A device and method for handling thermal runaway faults

Abstract

This invention provides a device and method for handling thermal runaway faults. When a pressure detection device detects that the pressure inside the battery pack of an electric vehicle exceeds a pressure threshold, it wakes up the vehicle controller and the battery management system. The battery management system judges the risk of thermal runaway and thermal runaway faults based on the preset physical parameters of the electric vehicle. When a thermal runaway fault occurs in the electric vehicle, the battery management system sends a set alarm signal to the vehicle controller via two CAN channels. When the vehicle controller receives the set alarm signal, or if the vehicle controller does not receive any signal from the battery management system while in thermal runaway warning mode, it sends the set alarm signal to a designated device in the electric vehicle to execute the thermal runaway fault handling procedure. This method avoids frequent wake-ups of the battery management system and ensures that alarm signals are successfully sent, reducing safety hazards, the risk of missed alarms, and the risk of vehicle battery depletion.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of functional safety technology, and specifically to a device and method for handling thermal runaway faults. Background Technology

[0002] Power batteries are an important power source for electric vehicles, and their safety has become one of the most concerning issues in the development of electric vehicles. Power batteries may pose safety hazards due to excessive temperature during charging and discharging, so it is necessary to detect thermal runaway faults in power batteries.

[0003] Currently, the method for detecting thermal runaway faults involves periodically waking up the battery management system (BMS) at preset intervals. The awakened BMS then checks the power battery to determine if a thermal runaway fault has occurred. However, this method has several drawbacks. First, thermal runaway faults can only be detected and alarms triggered when the BMS is awakened. When the BMS is not awakened, thermal runaway faults cannot be detected, posing a significant safety hazard and a high risk of missed alarms. Second, frequent awakenings of the BMS increase the consumption of the vehicle's 12V battery, increasing the risk of the 12V battery becoming depleted. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of this, embodiments of the present invention provide a device and method for handling thermal runaway faults, in order to solve the problems of high safety hazards, high risk of missed detection, and increased risk of 12V power depletion in the vehicle in existing methods of detecting thermal runaway faults.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the embodiments of the present invention provide the following technical solutions:

[0006] The first aspect of this invention discloses a device for handling thermal runaway faults, the device comprising: a pressure detection device, a vehicle controller, and a battery management system;

[0007] The pressure detection device is used to: wake up the vehicle controller and the battery management system when the pressure inside the battery box of the electric vehicle is detected to be greater than the pressure threshold.

[0008] The battery management system is used to: after being woken up, determine whether the electric vehicle has a risk of thermal runaway based on the preset physical parameters of the electric vehicle to obtain a first judgment result; based on the first judgment result, send a warning signal of setting or setting FALSE to the vehicle controller through two controller domain networks (CAN);

[0009] The vehicle controller is used to: trigger a thermal runaway warning state if it receives a set warning signal sent by the battery management system after being woken up;

[0010] The battery management system is also used to: determine whether the electric vehicle has experienced thermal runaway fault based on the preset physical parameters to obtain a second judgment result; and based on the second judgment result, send a first alarm signal set or set to FALSE to the vehicle controller through the two CAN channels respectively.

[0011] The vehicle controller is also configured to: if it receives a first alarm signal set by the battery management system, or if it does not receive any signal sent by the battery management system via the CAN after triggering the thermal runaway warning state, send a second alarm signal set to a designated device of the electric vehicle, so that the designated device executes the corresponding thermal runaway fault handling procedure.

[0012] Preferably, the pressure detection device is specifically used to: when the pressure inside the battery box of the electric vehicle is detected to be greater than the pressure threshold, send a high-level signal to the vehicle controller and the battery management system via a hard wire to wake up the vehicle controller and the battery management system.

[0013] Preferably, the vehicle controller is specifically used for:

[0014] If a first alarm signal is received from the battery management system, a second alarm signal is sent to a designated device of the electric vehicle, causing the designated device to execute the corresponding thermal runaway fault handling procedure.

[0015] After the thermal runaway warning state is triggered, if no signal is received from the battery management system via the CAN bus, the system switches from the thermal runaway warning state to the thermal runaway alarm state and sends the set second alarm signal to the designated device of the electric vehicle, so that the designated device executes the corresponding thermal runaway fault handling procedure.

[0016] Preferably, the designated device includes at least a body controller, an instrument display, and a water pump controller; the vehicle controller is specifically used for:

[0017] The second alarm signal is sent to the body controller, the instrument display and the water pump controller respectively, so that the body controller triggers the hazard lights, the instrument display outputs an alarm message and triggers the battery fault indicator, and the water pump controller starts the water pump.

