terminals electrically connected to the inter-module connector can be cut off. Preferably, the at least one switch and / or circuit breaker allows the cutting off of any current flow between any battery module and at least one of the auxiliary power buses. Preferably, the at least one switch is a semiconductor switch. Preferably, the at least one switch can perform pulse width modulation to adjust the voltage of at least one auxiliary power bus and / or the current passing through the at least one switch, and is controlled by at least one electronic controller. Preferably, the at least one circuit breaker is capable of isolating at least one terminal of at least one auxiliary power bus from at least one inter-module connector and / or from any battery module current.

[0064] Alternatively or in addition, the embodiment further comprises at least one transformer having at least one phase, preferably at least three phases. Preferably, the embodiment further comprises at least one AC / DC converter and / or at least one rectifier, at least one of which converts the output of at least one of the transformers into a DC voltage.

[0065] In a preferred embodiment, the sum of the maximum voltages of those battery modules whose battery subsections can be switched into series connection with other subsections so that the voltage between the at least two terminals of the at least one auxiliary power bus is effectively increased is within 20% of the rated voltage of the at least one auxiliary power bus.

[0066] Alternatively, the sum of the maximum voltages of those battery modules whose battery subsections can be switched in series with other subsections so that the voltage between at least two terminals of at least one auxiliary power bus is effectively increased exceeds the rated voltage of the at least one auxiliary power bus, preferably by more than 25%.

[0067] The latter embodiment advantageously allows the voltage of the at least one auxiliary power bus to be regulated and controlled by appropriate selection of the battery module state of the battery module; such control can be static, i.e., the voltage of the at least one auxiliary power bus is set to have no or very small (e.g., <1 Hz) battery module state changes; or by switch modulation, i.e., by rapid changes between at least two battery module states, so that the time average value of the voltage of the at least one auxiliary power bus meets its rated requirements. In addition, the higher the possible maximum voltage of the battery module, the more it allows the use of parallel battery module states to reduce conduction losses and allow the ability to allow higher currents.

[0068] Alternatively, the required voltage between at least one pair of points where the at least one auxiliary power bus is connected can be formulated as an equation that depends on the battery module state and the battery sub-section voltage and added as a constraint to at least one electronic controller of the powertrain, which determines the reconfiguration of the module connections by selecting the battery-module state to be set.

[0069] Alternatively or in addition, the present invention may include at least one battery module incorporating at least one DC / DC conversion output electrically connected to at least one auxiliary power bus via at least one pair of electrical terminals. Fig.10a An arbitrary battery module from FIGS. 1 and 2 is shown in combination with a DC / DC conversion output (10101) providing terminals (10103, 10104) for electrical connection to at least one auxiliary power bus. The DC / DC conversion output (10101) comprises at least one inductor (10102) and at least one electrical switch (10105, 10106, 10107, 10108), which can be operated, for example, as a buck converter and / or as a buck-boost converter to convert the module voltage represented by the voltage of the energy storage (10114) (e.g., the battery portion) to a different voltage level, preferably to a voltage level required for the operation of the at least one auxiliary power bus. Instead of a DC / DC conversion output according to the buck-boost technique, other DC / DC conversion circuits, such as buck converters or boost converter circuits, can be similarly implemented. In addition, the DC / DC conversion output can use a resonant zero current switch, or a zero voltage switch DC / DC conversion circuit.

[0070] Fig.10b 1 and 2 according to the present invention, the battery module is combined with terminals (10203, 10204) connected to at least one auxiliary power bus. Figure 6 As shown, the terminals (10203, 10204) connected to at least one auxiliary power bus are connected to at least two different electrodes of the energy storage device (10214) and thus provide the at least one auxiliary power bus with direct electrical access to the energy storage device.

[0071] Fig.10c and 10dAn arbitrarily selected battery module from Figures 1 and 2 is shown, which includes at least one isolated DC / DC conversion output section (for example, composed of at least one inverter (10301; 10401) and at least one rectifier (10313; 10413)), and a plurality of terminals (10303, 10304; 10403, 10404) according to the present invention, wherein the terminals (10303, 10304; 10403, 10404) are connected to at least one auxiliary power bus. The isolated DC / DC conversion output section includes at least two electrical switches (10305, 10306, 10307, ​​10308, 10309, 10310; 10405, 10406, 10407, 10408, 10409, 10410, 10411, 10412), and at least one transformer (10302; 10402), which provides current isolation between at least one energy storage of the battery module and the at least one auxiliary power bus. The electrical switches of the rectifier can be implemented as semiconductor rectifiers, such as diodes (which can be implemented as, for example, a single diode, several diodes), or bridge rectifiers without loss of functionality, so as to rectify the electrical output of the at least one transformer (10302; 10402) so that the polarity of the terminals (10302, 10304; 10402, 10404) matches the polarity of the at least one connected auxiliary power bus. The isolated DC / DC conversion output can operate bidirectionally, i.e., power flows in two directions, such as Fig.10c and 10d as shown; or operating unidirectionally, ie power flows from at least one energy storage of the battery module to the at least one connected auxiliary power bus or vice versa.

[0072] Low voltage is considered to be any voltage which is less than the maximum drive voltage of any connected electric machine. Preferably, the voltage of the auxiliary power bus is less than 120 V. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the voltage of the auxiliary power bus is a maximum of 60 V.

[0073] Preferably, the at least one auxiliary power bus further comprises at least one DC battery electrically connected to the at least one auxiliary power bus.

[0074] Conventional battery packs can be split into any number of battery subsections, which can be combined into battery modules to form modular AC / DC batteries. Individual battery subsections can contain only a single battery cell or multiple battery cells. An individual battery module includes at least two electrical switches. The electrical switches can be, for example, mechanical switches, controllable resistors, electron tubes, and semiconductor switches, such as transistors, including field effect transistors (FETs), bipolar transistors, insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), thyristors, diodes, optical switches, and the like. Figure 4 The modules shown use six electronic switches to implement these battery modules. Alternatively, other module topologies may be used, such as those shown in Figures 1a-c or 2a-c. The modules are preferably connected in series in strings, as shown in Figures 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.

[0075] A battery module state, also referred to as a module state, module mode, state, or mode, refers to the electrical connection between at least one battery subsection of one battery module and at least one battery subsection of another battery module. The battery module state is typically determined by the switching states of the individual electrical switches of the battery modules involved.

[0076] Preferably, the module provides at least two states: in one embodiment, at least one of these states connects the combined battery in series with the adjacent ones, and there is a state that bypasses the current so that the current does not charge or discharge the combined battery. In another embodiment, at least one of these states connects the combined battery in series with the adjacent ones, and there is a parallel state that allows the batteries of at least two modules to be electrically connected in parallel.

[0077] At least two battery modules of the same type or at least two battery modules of different types that share at least two battery module states as described in detail elsewhere herein may be electrically connected at their battery module terminals, such that at least one battery module terminal (1103, 1104; 1203, 1204; 1303, 1304; 2103, 2104, 2109, 2110; 2203, 2204, 2209, 2210; 2303, 2304, 2309, 2310) of one battery module is electrically connected to each of at least one battery module terminal of at least one other battery module to form an inter-module connection portion (4011, 4012, 5128, 5129).