[0018] Preferably, the vehicle controller is further configured to: after sending the set second alarm signal to the designated device of the electric vehicle, maintain the wake-up of each controller in the vehicle network of the electric vehicle for a preset time period.

[0019] Preferably, the vehicle controller is further configured to: after triggering the thermal runaway warning state, if it receives a FALSE warning signal sent by the battery management system through two CAN channels, release the thermal runaway warning state.

[0020] A second aspect of this invention discloses a method for handling thermal runaway faults, the method being applied to a vehicle controller, the method comprising:

[0021] Upon being woken up, if a set warning signal is received from the battery management system, a thermal runaway warning state is triggered. The battery management system, after being woken up, sends a set or set FALSE warning signal through two CAN controllers based on a first judgment result. The first judgment result is obtained by the battery management system based on the preset physical parameters of the electric vehicle to determine the risk of thermal runaway. The vehicle controller and the battery management system are woken up by a pressure detection device when the pressure inside the battery box of the electric vehicle is greater than a pressure threshold.

[0022] If a first alarm signal set by the battery management system is received, or if no signal is received by the battery management system via the CAN after the thermal runaway warning state is triggered, a second alarm signal set by the battery management system is sent to a designated device of the electric vehicle, causing the designated device to execute the corresponding thermal runaway fault handling procedure. The battery management system sends a first alarm signal set or set to FALSE via two CAN channels based on a second judgment result. The second judgment result is obtained by the battery management system based on the preset physical parameters to determine the thermal runaway fault.

[0023] Preferably, if a first alarm signal is received from the battery management system, or if no signal is received from the battery management system via the CAN bus after the thermal runaway warning state is triggered, a second alarm signal is sent to a designated device of the electric vehicle, causing the designated device to execute a corresponding thermal runaway fault handling procedure, including:

[0024] If a first alarm signal is received from the battery management system, a second alarm signal is sent to a designated device of the electric vehicle, causing the designated device to execute the corresponding thermal runaway fault handling procedure.

[0025] After the thermal runaway warning state is triggered, if no signal is received from the battery management system via the CAN bus, the system switches from the thermal runaway warning state to the thermal runaway alarm state and sends the set second alarm signal to the designated device of the electric vehicle, so that the designated device executes the corresponding thermal runaway fault handling procedure.

[0026] Preferably, the designated device includes at least a body controller, an instrument display, and a water pump controller; sending the set second alarm signal to the designated device of the electric vehicle includes:

[0027] The second alarm signal is sent to the body controller, the instrument display and the water pump controller respectively, so that the body controller triggers the hazard lights, the instrument display outputs an alarm message and triggers the battery fault indicator, and the water pump controller starts the water pump.

[0028] Preferably, the method further includes:

[0029] After the second alarm signal is sent to the designated device of the electric vehicle, the controllers in the vehicle network of the electric vehicle are kept awake for a preset time period.

[0030] Based on the above embodiments of the present invention, a thermal runaway fault handling apparatus and method are provided. The apparatus includes: a pressure detection device, a vehicle controller, and a battery management system. When the pressure detection device detects that the pressure inside the battery pack of the electric vehicle exceeds a pressure threshold, it wakes up the vehicle controller and the battery management system. After being woken up, the battery management system judges the risk of thermal runaway and the thermal runaway fault based on the preset physical parameters of the electric vehicle. When it is determined that the electric vehicle has a risk of thermal runaway, the battery management system sends a set warning signal to the vehicle controller, causing the vehicle controller to trigger a thermal runaway warning state. When it is determined that the electric vehicle has a thermal runaway fault, the battery management system sends a set alarm signal to the vehicle controller via two CAN channels. When the vehicle controller receives the set alarm signal from the battery management system, or when the vehicle controller does not receive any signal from the battery management system after triggering the thermal runaway warning state, it sends the set alarm signal to a designated device of the electric vehicle, causing the designated device to execute the corresponding thermal runaway fault handling procedure. This solution wakes up the vehicle controller and battery management system when abnormal pressure is detected inside the battery box to further detect thermal runaway faults. When the battery management system is damaged and unable to send alarm signals, the vehicle controller assists in sending alarm signals. This eliminates the need to frequently wake up the battery management system and ensures that alarm signals can be sent successfully through appropriate means, thereby reducing safety hazards, reducing the risk of missed alarms, and reducing the risk of the vehicle's 12V being depleted. Attached Figure Description

[0031] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on the provided drawings without creative effort.

[0032] Figure 1 A structural block diagram of a thermal runaway fault handling device provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 2 A flowchart illustrating a method for handling thermal runaway faults provided in an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0034] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0035] In this application, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.

[0036] As the background technology indicates, current methods for detecting thermal runaway faults in electric vehicle power batteries typically involve periodically waking up the battery management system (BMS) at preset times. The awakened BMS then checks the power battery to determine if a thermal runaway fault has occurred. However, this detection method has several drawbacks. First, thermal runaway faults can only be detected and alarms triggered when the BMS is awakened; otherwise, they cannot be detected, posing a significant safety hazard and a high risk of missed detections. Second, frequent BMS awakenings increase the consumption of the vehicle's 12V battery, increasing the risk of 12V battery depletion.

[0037] Therefore, this invention provides a device and method for handling thermal runaway faults. When the pressure detection device detects that the pressure inside the battery pack of an electric vehicle exceeds a pressure threshold, it wakes up the vehicle control unit (VCU) and the battery management system (BMS). After being woken up, the battery management system judges the risk of thermal runaway and the occurrence of thermal runaway faults based on the preset physical parameters of the electric vehicle. When a risk of thermal runaway is determined, the battery management system sends a set warning signal to the vehicle control unit, causing the vehicle control unit to trigger a thermal runaway warning state. When a thermal runaway fault is determined, the battery management system sends a set alarm signal to the vehicle control unit via two CAN channels. When the vehicle controller receives a set alarm signal from the battery management system, or when the vehicle controller does not receive any signal from the battery management system after triggering the thermal runaway warning state, it sends the set alarm signal to the designated device of the electric vehicle, so that the designated device executes the corresponding thermal runaway fault handling procedure. This eliminates the need to frequently wake up the battery management system and ensures that the alarm signal can be sent smoothly through appropriate means, thereby reducing safety hazards, reducing the risk of missed alarms, and reducing the risk of 12V depletion of the vehicle.

[0038] The thermal runaway fault handling apparatus and method provided in this invention can be applied in the following scenario: When a pressure detection device detects that the pressure inside the battery pack of an electric vehicle exceeds a pressure threshold, it wakes up the vehicle controller and the battery management system. The battery management system determines whether the electric vehicle has a thermal runaway risk based on the collected preset physical parameters. If the electric vehicle has a thermal runaway risk, the battery management system sends a pre-alarm signal to the vehicle controller, triggering a thermal runaway warning state. The battery management system then determines whether the electric vehicle has experienced a thermal runaway fault based on the collected preset physical parameters. If the electric vehicle experiences a thermal runaway fault, it sends a pre-alarm signal to the vehicle controller. If the vehicle controller receives the pre-alarm signal from the battery management system, or if it does not receive any signal sent by the battery management system via CAN after triggering the thermal runaway warning state (equivalent to the loss of the communication node corresponding to the battery management system), the vehicle controller sends the pre-alarm signal to a designated device in the electric vehicle, causing the designated device to execute the corresponding thermal runaway fault handling procedure.

[0039] See Figure 1 The diagram shows a structural block diagram of a thermal runaway fault handling device provided in an embodiment of the present invention. The device includes a pressure detection device 100, a vehicle controller 200, and a battery management system 300.

[0040] Specifically, the pressure detection device 100 (hereinafter referred to as the pressure detection device) is used to: wake up the vehicle controller 200 (hereinafter referred to as the vehicle controller) and the battery management system 300 (hereinafter referred to as the battery management system) when the pressure inside the battery box of the electric vehicle is detected to be greater than the pressure threshold.

[0041] Understandably, the pressure detection device can be a pressure sensor or pressure switch or other device capable of detecting pressure; the pressure detection device is installed inside the battery box of the electric vehicle and is connected to the vehicle controller and battery management system via hardwires.

[0042] In some embodiments, when the pressure detection device detects that the pressure inside the battery box of the electric vehicle is greater than the pressure threshold, it sends a high-level signal to the vehicle controller and battery management system via a hard wire to wake up the vehicle controller and battery management system. The battery management system, after being woken up, can determine whether the electric vehicle has experienced thermal runaway.

[0043] It is worth noting that when an electric vehicle experiences thermal runaway, the temperature and pressure inside the battery cells rise, and a large amount of gas is ejected, leading to an increase in pressure inside the battery pack. When the pressure inside the battery pack increases to a pressure threshold, it triggers a pressure detection device to output a high-level signal to promptly wake up the vehicle controller and battery management system. The awakened battery management system then further determines whether the electric vehicle has experienced thermal runaway.