[0078] At least two of the battery modules, which form an inter-module connection point via at least one battery module terminal in such a way that the at least two battery modules are each electrically connected to at least one battery module terminal of another battery module, form a battery module string (5232, 5331, 5332) or simply referred to as a string according to the present invention. If at least three battery module strings are electrically connected by electrically connecting at least one battery module terminal of each battery module string to each other, these strings form a battery module star (7101) according to the present invention; at least one electrical connection point where the at least three battery module strings are electrically connected via at least one battery module terminal of each battery module string can form a terminal referred to as a star point (7103) hereinafter. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, such a battery module star comprises at least two battery electrical terminals (7104, 7105, 7106), each terminal being located at a different battery module terminal which is preferably not electrically connected to any other battery module terminal. The at least two battery electrical terminals can, for example, be electrically connected to at least two terminals of at least one electrical load, such as an electric machine.

[0079] Through the present invention, these battery modules themselves can provide high-power low-voltage terminals for at least one auxiliary power bus. Figure 3b and Figure 5a-6 A solution with suitable integration is shown in . For this solution, one side of the auxiliary power supply is connected to the star point of the strings (where all battery module strings are interconnected) and the other side is connected to the interconnection between two modules of an arm. This second point can be anywhere else between the two modules. Preferably, only one or two modules are located between the two contacts of the low voltage system (such as Figure 3b In order to achieve a symmetrical load in all strings, it is also advantageous to connect the second connection of the low voltage system to an equivalent point between two modules in at least one other string or in all other strings. The advantage comes from the fact that in this way the same amount of energy can be extracted from each string without the need for additional balancing. The latter Figure 3b Shown in.

[0080] In the case where these modules have more than one electrical interconnection between adjacent modules, the low voltage system can be connected to one or more of these electrical interconnections. In the case where it is connected to only one line, the potential parallel connection state of these modules can be maintained.

[0081] The electronic (drive) controller controls these terminals to the required low voltage, such as 12V, 24V, 48V. The low voltage conditions of these terminals are correspondingly additional control equations of the electronic controller, and can be similarly controlled according to the machine phase voltage. These modules located between the two contacts of the low voltage system and thus controlling the amplitude of the low voltage system can have a lower operating voltage than the remaining modules in the arm, but not necessarily so. Pulse width modulation allows these modules between the terminal contacts of the low voltage system to have a higher peak voltage than the low voltage system and to perform step-down conversion and accurate control. Low voltage batteries can be included. Due to the high power supply from the high voltage modular main battery, such low voltage batteries can be reduced, can be omitted in many cases, or replaced with capacitors with lower weight.

[0082] Alternatively, the low voltage system may be integrated into one or several corresponding low voltage modules (see Figure 6 and 10b ). For this solution, the black boxes (1101, 1201, 1301, 2101, 2201, 2301) in Figures 1 and 2 represent the low voltage system, including all loads (units). Accordingly, the low voltage system is connected to the terminals of the electrical energy storage of the module. The drive controller controls the module voltage in these modules to the required low voltage (e.g., 12V, 24V, 48V). The module may contain a battery, a capacitor, or an equivalent electrical storage. This solution allows fast and high-power energy exchange with the remaining modules. In addition, several such modules may be implemented to provide independent voltage sources. In the latter context, safety-related loads may be independent of less relevant loads, such as heating, sound, or communication, so that safety-related units are more robust to voltage drops and other voltage stability problems (which are currently the main problem in automobiles) caused by less relevant units. Furthermore, safety-related functionality, which is either provided for redundancy by a plurality of independent units (each unit can maintain at least some part of the functionality and act as a backup unit for all other units, such as brakes), or with dedicated backup units (these backup units can replace the main unit in case of damage) can be supplied by different units or low-voltage systems in order to reduce the risk of failure in case one of the modules fails, or another unit connected to the same source draws too much current and causes a voltage drop or shutdown. The modules do not have to be located at a specific position in the battery module strings or arms. However, having the first module located at the star point (where all strings are connected to each other) has the advantage that the reference potential can be well defined.

[0083] Preferably, the module according to the invention enables the at least one battery subunit it comprises to operate safely and under sufficiently favorable conditions, i.e. within a specified range of state of charge and / or a specified voltage range and / or a specified current range and / or a specified temperature range of the at least one battery subunit. Other physical and / or chemical parameter ranges may be preferred. In the case where the latter comprises more than one battery cell, preferably all independent battery cells should also operate within their specified operating ranges. However, while different types of battery cells combined in the at least one battery module may, for example, tend to discharge differently and / or provide different amounts of power and / or face different loads due to their different chemical and / or physical properties, battery cells of the same type exhibit similar differences, for example due to production tolerances, different aging, or different environmental conditions (e.g. temperature) at their location. Although at least two switches of a battery module, which switches can change the electrical connection between battery subsections of different battery modules, easily allow balancing (among other parameters) charging and discharging, independent load sharing, or heating of independent battery modules and / or battery subsections, they generally cannot provide such balancing to the extent of components of a battery subsection, such as a battery cell, or an electrical aggregate of at least two battery cells. According to the invention, in a preferred embodiment of the invention comprising at least one balancing unit, unequal charging and / or discharging conditions of independent components of a battery subsection, or intentionally different charging and / or discharging conditions, can be controlled.

[0084] The balancing unit according to the invention has means for transferring the charge from at least one battery cell of a particular battery subsection to at least one other battery cell of the battery subsection, typically to achieve a certain defined (e.g., equal within a given range, or intentionally different) distribution of independent charge states and / or independent health states and / or independent temperatures and / or independent voltages. If such a charge transfer is performed by bypassing the charging and / or discharging current of at least one battery cell, there may be significant energy losses, since the transferred charge generally loses energy in an amount equal to the product of the charge and the voltage of the bypassed at least one battery cell. Typically, embodiments using such a method employ resistors to dissipate the energy losses as heat. Alternatively, the charge transfer may include at least one intermediate carrier, such as a magnetic field and / or an electric field, that allows the charge transfer to be achieved with lower losses. A typical circuit comprises at least two electrical switches dedicated to the balancing unit, and comprises at least one inductor and / or at least one capacitor.

[0085] Figure 8a -d and 9 show examples of an equalizing unit and components of an equalizing unit according to the invention. Figure 8aAn example of a balancing unit including at least two balancing submodules of the same kind is shown. The at least one battery subsection includes at least one battery cell (8106, 8107, 8108) and at least one balancing unit having at least one balancing submodule (8109, 8110, 8111, 8301), the at least one balancing submodule typically being electrically connected in parallel to components of the at least one battery subsection, preferably being electrically connected in parallel to independent battery cells. Preferably, at least one balancing submodule (8109, 8110, 8111, 8301) is electrically connected in parallel to each independent battery cell (8106, 8107, 8108) of the at least one battery subsection. Figure 8b In the embodiment of the present invention, the at least one balancing unit (8209) cannot be split into equal sub-units. Preferably, the at least one balancing unit further comprises at least one electronic control unit. The at least one electronic control unit may be integrated with at least one battery module electronic control unit. Preferably, the at least one electronic control unit controls at least one electronic switch of the at least one balancing unit.

[0086] Fig. 9 Another example of a battery module according to the present invention is shown. The figure shows a battery module having four switches (9101-9104, 9112-9115) here, which further allows parallel connection as described above. However, this embodiment can equivalently use any other configuration having at least two electrical switches (9101-9104, 9112-9115) that allows dynamic change of the electrical connection between the battery subsections (9117) of different battery modules, as defined in detail elsewhere in this description. The at least one battery subsection (9117) of the battery module can include at least one battery cell (9106-9108) as shown, each having the same type of any electrical configuration connected in series and in parallel. Alternatively, the battery subsection can include different types of battery cells at the same time.

[0087] The battery module may further include at least one current sensor (9120). Preferably, such at least one current sensor each detects current flowing into and / or out of at least one battery subsection (9117) and / or current entering the battery module via at least one inter-module electrical connector.

[0088] The module according to the invention further preferably comprises at least one voltage sensor (9109). The voltage sensor can detect at least one voltage of one or more individual battery cells, and / or at least one voltage of an aggregate of at least two battery cells electrically connected in series and / or parallel connection in any electrical configuration, and / or at least one voltage of at least one battery subsection.

[0089] Preferably, the module according to the invention further comprises at least one battery electronic control unit.The battery electronic unit preferably comprises at least one integrated electronic circuit and / or at least one integrated circuit.

[0090] Furthermore, the module according to the invention further comprises at least one charge balancing unit. In a preferred embodiment, the at least one charge balancing unit allows selective charging and / or discharging of components of at least one battery subsection, and / or at least one individual battery cell, and / or at least one individual aggregate of at least two battery cells. In another preferred embodiment, the at least one charge balancing unit allows selective charging of components of at least one battery subsection, and / or at least one individual battery cell, and / or at least one individual aggregate of at least two battery cells. With at least one such charge balancing unit, the invention can, for example, ensure that all battery cells within at least one battery subsection or within any component of a battery subsection have similar states of charge and / or voltages within a given tolerance, even if at least one of the battery cells is charged and / or discharged at a different rate than at least one other of the battery cells due to different charge leakage characteristics and / or different capacitances and / or different internal resistances and / or different battery cell technologies and / or different aging and / or other physical and chemical parameters. Furthermore, by means of at least one such charge balancing unit, the invention can further allow the combination of different types of battery cells within at least one battery subdivision, for example combining electrochemical secondary batteries with capacitors, or combining battery cells with different ratios of peak power to peak energy content (so-called P / E ratios). By means of at least one such charge balancing unit, the invention can further allow the intentional implementation of certain given different charging and / or discharging rates. The latter can allow, for example, the combination of battery cells with different current capabilities in the same battery subdivision.

[0091] The balancing unit can be implemented using, for example, at least one variable resistor, such as a varistor, a Zener diode (8304), a transient voltage suppressor (8304), or a variable resistor (8309), or at least one electrical switch (8306, 8313, 8310, 8402, 8407) (the at least one electrical switch can be combined with a resistive and / or inductive and / or a resistive and inductive hybrid element (8305, 8312, 8404, 8406, 8409)). Advantageously, passive elements such as variable resistors do not require additional electronic controllers and can, for example, ensure that at least one voltage of an individual battery cell and / or a battery cell cluster and / or at least one battery subsection does not exceed a certain level, such as an equivalent voltage corresponding to the maximum state of charge of the battery element. If at least one electrical switch, preferably at least one semiconductor switch, is added, the current capability of the balancing unit can be increased. The state of the at least one switch (i.e., highly conductive, non-conductive, and potentially several intermediate states with more or less restricted conductivity) may be set by at least one battery electronic control unit, and / or passive elements such as variable resistors, such as Figure 8d shown. Figure 8c and 8dAll charge balancing units and components thereof shown include at least two electrical terminals (8302, 8303) that can be used to electrically connect one of a plurality of specific circuits in parallel to a battery cell, at least one aggregation of at least two battery cells having any series and / or parallel electrical configuration, or at least one battery subsection on which the charge balancing unit or components of the charge balancing unit will act. The balancing unit 8401, for example, effectively uses at least one electronic switch (8402) to discharge and / or bypass current at least one battery (e.g., at least one individual battery cell, at least one aggregation of at least two battery cells having any series and / or parallel electrical configuration, or at least one battery subsection), wherein the switch can potentially be activated by a combination of at least one resistor (8404) and at least one variable resistor, such as a Zener diode (8403) or a transient voltage suppressor, among other means. If the voltage at the terminals of the circuit 8401 is below the breakdown voltage of the at least one Zener diode (8403), the resistor (8404), for example a pull-down resistor, keeps the gate-source voltage of the at least one electrical switch (8402) below the activation threshold of the at least one electrical switch (8402), so that preferably only negligible current flows. If the voltage between the terminals of the circuit 8401 exceeds the breakdown voltage, the current flowing through the at least one Zener diode (8403) can exceed the current flowing through the at least one resistor (8404), so that charge accumulates at the gate-source capacitance of the at least one electrical switch (8402) and loads it to above the threshold voltage. For an n-type field effect transistor, as shown in this example, a significant current flow through the at least one electrical switch (8402) can be induced. Circuit 8405 shows a preferred embodiment, wherein at least one resistor and / or at least one inductor and / or at least one hybrid resistor-inductor element (8406) are added to the current path through the at least one electrical switch (8407), so that the current passing through the at least one electrical switch (8407) is limited and / or the potential thermal stress of the at least one electrical switch (8407) is reduced.

[0092] In addition, the battery module may include at least one temperature sensor such as a thermal resistor (e.g., containing platinum), a PTC element, or an NTC element. The at least one temperature sensor may measure the temperature of at least one battery subsection (9117) and / or at least one temperature of at least one battery cell (9106-9108). The temperature detected by the at least one temperature sensor may be processed by at least one battery module electronic control unit.

[0093] The sensor signals from the at least one current sensor (9120) and / or the at least one voltage sensor and / or the at least one temperature sensor can be received and / or processed and / or logically combined, for example, by at least one battery module electronic control unit. Preferably, such sensor signals and / or a logical combination of several such sensor signals and / or processed information based on such sensor signals and / or decisions based on such sensor signals are further transmitted electrically to at least one central electronic control unit, which can receive and / or process electronic information from more than one battery module. In addition, at least a portion of such sensor signals and / or a logical combination of several such sensor signals and / or processed information based on such sensor signals and / or decisions based on such sensor signals are preferably stored electrically in at least one electronic memory. The at least one electronic memory can be part of an on-board diagnostic (OBD) unit.

[0094] The battery module may further include at least one electrical switch (9121) that preferably allows interruption of current flow into and / or out of at least one battery subsection. The state of at least one such switch may be changed, for example, if (a) the current flowing into and / or out of at least one battery subsection exceeds a certain limit, and / or if (b) the time rate of increase of the current flowing into and / or out of at least one battery subsection exceeds a certain limit, and / or if (c) the temperature of at least one battery subsection exceeds a certain limit, and / or if (c) the rate of increase of the temperature of at least one battery subsection exceeds a certain limit, and / or (d) if at least one voltage of at least one battery cell and / or at least one battery subsection exceeds a certain limit, and / or if the internal resistance of at least one battery cell and / or at least one battery subsection exceeds a certain limit.