[0044] By using the above method, the pressure detection equipment continuously monitors the pressure inside the battery pack of the electric vehicle 24 hours a day. When the pressure is abnormal, the pressure detection equipment wakes up the vehicle controller and battery management system in time via hard wire. Even if the pressure detection equipment outputs a high-level signal erroneously due to other abnormal reasons, the awakened battery management system can further determine whether the electric vehicle has experienced thermal runaway and determine the subsequent handling method based on the judgment result, thereby improving the robustness of thermal runaway monitoring.

[0045] The process by which the battery management system further determines whether an electric vehicle has experienced thermal runaway can be divided into two parts: determining whether the electric vehicle has a risk of thermal runaway and determining whether the electric vehicle has experienced a thermal runaway fault. The following will explain these two parts in detail.

[0046] Explanation regarding the assessment of whether an electric vehicle poses a risk of thermal runaway:

[0047] In some embodiments, after being woken up, the battery management system (BMS) determines whether the electric vehicle has a risk of thermal runaway based on the collected preset physical parameters of the electric vehicle to obtain a first judgment result. Based on the first judgment result, the BMS sends a set (equivalent to setting to 1) or set FALSE (equivalent to setting to 0) warning signal to the vehicle controller through two Controller Area Network (CAN) channels. If the vehicle controller receives the set warning signal sent by the BMS after being woken up, it triggers a thermal runaway warning state.

[0048] It should be noted that the battery management system can be woken up by a high-level signal sent by a pressure detection device; the battery management system will also be woken up when the electric vehicle is powered on. After being woken up, the battery management system collects preset physical parameters of the electric vehicle, which include, but are not limited to, temperature, current, voltage, pressure, and insulation resistance values.

[0049] The battery management system determines whether an electric vehicle has a risk of thermal runaway based on the collected preset physical parameters and preset risk conditions to obtain a first judgment result, which is used to indicate whether the electric vehicle has a risk of thermal runaway.

[0050] Risk conditions include, but are not limited to, the following nine:

[0051] Risk condition 1: Minimum cell voltage ≤ 1.2V, lasting 1 second.

[0052] Risk condition 2: Cell temperature difference ≥ 20℃, and maximum cell temperature > 55℃. Duration 1 second.

[0053] Risk condition 3: The maximum cell temperature is ≥60℃ and the cell temperature rise rate is ≥1℃ / s, lasting for 3s.

[0054] Risk condition 4: The maximum temperature of the busbar is ≥75℃, and the temperature rise rate of the busbar is ≥1℃ / s, lasting for 3s.

[0055] Risk condition 5: The cell's highest temperature is ≥70℃ for 1 second.

[0056] Risk condition 6: The maximum temperature of the busbar is ≥85℃ for 1 second.

[0057] Risk Condition 7: Any AFE communication goes from normal to lost, and lasts for 2 seconds.

[0058] Risk condition 8: No current scenario (absolute value of battery pack current ≤ 1A, and lasts for 2 minutes), the total voltage of the battery pack and the Fuse voltage both drop by ≥ 9V, and last for 1 minute.

[0059] Risk condition 9: The BMS pressure switch sampling signal is pulled high for 5 seconds.

[0060] It should be noted that the values ​​involved in risk conditions 1 to 9 above vary depending on the battery configuration; the values ​​involved in risk conditions 1 to 9 above are only used as examples to illustrate the risk conditions, and the values ​​used for each risk condition can be determined according to the specific battery configuration.

[0061] If an electric vehicle's power battery is equipped with a pressure switch, and the vehicle's preset physical parameters meet risk condition 9, and also meet any one of risk conditions 1 to 7, then the electric vehicle is determined to have a risk of thermal runaway (the first judgment result indicates that the electric vehicle has a risk of thermal runaway). If an electric vehicle's power battery is not equipped with a pressure switch, and the vehicle's preset physical parameters meet risk condition 8, and also meet any one of risk conditions 1 to 7, then the electric vehicle is determined to have a risk of thermal runaway.