[0095] Conventional safety mechanisms use battery monitoring and thermal control systems, which are usually located in one or several central electronic control units. However, the long response time of thermal monitoring is usually not enough to detect critical situations, such as battery cell fires, but can only prevent adverse conditions that may make such events more likely, such as the battery operating at high temperatures. In addition, it is not possible to cut off individual battery cells or any battery sub-section. The only response to problematic or critical situations is to cut off the entire battery. However, loads that store energy, such as inductive loads and in particular electric machines, do not allow for rapid isolation of the connected batteries. In particular, permanent magnet machines tend to pull energy back into at least one of their batteries if the voltage drops and then destroy other equipment, such as drive inverters.

[0096] In the present invention, the safety system can monitor multiple parameters. Such monitoring can be implemented, for example, on a battery module and react immediately by shutting down the battery module, in which case this means switching the battery module to an inactive mode state, or isolating it in a preferred embodiment by using a bypass mode state so that all current flowing through the module bypasses at least one of the battery sections that are combined - without short-circuiting the battery, which is typically the only option that conventional battery management systems allow to bypass current to a battery cell or sub-section of the battery. Parameters that can be used to make decisions on the battery cell or module level are, for example: voltage, current, temperature, humidity, mechanical stress, pressure, battery cell impedance, and derived parameters such as battery health state (SOH), state of charge (SOC), load history, and aging.

[0097] Voltage detection, preferably at the level of the battery cell, sensing the output voltage of a battery subsection or a portion of a subsection, can detect undervoltage (i.e., voltage below what is expected or below the specified healthy range of the monitored battery), as well as voltage drops due to unexpectedly high currents (short circuits) or chemical reactions in the battery cell that may cause thermal runaway. Optional current sensors, preferably at the level of the battery cell, measuring current flows into and out of a battery subsection or a portion of a subsection, can detect high currents and short circuits, the latter being detrimental to the health of the battery and possibly causing thermal runaway. Such a detection or monitoring system can be implemented with digital electronics, such as at least one microcontroller; analog electronics, or a combination of digital and analog electronics.

[0098] If a detected problem, such as too low voltage or high current, disappears after the corresponding battery module is switched off (preferably switched to an inactive or bypass state) and preferably does not reappear during a certain period of time, a "reconnection" can be performed after a specified time by returning to an active state, such as its last state before the problem was detected. If the problem reappears once or several times, a longer or final switch-off can be performed to avoid oscillations between the switch-off and active modes / states.

[0099] In order to detect critical events in advance, the safety system of the module can preferably react if the checked value or the corresponding differential signal exceeds or falls below a certain threshold, if the signal follows or alternatively fails to follow a certain time pattern, or if several specific events occur simultaneously. Examples are one of the following events or a combination thereof: for example, a sudden drop in the voltage output of the battery cell is detected by at least one voltage sensor (followed by at least one differentiator and at least one threshold controller (thresholder) and / or Schmitt trigger and / or threshold-controlled switch, all of which can be implemented in digital electronics, or in a combination of digital and analog electronics, or preferably in analog electronics to achieve low price and high speed);

[0100] For example, at least one voltage sensor (followed by at least one threshold controller and / or Schmitt trigger and / or threshold-controlled switch) detects that the voltage drops below a certain limit;

[0101] For example, a sharp rise in one or more temperatures is detected by at least one temperature sensor such as an NTC, PTC or resistance sensor (followed by at least one differentiator and at least one threshold controller and / or Schmitt trigger and / or threshold-controlled switch);

[0102] For example, at least one temperature sensor (followed by at least one threshold controller and / or Schmitt trigger and / or threshold-controlled switch) detects that one or more temperatures exceed a certain limit value;

[0103] For example, at least one steeply rising current is detected by at least one current sensor (e.g., a shunt resistor and / or a current clamp and / or a current magnetic sensor), at least one differentiator, and at least one threshold controller and / or a Schmitt trigger and / or a threshold-controlled switch;

[0104] Alternatively, in case of a detected current change, at least one existing differential current sensor, in particular a current magnetic sensor (e.g. a current clamp), can be used together with at least one threshold controller and / or Schmitt trigger and / or threshold-controlled switch;

[0105] at least one current exceeds a certain threshold value (either as an absolute value or with a sign), which is detected, for example, by a current sensor together with its evaluation electronics (followed by a threshold controller, a Schmitt trigger, or a threshold-controlled switch);

[0106] At least one cell impedance exceeds a threshold, for example, detected by at least one current and voltage measurement, at least one divider, and at least one threshold controller; or by detuning at least one oscillator; or by a dynamic response to a short circuit electrical test pulse.

[0107] The latter combination can be formed after a separate threshold controller, for example with logic electronics such as 74xxx, 54xxx, 84xxx, 4000 or 4500 logic families, or by combining the analog signal before the threshold controller preferably with an analog function (such as adder, subtractor, multiplier, etc.). The output signal of such a detection unit can immediately actuate these module switches, usually transistors, while having priority over the module state on the digital side (for example, memory), or overwrite the module state. The former can be achieved by pulling the switch up or down at the gate of the switch.

[0108] Preferably, the sensor data and / or events (such as the events listed above) that cause the system to act are digitally transmitted to at least one digital electronic control unit (ECU) and / or stored in a digital memory. In addition, the sensor data and / or events (such as the events listed above) that cause the system to act are digitally transmitted to at least one on-board diagnostic (OBD) electronic controller.

[0109] An advantage of the present invention is that such safety measures can be implemented at the level of the battery cell or battery module and do not necessarily involve a central controller. Furthermore, such implementation can be very simple and does not require microcontrollers or similar complex digital or mixed signal electronic components. Thus, the response time can be minimized to achieve fast action to deal with critical conditions, such as a battery cell that may potentially experience thermal runaway before the thermal runaway cannot be prevented or spread to other battery cells.

[0110] Furthermore, the distributed approach does not require potential isolation (e.g., with optocouplers, signal isolators, or similar elements) to communicate with one or more central controllers. To further simplify the monitoring and safety circuits, the sensors do not have to accurately monitor one or more of the parameters listed above, but can only perform thresholding or pattern detection on the detection side to respond to certain time characteristics. Thresholding can also be performed for a combination of more than one parameter (e.g., temperature and voltage). Compared to continuous monitoring with high sampling rate and high accuracy (i.e., bit rate), the present invention can save expensive bandwidth on the communication bus.

[0111] The power supply for these safety devices may be drawn from the module energy storage, for example one or more battery cells incorporated therein. If the default state of the battery module is the bypass state, as in a preferred embodiment, there is no risk that a power supply failure in the battery module and thus inoperative safety devices may compromise safety. The default state of a battery module refers to the state that the battery module assumes when initialized and / or not powered.

[0112] In a preferred embodiment, the existing central drive controller does not necessarily require information about the module being cut off, thereby reducing cost and complexity. If only a portion of all battery cells are affected by the local cut-off (e.g., inactive or bypassed modules), at least one central controller in this embodiment can detect the cut-off of an individual battery module, for example by a voltage drop in the total arm voltage at the machine, or by ignoring the effect of one module on the system voltage when activated. Such a drop will generally not significantly affect performance and can be quickly compensated for when the electronic controller successfully detects it.

[0113] Furthermore, the electronic drive controller (which may be a central unit or a distributed system) may take into account multiple parameters, such as health status, temperature, current load history, current load, mechanical stress, and mechanical stress history, to average out potential differences between multiple battery cells or modules. Thus, the electronic controller may, for example, use warm battery cells or battery modules less frequently, such as keeping them in bypass or parallel state longer when current is high, rather than keeping them in a series activation state where their temperature may persist or increase.