[0062] In some embodiments, a set warning signal (i.e., set to 1) indicates that the electric vehicle has a risk of thermal runaway, while a set warning signal (i.e., set to 0) indicates that the electric vehicle does not have a risk of thermal runaway. When the first judgment result indicates that the electric vehicle has a risk of thermal runaway, the battery management system sends the set warning signal to the vehicle controller via two CAN channels; when the first judgment result indicates that the electric vehicle does not have a risk of thermal runaway, the battery management system sends the set warning signal to the vehicle controller via two CAN channels; wherein, the two CAN channels are the main CAN (PTCan) and the secondary CAN (PTExtCan).

[0063] After being woken up, if the vehicle controller receives a set warning signal sent by the battery management system, it will trigger a thermal runaway warning state. Specifically, if the vehicle controller receives a set warning signal sent by the battery management system through any CAN bus, it will trigger a thermal runaway warning state.

[0064] In other words, when the vehicle controller receives a set warning signal through a certain CAN bus, the vehicle controller triggers a thermal runaway warning state.

[0065] It should be noted that after receiving the warning signal sent by the battery management system, the vehicle controller will also set its own internal warning signal.

[0066] In some embodiments, after triggering the thermal runaway warning state, if the vehicle controller receives a FALSE warning signal sent by the battery management system through two CAN channels, the vehicle controller will deactivate the thermal runaway warning state.

[0067] Specifically, when the battery management system is communicating normally and the warning signals received by the vehicle controller through both CAN channels are set to FALSE, the vehicle controller will deactivate the thermal runaway warning state. At this time, the vehicle controller will set its own internal warning signal to FALSE.

[0068] It should be noted that normal communication of the battery management system specifically means that there is no communication failure in the frame containing the warning signal sent by the battery management system.

[0069] The above content explains how to determine if an electric vehicle has a risk of thermal runaway. After the battery management system determines that an electric vehicle has a risk of thermal runaway, it sends a warning signal to the vehicle controller via two CAN channels, causing the vehicle controller to enter the thermal runaway warning state.

[0070] Explanation regarding the determination of whether an electric vehicle has experienced thermal runaway:

[0071] After being woken up, the battery management system determines whether the electric vehicle has experienced thermal runaway fault based on preset physical parameters to obtain a second judgment result. Based on the second judgment result, the battery management system sends a first alarm signal of setting or setting FALSE to the vehicle controller through two CAN channels.

[0072] In other words, after being woken up, the battery management system will also use the collected preset physical parameters to further determine whether the electric vehicle has a thermal runaway fault, thereby obtaining a second judgment result, which is used to indicate whether the electric vehicle has a thermal runaway fault.

[0073] In some embodiments, a set first alarm signal indicates that the electric vehicle has a thermal runaway fault, while a set first alarm signal indicates that the electric vehicle does not have a thermal runaway fault. When the second judgment result indicates that the electric vehicle has a thermal runaway fault, the battery management system sends the set first alarm signal to the vehicle controller via two CAN channels; when the second judgment result indicates that the electric vehicle does not have a thermal runaway fault, the battery management system sends the set first alarm signal to the vehicle controller via two CAN channels.

[0074] Understandably, when an electric vehicle experiences thermal runaway, if the battery management system is not damaged, it can send the first alarm signal to the vehicle controller. However, if the battery management system is damaged (e.g., due to excessively rapid temperature rise), it may be unable to send the first alarm signal to the vehicle controller.

[0075] Based on the above explanations regarding assessing thermal runaway risk and identifying thermal runaway faults, the specific method by which the vehicle controller issues a thermal runaway fault alarm is as follows:

[0076] If the vehicle controller receives a first alarm signal set by the battery management system (an alarm signal sent from any CAN bus), or if the vehicle controller does not receive any signal sent by the battery management system via CAN after triggering the thermal runaway warning state, the vehicle controller will send a second alarm signal set to the designated device of the electric vehicle, so that the designated device will execute the corresponding thermal runaway fault handling procedure.

[0077] Specifically, if the vehicle controller receives a first alarm signal set by the battery management system, or if the vehicle controller receives a first alarm signal set by the battery management system via any CAN bus, it indicates that the battery management system is not damaged and can still issue alarm signals. The vehicle controller (not required to be in thermal runaway warning state) sends a second alarm signal set to the designated device of the electric vehicle, so that the designated device executes the corresponding thermal runaway fault handling procedure. The aforementioned process is equivalent to the vehicle controller assisting the battery management system in sending the alarm signal set.

[0078] After the vehicle controller triggers the thermal runaway warning state, if the vehicle controller does not receive any signal sent by the battery management system via CAN, it indicates that the battery management system is damaged and unable to issue an alarm signal. The vehicle controller switches from the thermal runaway warning state to the thermal runaway alarm state and sends the set second alarm signal to the designated device of the electric vehicle, so that the designated device can execute the corresponding thermal runaway fault handling procedure.

[0079] In other words, after the vehicle controller triggers the thermal runaway warning state, if the vehicle controller detects that the two CAN communication nodes corresponding to the battery management system are lost (i.e., the vehicle controller cannot receive the signals sent by the battery management system), the vehicle controller upgrades from the thermal runaway warning state to the thermal runaway alarm state, and the vehicle controller sends the set second alarm signal to the designated device of the electric vehicle.

[0080] In summary, the vehicle controller will issue a thermal runaway fault alarm in two situations: First, if the vehicle controller receives a set first alarm signal from the battery management system (at which point the vehicle controller may not be in thermal runaway warning state), it will directly send a set second alarm signal to the designated device of the electric vehicle; Second, if the vehicle controller detects the loss of two CAN communication nodes corresponding to the battery management system while in thermal runaway warning state, the vehicle controller will upgrade from thermal runaway warning state to thermal runaway alarm state and send a set second alarm signal to the designated device of the electric vehicle.

[0081] In some embodiments, after the vehicle controller sends the set second alarm signal to a designated device in the electric vehicle, the vehicle controller maintains wake-up of all controllers in the vehicle network for a preset duration, or in other words, maintains the entire network awake for a preset duration, thereby meeting the requirements for thermal runaway alarm. Specifically, the vehicle controller sends a wake-up signal via CAN to wake up all controllers in the vehicle network, enabling the woken controllers to resume communication.

[0082] In some embodiments, the vehicle controller sends the set second alarm signal to the body controller, the instrument display, and the water pump controller, respectively, so that the body controller triggers the hazard lights, the instrument display outputs an alarm message and triggers the battery fault indicator light, and the water pump controller starts the water pump.

[0083] Specifically, when the body control controller receives the second alarm signal, it triggers the hazard lights. Upon receiving the second alarm signal, the instrument cluster displays a warning message and activates the battery fault indicator light. For example, the instrument cluster displays "Safety hazard exists, please move away from the vehicle immediately and contact XXX," simultaneously issuing a voice warning "Please leave the vehicle immediately" and playing an alarm sound, while the battery fault indicator light flashes. Upon receiving the second alarm signal, the water pump controller activates the water pump to cool the vehicle. When an electric vehicle experiences thermal runaway, these methods provide a multi-dimensional alert through sound, light, and electricity to help passengers evacuate the vehicle as soon as possible, thus ensuring their safety.

[0084] The above explains how to determine if an electric vehicle (EV) has a thermal runaway fault. After the battery management system (BMS) detects a thermal runaway fault, it sends a first alarm signal (set via both CAN buses) to the vehicle controller. If the vehicle controller receives the first alarm signal via either CAN bus, or if it detects the loss of either CAN communication node corresponding to the BMS during the thermal runaway warning state, the vehicle controller sends a second alarm signal (set via both CAN buses) to a designated device on the EV to prevent damage to the BMS from preventing the thermal runaway fault alarm from being triggered.

[0085] As can be seen from the above embodiments, in this embodiment of the invention, a pressure detection device is used to monitor the pressure inside the battery pack 24 hours a day. When an abnormal pressure is detected inside the battery pack, the vehicle controller and battery management system are then activated to further detect the risk of thermal runaway and thermal runaway faults. When the battery management system is damaged and unable to send an alarm signal, the vehicle controller assists in sending an alarm signal. This eliminates the need for frequent activation of the battery management system and ensures that alarm signals can be successfully sent through appropriate methods, thereby reducing safety hazards, reducing the risk of missed alarms, and reducing the risk of 12V depletion in the vehicle.

[0086] Corresponding to the thermal runaway fault handling device provided in the above embodiments of the present invention, see also... Figure 2 The present invention also provides a flowchart of a method for handling thermal runaway faults, which is applied to a vehicle controller and includes:

[0087] Step S201: After being woken up, if a set warning signal is received from the battery management system, a thermal runaway warning state is triggered.

[0088] It should be noted that after being woken up, the battery management system sends a set or set-FALSE warning signal through two CAN channels based on the first judgment result. The first judgment result is obtained by the battery management system based on the preset physical parameters of the electric vehicle to determine the risk of thermal runaway. The vehicle controller and the battery management system are woken up by the pressure detection device when the pressure in the battery box of the electric vehicle is greater than the pressure threshold.