[0114] A particular safety concern for electric powertrains, such as in electric vehicles, ships, trains and aircraft, is the case of accidents or crashes. As a result of such crashes, the vehicle body may be damaged, the powertrain and other electrical components may be accessible, and high voltage contacts may be touchable. In addition, high voltage components may contact the metal vehicle body or other metal components, placing these components under voltage, thereby endangering both the occupants and rescuers, and / or short-circuiting the battery. Since such batteries use high voltages, the short-circuit current may be large (potentially exceeding several thousand volts), causing rapid heating of the battery, and there is a risk of thermal runaway and explosion.

[0115] In contrast, the present invention can be quickly switched to a low voltage, for example by switching most of all battery modules to a bypass state, that is, causing the current to bypass the corresponding battery subsection or turn off, and turning off all electrical switches of the corresponding battery module in the event of a car accident. Therefore, the highest voltage between any two metal points in the system is lower than the operating voltage during operation. If the maximum voltage of these battery subsections is low enough, rescuers or passengers may even be able to touch the contacts in the system without significant risk. In addition, this lower voltage results in a lower short-circuit current and a low risk of thermal runaway. Although some electrical switches may be broken and become conductive due to the impact, the risk that a larger number of electrical switches become damaged and the damaged and conductive switches convert at least two modules into a series state in a controlled manner so that the voltage is increased rather than just short-circuiting the independent battery cells is negligible.

[0116] The invention may comprise at least one acceleration sensor (also called accelerometer), for example a micromechanical acceleration sensor, which monitors the acceleration acting on the invention. In the event that the acceleration exceeds a certain threshold, at least one electronic control unit may detect a car accident and thus transform the invention into the above-mentioned safe state. Alternatively, a car accident may be detected if the acceleration changes, i.e. the time derivative of the acceleration exceeds a certain level. Alternatively, a car accident may be detected if the acceleration shows a similarity to a predefined acceleration pattern (i.e. a crash curve) over time, wherein such comparison may use correlation. Conversely, at least one electronic unit may detect a car accident by receiving a car accident message from another auxiliary unit (e.g. an airbag controller).

[0117] In addition to responding to a crash that is already occurring and therefore detectable, the at least one electronic control unit may also switch the system to a safe state when a crash may be highly probable (eg braking above a certain threshold, such as emergency braking).

[0118] Preferably, charging can use the converter function of the reconfigurable battery (i.e., the present invention). However, charging cannot accidentally operate the at least one electric machine, such as powering it at the same time. This can be achieved in several ways:

[0119] For example, electrical contacts from at least one external charging connector, such as from an SAE, CCS or CHAdeMO plug, can be connected directly without the need for an additional charger, converter, or inverter. DC power, AC power, or any voltage curve with two electrical connections can be connected: one electrical terminal is electrically connected to at least one star point of the battery module strings (see Figure 3b ), and the other electrical terminal is electrically connected to at least one neutral point of at least one machine. In this configuration, the machine is ensured not to rotate without the need for switches or circuit breakers (although such components can be added), thereby saving cost, space, and losses. In this case the machine inductance can be used as a filter. In charging mode, this embodiment can operate as a charger and / or converter itself and can charge the battery or feed energy from the battery to the grid. The charging power rating is preferably as high as the driving power rating. Although the most mature systems are currently below 10kW, this system can correspondingly charge at 100kW. In addition, the charging power supply does not have to have very special characteristics, since the system can adapt to any form of voltage as long as the peak voltage does not exceed certain maximum levels.

[0120] Alternatively, one charging terminal may be electrically connected to at least one star point of the battery module strings on one side, while another charging terminal may be electrically connected to a second contact point formed by short-circuiting the n battery module terminals on the far side of at least one, preferably all, battery module strings, for example with at least one switch or circuit breaker. Alternatively, one charging terminal may be electrically connected to at least one star point formed by the battery module strings, while another charging terminal may be electrically connected to a second contact point formed by short-circuiting at least two, preferably all, terminals electrically connected to at least one electric machine. Preferably, the switch or circuit breaker does not need to be able to interrupt the flow of current, i.e., is open circuit when current flows, thereby significantly reducing costs.

[0121] For multi-phase charging, ie for a charging power source providing more than two electrical terminals, preferably for three-phase charging, there are several options according to the invention.

[0122] In a preferred embodiment of multi-phase charging, the N c Independent terminals can be electrically connected to any N c Preferably, at least one battery module interconnection site of each battery module string is electrically connected to the N c on at least one of the independent terminals.

[0123] The battery module interconnection locations on at least one of the individual terminals of the charging power source that are electrically connected are referred to as battery module charging nodes. Preferably, the number of electrically interconnected battery modules that must be passed from one battery charging node to the next battery charging node are similar to each other; preferably, the number of electrically interconnected battery modules that must be passed from one battery charging node to the next battery charging node does not differ from each other by more than 25%.

[0124] Another preferred embodiment includes three battery module strings, wherein at least one module interconnection point of each of the three battery module strings is electrically connected to at least one terminal of a charging power source, and wherein these electrical terminals that electrically connect these battery module strings to at least one electric machine can be electrically connected to each other via at least one electrical switch and / or electrical circuit breaker.

[0125] In a preferred embodiment, at least one electrical terminal of at least one external charging power source can be electrically disconnected by an electrical switch or a circuit breaker. Preferably, all electrical terminals of at least one external charging power source can be electrically disconnected by an electrical switch or a circuit breaker.

[0126] Preferred embodiments include at least one transformer galvanically isolating the power flow from at least one external charging power source from at least one battery subsection. Preferably, there is no galvanic connection between the external charging power source and any electrical contacts of the modular ac / dc battery. In particularly preferred embodiments, the at least one transformer is at least one multiphase transformer.

[0127] Preferred embodiments include at least one transformer for galvanically isolating the power flow from at least one external charging power source into at least one battery subsection, and further include at least one high frequency converter for increasing the frequency of the external charging power source before the external charging power source enters the at least one transformer. Preferably, the at least one high frequency converter uses an AC / AC frequency converter circuit. Preferably, the at least one high frequency converter includes at least two electronic switches. Preferably, the at least one high frequency converter includes at least one half bridge for each phase terminal of the at least one external charging power source.

[0128] In order to charge the battery subsections incorporated into the battery modules, the present invention is most advantageously synchronized with the voltage and / or current time curve of the external charging power source. This may mean that the electronic controller operates the modules so that the voltage between the points of the present invention where the external charging power source is electrically connected is controlled to follow the external charging voltage up to a predefined difference. Therefore, the voltage generated by the present invention may not follow the charging voltage exactly, but for example be lower. The difference between the charging voltage and the voltage between the points of the present invention where the external charging power source is electrically connected follows the regular law of the controller (e.g. constant current or constant voltage) and is usually provided by a mathematical representation. The current flowing into the modular battery is determined by the voltage difference, and the impedance, inductance, and capacitance of the battery and other elements in the circuit. There are two particularly advantageous alternatives for control:

[0129] 1) The invention and / or at least one of its electronic controllers detects certain parameters describing the time curve of the charging power source (especially the answers to the following questions: Is it AC? Is it DC? Is it a multiphase power source? Is it a voltage source? Is it a current source? What frequency does it have? What is the current phase angle? What amplitude (voltage or current) does it have?), and then synchronizes the voltage between these points of the invention where the external charging power source is electrically connected. The future required voltage is predicted by a parametric model using the initially detected parameters. These parameters are updated regularly or continuously. Such a model can be, for example, a sinusoidal voltage The peak voltage V 峰 , angular frequency ω and phase angle is the detected parameter, and time is t. A preferred embodiment detects at least two parameters, including the amplitude and frequency of the voltage and / or current of the charging power source.

[0130] 2) Alternatively, the electronic controller may control the voltage or voltages between the points of the invention where the external charging power source is electrically connected to be constant to the instantaneous charging voltage. This approach is more general and in principle allows charging with power sources having current and voltage maximums within specified limits, and also with power sources having current or voltage time curves that have not yet been specified before the parameter model for alternative 1. The user does not have to set or program any parameters, but can simply connect the charging connector.

[0131] 3) Alternatively, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the at least one electronic control unit of the present invention sends information about required charging parameters (e.g., voltage, current, DC / AC, frequency, and / or phase) to at least one electronic control unit of the charging power source by using an electronic communication channel, and / or the at least one electronic control unit of the present invention receives information about required charging parameters (e.g., voltage, current, DC / AC, frequency, and / or phase) from at least one electronic control unit of the charging power source by using an electronic communication channel.

[0132] Current controlled charging sources can be equally addressed, but the electronic controller of the present invention preferably controls the current, rather than the voltage, of its battery modules.

[0133] From the perspective of the individual battery subdivisions or cells, charging can be performed with any known protocol, for example with constant current, constant voltage, some current or voltage controlled time profile, and with more complex targets. Since the present invention can act as a power converter with respect to an external charging power source, these charging control targets are in most cases independent of the characteristics of the external charging power source. It is also possible to use a DC constant current external charging power source for constant voltage charging, for example at the module level.

[0134] These charging targets can be implemented independently for each battery cell and / or battery subsection. In this case, the electronic controller has charging conditions for at least two battery modules, preferably for each battery module. The combination thereof can automatically obtain the overall conditions for providing the current or voltage connected to the external charging power source. Alternatively, these charging targets can be average values ​​for each arm or the entire modular battery. In this case, these charging conditions (such as the current and / or voltage of the entire modular battery) are controlled to the desired state, and the charging current or voltage of each module is adjusted by appropriately alternating the various battery module states so that the charge is distributed according to a predefined level, preferably evenly distributed. Such alternation can be independent and ensure a statistically equal distribution, or it can be uniformed by taking into account the charge of each module and the control law for rotation.

[0135] It should be noted that the proposed system can also provide isolation, if required. Many international standards and regulations for AC charging require that the vehicle electrical system be isolated from the grid. This can be achieved by implementing at least one rectifier stage, possibly at least one power factor correction stage (which can also be provided by at least one DC / DC stage), and at least one DC / DC converter. The at least one DC / DC converter preferably uses a high-frequency transformer to provide isolation. The primary (grid-connected) side will preferably be formed by at least one electrically switched half-bridge or at least one electrically switched full-bridge. The secondary side is then preferably formed by the proposed topology, where the secondary side of the transformer is connected to one of the electrical connection points for charging already discussed, such as Figure 3b shown.

[0136] A specific embodiment of the present invention includes at least two battery modules, each of which can produce at least two equivalent switching states, i.e., states of how the battery sub-parts of different modules are electrically interconnected, and each battery module includes at least one energy storage element, wherein the at least two modules each include at least one electrical switch, and the at least one electrical switch allows the connection between the at least one energy storage element of one module and the at least one energy storage element of another module to be changed, and the connection is determined by the switching state.

[0137] Preferably, the at least two equivalent switching states that can be generated by the at least two battery modules of the above embodiment are in the following situations:

[0138] By appropriately switching the at least one switch of each of the two modules, the at least one energy storage element of one module is conductively connected in series with the at least one electrical element capable of releasing and / or absorbing electrical energy of the other module;

[0139] By appropriately switching the at least one switch of each of the two modules, the at least one energy storage element of one module is conductively connected in parallel with the at least one electrical element capable of releasing and / or absorbing electrical energy of the other module;

[0140] By appropriately switching the at least one switch of this battery module to bypass the at least one energy storage element of this battery module, it means that no more than one electrical contact of the at least two non-matching electrical contacts of the at least one electrical element capable of releasing and / or absorbing electrical energy of the module is conductively connected to the at least one energy storage element of another module.

[0141] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the at least one electrical energy storage in each of the at least two battery modules of the above embodiments is an electrochemical energy storage unit having an energy content of at least 3 Wh.

[0142] In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, at least one of the electrical energy stores is a double layer capacitor, in which energy is stored in a Helmholtz charge double layer.

[0143] In another embodiment of the invention, at least two energy stores use different storage types, so that they differ by at least 50% in at least two of the following properties:

[0144] Energy capacity;

[0145] Energy capacity per mass density;

[0146] Peak power per mass density;

[0147] Durability;

[0148] Operating voltage range;

[0149] Maximum specified current rise time;

[0150] Specify the peak current;

[0151] cost.

[0152] Another embodiment of the present invention comprises at least one electric machine. Preferably, the at least one electric machine is an electric motor.

[0153] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the at least one electric motor of one of the above embodiments is an AC machine.

[0154] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the at least one electric motor of one of the above embodiments is a three-phase machine.

[0155] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the electric motor of one of the above embodiments has an operating voltage which is at least four times the module voltage formed by the energy storage elements of the corresponding module having the highest module voltage.

[0156] Another preferred embodiment of the present invention further comprises at least one electrical terminal for connecting to at least one auxiliary power bus.

[0157] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the voltage used by the at least one auxiliary power bus in one of the above embodiments is a multiple of 12V.

[0158] In another preferred embodiment of the invention, at least one of the at least one low-voltage direct current system contains a separate electrical energy storage which operates at the voltage of said low-voltage direct current system.

[0159] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, at least one electrical terminal for connection to at least one auxiliary power bus is formed by at least one pair of nodes, and each pair of nodes is formed by at least two different electrical connections between modules.

[0160] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the voltage of the at least one auxiliary power bus is less than the maximum voltage of the battery modules electrically connected between the pair of nodes forming the at least one electrical terminal for connecting the at least one auxiliary power bus.

[0161] In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the at least one electrical terminal for connection to at least one auxiliary power supply bus is formed by an electrical node of the at least one electrical energy storage of the battery module.

[0162] Another embodiment of the present invention includes at least two auxiliary power buses.

[0163] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, voltages of the at least two auxiliary power buses are different.

[0164] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, at least one of the at least two auxiliary power buses in one of the above embodiments provides power only to safety-related units.

[0165] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the unit and its backup unit are powered by different auxiliary power buses.

[0166] In another embodiment of the present invention, at least two battery modules of one of the above embodiments further include a voltage equalization unit.

[0167] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the at least one voltage balancing unit comprises at least one voltage sensor.

[0168] Another preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises at least one voltage sensor for detecting a module voltage provided by at least one electrical energy storage element.

[0169] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the protection unit further comprises at least one electrical switch, and the at least one electrical switch is electrically connected in series to at least one electrical energy storage element of the corresponding battery module.

[0170] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the at least one voltage balancing unit further comprises at least one threshold detection element.

[0171] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the at least one voltage balancing unit further comprises at least one differentiator.