[0089] In some embodiments, after the thermal runaway warning state is triggered, if a warning signal to set FALSE is received from the battery management system via two CAN channels, the thermal runaway warning state is deactivated.

[0090] Step S202: If a first alarm signal is received from the battery management system, or if no signal is received from the battery management system via CAN after the thermal runaway warning state is triggered, a second alarm signal is sent to the designated device of the electric vehicle, so that the designated device executes the corresponding thermal runaway fault handling procedure.

[0091] It should be noted that, based on the second judgment result, the battery management system sends a first alarm signal of setting or setting FALSE through two CAN channels respectively. The second judgment result is obtained by the battery management system based on preset physical parameters to judge thermal runaway faults.

[0092] In the specific implementation of step S202, if a first alarm signal is received from the battery management system, a second alarm signal is sent to the designated device of the electric vehicle, so that the designated device executes the corresponding thermal runaway fault handling process.

[0093] After the thermal runaway warning state is triggered, if no signal is received from the battery management system via CAN, the system switches from the thermal runaway warning state to the thermal runaway alarm state and sends the set second alarm signal to the designated device of the electric vehicle, so that the designated device can execute the corresponding thermal runaway fault handling procedure.

[0094] In some embodiments, the set second alarm signal is sent to the body controller, the instrument display and the water pump controller respectively, so that the body controller triggers the hazard lights, the instrument display outputs an alarm message and triggers the battery fault indicator light, and the water pump controller starts the water pump.

[0095] In some embodiments, after the second alarm signal is set and sent to a designated device of the electric vehicle, the various controllers in the vehicle network that are kept awake by the electric vehicle are maintained for a preset duration.

[0096] It should be noted that the execution principles of steps S201 and S202 have been explained in detail in the above embodiments of the thermal runaway fault handling device, and will not be repeated here.

[0097] In this embodiment of the invention, when the vehicle controller receives a set alarm signal from the battery management system, it triggers a thermal runaway warning state. If the vehicle controller receives a set first alarm signal from the battery management system, or if the vehicle controller does not receive any signal sent by the battery management system via CAN after triggering the thermal runaway warning state, it sends a set second alarm signal to a designated device in the electric vehicle, causing the designated device to execute the corresponding thermal runaway fault handling procedure. When the battery management system is damaged and unable to send an alarm signal, the vehicle controller assists in sending the alarm signal, eliminating the need for frequent wake-ups of the battery management system and ensuring that the alarm signal can be successfully sent through appropriate means, thereby reducing safety hazards, reducing the risk of missed alarms, and reducing the risk of 12V battery depletion in the vehicle.

[0098] In summary, this invention provides a device and method for handling thermal runaway faults, utilizing a pressure detection device to monitor the pressure inside the battery pack 24 hours a day. When an abnormal pressure is detected inside the battery pack, the vehicle controller and battery management system are activated to further detect thermal runaway risks and faults. When the battery management system is damaged and unable to send an alarm signal, the vehicle controller assists in sending the alarm signal. This eliminates the need for frequent activation of the battery management system and ensures that alarm signals are successfully sent through appropriate methods, reducing safety hazards, the risk of missed alarms, and the risk of the vehicle's 12V battery being depleted.

[0099] The various embodiments in this specification are described in a progressive manner. Similar or identical parts between embodiments can be referred to mutually. Each embodiment focuses on describing the differences from other embodiments. In particular, for system or system embodiments, since they are basically similar to method embodiments, the description is relatively simple, and relevant parts can be referred to the descriptions in the method embodiments. The systems and system embodiments described above are merely illustrative. The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the modules can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs. Those skilled in the art can understand and implement this without creative effort.

[0100] Those skilled in the art will further recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate the interchangeability of hardware and software, the components and steps of the various examples have been generally described in terms of functionality in the foregoing description. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementations should not be considered beyond the scope of this invention.