[0172] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the at least one voltage balancing unit comprises at least one current sensor.

[0173] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, at least one of the at least one current sensor detects a current flowing through at least one of the energy storage elements of the corresponding battery module.

[0174] In another embodiment of the present invention, each of the at least two battery modules are electrically interconnected in series to form at least one battery module string.

[0175] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, each of the at least two battery modules are electrically interconnected in series to form at least three battery module strings, and one end of all of these battery module strings are connected to form a star.

[0176] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the end of each battery module string not connected to the star point is connected to a winding of at least one electric machine.

[0177] In another embodiment of the invention, at least one electrical contact of at least one charging connector is electrically connected to at least one star point, wherein the at least three module strings are electrically connected to each other, and at least one other electrical contact of the at least one charging connector is electrically connected to at least one neutral point of a winding of the at least one electric machine.

[0178] In another preferred embodiment of the invention, at least one connection element of the at least one charging connector can be at least temporarily galvanically isolated by at least one electrical switch.

[0179] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, each end of the battery module string is electrically connected to at least one electrical contact of at least one charging connector, so that not both ends of the same battery module string are electrically connected to the same electrical contact of the charging connector.

[0180] In another preferred embodiment of the invention, all electrical connections in which more than one end of at least two different converter strings are electrically connected to the same electrical contact of the charging connector can be at least temporarily galvanically isolated by at least one electrical switch.

[0181] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, at least one electrical connection between at least one electrical contact of at least one charging connector and the electrical circuit can be interrupted by at least one electrical switch.

[0182] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, at least two distinct electrical contacts of at least one charging connector of the invention are galvanically isolated from at least one pair of electrical connections between the battery subsections.

[0183] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, at least one pair of electrical connections between at least two different electrical contacts of at least one charging connector of the invention and a plurality of battery subsections are galvanically isolated by at least one transformer.

[0184] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the electrical connection of the at least one charging connector to the at least one transformer is provided by at least one electronic inverter.

[0185] Another embodiment of the present invention includes a power factor correction unit electrically connected to at least one charging connector.

[0186] Another embodiment of the invention relates to a method for generating at least one voltage for at least one electrical load by dynamically reconfiguring the connection of a plurality of battery modules, each of which incorporates at least one battery subsection, such that one of the battery modules includes at least a first battery subsection and another of the battery modules includes at least a second battery subsection, between at least two of the following switching states:

[0187] The first battery subsection is conductively connected in series to at least the second battery subsection;

[0188] The first battery subsection is conductively connected in parallel to at least the second battery subsection;

[0189] The first battery subsection is not conductively connected to any other battery subsection such that no charge is exchanged between the first battery subsection and another battery subsection.

[0190] In a preferred embodiment, the method generates at least one alternating current waveform by dynamically reconfiguring connections of a plurality of battery subdivisions over time.

[0191] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method dynamically reconfigures the connections of multiple battery subsections by changing the states of at least two electrical switches so as to effectively generate at least three alternating current (ac) waveforms with an amplitude of at least 100 volts (V) to rotate the electric machine and simultaneously generate at least one direct current (dc) voltage less than 100 volts (V).

[0192] Another embodiment of the present invention comprises at least one acceleration sensor. Preferably, at least one electronic control unit monitoring the at least one acceleration sensor detects a car accident based on the signal of the at least one acceleration sensor and converts the present invention into a safe state. Preferably, the latter is a state in which the maximum voltage between any two module interconnects or accessible metal contacts does not exceed the maximum voltage of the battery subsection. Preferably, the battery modules are in parallel or bypass state. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the maximum voltage of the battery subsection is not higher than 60V and is therefore considered to be low risk.

[0193] Although the invention has been described above with reference to particular characteristic embodiments, modifications and variations of the invention may be constructed without departing from the invention as defined below.

Claims

1. An electrical circuit comprising at least three battery modules, wherein each of the battery modules comprises at least one battery subsection (1101; 1201; 1301; 2101; 2201; 2301; 8106-8108; 8206-8208; 9106-9108; 10114; 10214; 10314) and at least two electrical switches (1105-1108; 1207, 1208; 1307, 1308; 2105-2108; 8101-8104, 8112-8115, 820 1-8204, 8212-8215; 10121-10128; 10221-10228; 10321-10328; 10421-10428); and wherein each of the battery modules is electrically connected via at least one battery module inter-module electrical connection line (1103, 1104; 1203, 1204; 1303, 1304; 2103, 2104, 2109, 2110; 2203, 2204, 2209, 2210; 2303, 2304, 2309, 23010; 4011, 4012 ; 5128, 5129; 9105, 9116) is electrically connected to at least a second battery module of the battery modules, and wherein the at least two electrical switches in each battery module are capable of changing the electrical connection between at least a first battery subsection of one battery module of the battery modules and at least a second battery subsection of another battery module of the battery modules between at least two alternative schemes of the electrical connection by effectively switching the electrical switches, wherein the electrical circuit further includes at least one auxiliary power bus (5114; 5214; 5314; 5414; 5514; 5614; 6114a, 6114b), wherein at least one auxiliary power bus includes at least two electrical terminals (5217, 5218; 5317, 5318; 5417, 5418); wherein at least two battery modules further include at least one charge balancing unit, the at least one charge balancing unit includes at least one electrical switch, the at least one electrical switch can be activated so that the charge level of the first part of the battery subsection is changed to a level different from the charge level of the second part of the battery subsection; wherein the at least one charge balancing unit has means for transferring charge from at least one battery cell of one battery subsection to at least one other battery cell of the battery subsection; At least two battery modules that form an inter-module electrical connection line through at least one battery module terminal are electrically connected to at least one battery module terminal of another battery module to form a battery module string, at least one battery module terminal of each battery module string is electrically connected to each other to make at least three battery module strings electrically connected, one electrical terminal of the at least one auxiliary power bus is connected to the point where the battery module strings are interconnected, and the other electrical terminal of the at least one auxiliary power bus is connected to an equivalent point between two battery modules in all battery module strings.

2. The electrical circuit of claim 1, wherein the at least two alternatives for the electrical connection include at least two of the following: At least one first battery subsection of one battery module is electrically conductively connected in series with at least one second battery subsection of another battery module; At least one first battery subsection of one battery module is electrically conductively connected in parallel with at least one second battery subsection of another battery module; At least one first battery subsection of a battery module is bypassed so that at most one electrical contact of at least two non-matching electrical contacts of at least one first battery subsection of the battery module is conductively connected to at least one second battery subsection of another battery module.

3. An electrical circuit as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein at least one first battery subsection of one battery module can be electrically connected in series with at least one second battery subsection of another battery module in positive and negative electrical polarities.

4. The electrical circuit of claim 1 or 2, wherein at least one battery subsection of each of the at least three battery modules is an electrochemical energy storage cell having an energy content of at least 3 Wh.

5. The electrical circuit of claim 1 or 2, wherein at least one of the battery subdivisions is a double layer capacitor, wherein energy is stored in a Helmholtz charge double layer.

6. An electrical circuit as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein at least two battery subdivisions comprise different reservoir types such that they differ by at least 50% in at least two of the following characteristics: Energy capacity; Energy capacity per mass density; Peak power per mass density; Durability; Operating voltage range; Maximum specified current rise time; Specify the peak current; cost.

7. The electrical circuit of claim 1 or 2, further comprising at least one electric machine.

8. The electrical circuit of claim 7, wherein the at least one electric machine is an alternating current machine having at least three electrical phases.

9. The electrical circuit of claim 7, wherein the operating voltage of the electric machine is at least four times the module voltage formed by the electrical energy storage elements of the corresponding battery module having the highest module voltage.

10. The electrical circuit of claim 1, wherein the at least one auxiliary power bus uses a rated voltage that differs from a multiple of 12 V by no more than 25%.

11. The electrical circuit of claim 7, wherein at least one auxiliary power bus includes at least one separate energy storage device that operates at the voltage of the at least one auxiliary power bus.

12. An electrical circuit as described in claim 10 or 11, wherein the time-averaged voltage of at least one auxiliary power bus is less than the maximum voltage that can be generated between the electrical connection parts between at least two battery modules electrically connected to the at least two electrical terminals of the at least one auxiliary power bus.

13. An electrical circuit as claimed in claim 10 or 11, wherein the time-averaged voltage of at least one auxiliary power bus is less than one third of the sum of the battery subdivisions of the battery modules.

14. An electrical circuit as claimed in claim 10 or 11, wherein at least one auxiliary power supply bus can be temporarily disconnected from at least one of its electrical terminals by at least one electrical switch (5623; 5723).

15. The electrical circuit of claim 10 or 11, wherein at least one auxiliary power bus further comprises at least one transformer (5423; 5523; 5721).

16. The electrical circuit of claim 15, wherein the electrical circuit comprises at least one rectifier (5424; 5524; 5722).

17. An electrical circuit as claimed in claim 1 or 2, comprising at least two auxiliary power supply buses.

18. The electrical circuit of claim 17, wherein the voltages of at least two auxiliary power buses differ by at least 25%.

19. An electrical circuit as claimed in claim 18, wherein at least one auxiliary power bus provides power to safety-related auxiliary devices.

20. The electrical circuit of claim 17, wherein at least two auxiliary units capable of providing at least one same function are electrically connected to different auxiliary power buses.

21. The electrical circuit of claim 17, wherein at least two auxiliary devices electrically connected to different auxiliary power buses provide functionality having a specified safety level of at least ASIL C.

22. The electrical circuit of claim 1, wherein the at least one charge balancing unit comprises at least one voltage sensor.

23. The electrical circuit of claim 1, wherein the charge balancing unit further comprises at least one electrical switch (9121) electrically connected in series to at least one electrical energy storage element of the corresponding battery module.

24. The electrical circuit of claim 1, wherein the at least one charge balancing unit further comprises at least one current sensor (9120).

25. The electrical circuit of claim 1 or 2 above, wherein at least two battery modules each further comprise at least one voltage sensor that monitors a voltage of at least one of each respective battery subdivision.

26. An electrical circuit as described in claim 1 or 2 above, wherein at least two battery modules each further include at least two voltage sensors, each of which detects the voltage of a different sub-section of the same battery sub-portion, wherein at least two different sub-sections are electrically connected to each other in series.

27. The electrical circuit of claim 1 or 2 above, wherein at least two battery modules each further comprise at least one temperature sensor.

28. An electrical circuit as claimed in claim 1 or 2, comprising at least one acceleration sensor.

29. The electrical circuit of claim 1 or 2 above, wherein at least two battery modules each further comprise at least one current sensor that detects current flowing through at least one battery subdivision.

30. The electrical circuit of claim 1 or 2 above, comprising at least one electronic controller effective to control said at least two electrical switches (1105-1108; 1207, 1208; 1307, 1308; 2105-2108; 8101-8104, 8112-8115, 8201-8204, 8212-8215; 10121-10128; 10221-10228; 10321-10328; 10421-10428).

31. An electrical circuit as described in claim 1 or 2 above, wherein at least two battery modules each include at least one electronic controller, which effectively controls the at least two electrical switches (1105-1108; 1207, 1208; 1307, 1308; 2105-2108; 8101-8104, 8112-8115, 8201-8204, 8212-8215; 10121-10128; 10221-10228; 10321-10328; 10421-10428).

32. A method for generating at least one voltage for at least one electrical load by regularly reconfiguring the electrical connections of at least two battery subsections of a battery module of an electrical circuit as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 31, wherein the electrical connections of the at least two battery subsections are regularly reconfigured by subsequently using at least two electrical switches per battery subsection to change between at least the following switching states: at least one first battery subsection is conductively connected in series to at least one second battery subsection; at least one first battery subdivision is not conductively connected to any other battery subdivision; wherein at least two of the battery subsections each include at least one electronic controller that disconnects the battery subsection by effectively changing the connection of the battery subsection with other battery subsections in such a way that the battery subsection does not form a closed circuit with at least one other battery subsection and / or at least one load so that the battery subsection is not involved in an external current flow if the at least one electronic controller detects an emergency event; If the detected emergency event disappears after disconnecting the battery subsection so that the battery subsection does not form a closed circuit with at least one other battery subsection and / or at least one load and the detected emergency event fails to reappear during a certain time period, the battery subsection is reconnected after a specified time.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the method generates the at least one voltage by subsequently using at least two electrical switches per battery subdivision to change between at least the following switching states: at least one first battery subsection is conductively connected in series to at least one second battery subsection; The at least one first battery subsection is conductively connected in parallel to at least one second battery subsection; The at least one first battery subdivision is not conductively connected to any other battery subdivision.

34. A method as claimed in claim 32 or 33, wherein at least one of the at least one voltage is time varying.

35. The method of claim 32 or 33, wherein at least one of the at least one voltage contains a plurality of sinusoidal segments.

36. A method as claimed in claim 32 or 33, the method generating at least three voltages having sinusoidal sections to form a three-phase system.

37. The method of claim 32 or 33, wherein at least one electrical load is an electric machine.

38. The method of claim 32 or 33, wherein at least one electrical load is an auxiliary power bus.

39. A method as claimed in claim 32 or 33, wherein the emergency event is detected by the at least one electronic controller if the current flowing into at least one battery subsection and at least one current sensor connected to the at least one electronic controller exceeds a predetermined threshold.

40. A method as claimed in claim 32 or 33, wherein the emergency event is detected by the at least one electronic controller if the voltage of at least one battery subsection is detected and at least one voltage sensor connected to the at least one electronic controller exceeds a predetermined threshold or drops below a predetermined threshold.

41. The method of claim 32 or 33, wherein the at least one electronic controller detects the emergency event if a binary logic combination of at least one of the following conditions is true: (a) a voltage of at least one battery subsection is less than a predetermined first level; (b) a voltage of at least one battery subsection is greater than a predetermined second level; (c) a current flowing through at least one battery subsection is greater than a predetermined third level; (d) a time derivative of a voltage of at least one battery subsection is greater than a predetermined fourth level; (e) a temperature of at least one battery subsection is greater than a predetermined fifth level; (g) The acceleration detected by the at least one acceleration sensor is greater than a predetermined sixth level.

42. The method of claim 32 or 33, wherein a charging current or a charging voltage provided by at least one external charging power source is controlled by reconfiguring electrical connections of at least two battery subdivisions so as to charge the at least two battery subdivisions.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the at least one external charging power source is connected before charging begins by closing at least one electrical switch and is disconnected after charging ends by opening the at least one electrical switch.

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