[0101] The above description of the disclosed embodiments enables those skilled in the art to make or use the invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, the invention is not to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A device for handling thermal runaway faults, characterized in that, The device includes: a pressure detection device, a vehicle controller, and a battery management system; The pressure detection device is used to: wake up the vehicle controller and the battery management system when the pressure inside the battery box of the electric vehicle is detected to be greater than the pressure threshold. The battery management system is used to: after being woken up, determine whether the electric vehicle has a risk of thermal runaway based on the preset physical parameters of the electric vehicle to obtain a first judgment result; based on the first judgment result, send a warning signal of setting or setting FALSE to the vehicle controller through two controller domain networks (CAN); The vehicle controller is used to: trigger a thermal runaway warning state if it receives a set warning signal sent by the battery management system after being woken up; The battery management system is also used to: determine whether the electric vehicle has experienced thermal runaway fault based on the preset physical parameters to obtain a second judgment result; and based on the second judgment result, send a first alarm signal set or set to FALSE to the vehicle controller through the two CAN channels respectively. The vehicle controller is also configured to: if it receives a first alarm signal set by the battery management system, or if it does not receive any signal sent by the battery management system via the CAN after triggering the thermal runaway warning state, send a second alarm signal set to a designated device of the electric vehicle, so that the designated device executes the corresponding thermal runaway fault handling procedure.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that, The pressure detection device is specifically used to: when the pressure inside the battery box of the electric vehicle is detected to be greater than the pressure threshold, send a high-level signal to the vehicle controller and the battery management system via a hard wire to wake up the vehicle controller and the battery management system.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that, The vehicle controller is specifically used for: If a first alarm signal is received from the battery management system, a second alarm signal is sent to a designated device of the electric vehicle, causing the designated device to execute the corresponding thermal runaway fault handling procedure. After the thermal runaway warning state is triggered, if no signal is received from the battery management system via the CAN bus, the system switches from the thermal runaway warning state to the thermal runaway alarm state and sends the set second alarm signal to the designated device of the electric vehicle, so that the designated device executes the corresponding thermal runaway fault handling procedure.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 3, characterized in that, The designated equipment includes at least a body controller, an instrument display, and a water pump controller; the vehicle controller is specifically used for: The second alarm signal is sent to the body controller, the instrument display and the water pump controller respectively, so that the body controller triggers the hazard lights, the instrument display outputs an alarm message and triggers the battery fault indicator, and the water pump controller starts the water pump.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that, The vehicle controller is also used to: after sending the set second alarm signal to the designated device of the electric vehicle, maintain the wake-up of each controller in the vehicle network of the electric vehicle for a preset time period.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that, The vehicle controller is also used to: after triggering the thermal runaway warning state, if it receives a FALSE warning signal sent by the battery management system through the two CAN channels, release the thermal runaway warning state.

7. A method for handling thermal runaway faults, characterized in that, The method is applied to a vehicle controller, and the method includes: Upon being woken up, if a set warning signal is received from the battery management system, a thermal runaway warning state is triggered. The battery management system, after being woken up, sends a set or set FALSE warning signal through two CAN controllers based on a first judgment result. The first judgment result is obtained by the battery management system based on the preset physical parameters of the electric vehicle to determine the risk of thermal runaway. The vehicle controller and the battery management system are woken up by a pressure detection device when the pressure inside the battery box of the electric vehicle is greater than a pressure threshold. If a first alarm signal set by the battery management system is received, or if no signal is received by the battery management system via the CAN after the thermal runaway warning state is triggered, a second alarm signal set by the battery management system is sent to a designated device of the electric vehicle, causing the designated device to execute the corresponding thermal runaway fault handling procedure. The battery management system sends a first alarm signal set or set to FALSE via two CAN channels based on a second judgment result. The second judgment result is obtained by the battery management system based on the preset physical parameters to determine the thermal runaway fault.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, If a first alarm signal is received from the battery management system, or if no signal is received from the battery management system via the CAN bus after the thermal runaway warning state is triggered, a second alarm signal is sent to a designated device of the electric vehicle, causing the designated device to execute a corresponding thermal runaway fault handling procedure, including: If a first alarm signal is received from the battery management system, a second alarm signal is sent to a designated device of the electric vehicle, causing the designated device to execute the corresponding thermal runaway fault handling procedure. After the thermal runaway warning state is triggered, if no signal is received from the battery management system via the CAN bus, the system switches from the thermal runaway warning state to the thermal runaway alarm state and sends the set second alarm signal to the designated device of the electric vehicle, so that the designated device executes the corresponding thermal runaway fault handling procedure.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that, The designated device includes at least a body controller, an instrument display, and a water pump controller; sending the set second alarm signal to the designated device of the electric vehicle includes: The second alarm signal is sent to the body controller, the instrument display and the water pump controller respectively, so that the body controller triggers the hazard lights, the instrument display outputs an alarm message and triggers the battery fault indicator, and the water pump controller starts the water pump.

10. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The method further includes: After the second alarm signal is sent to the designated device of the electric vehicle, the controllers in the vehicle network of the electric vehicle are kept awake for a preset time period.

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