Battery quick charging device and method

Abstract

The apparatus and method for rapid charging of a battery according to an aspect of the present disclosure may add a compensation current taking into account a current gain according to an initial charging state of the battery to an existing charging current of the battery obtained by taking into account only a temperature and a real-time charging state of the battery, and supply the current to the battery, therefore, the quick charging time is shortened.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2022-0129626 filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on October 11, 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present invention relates to a device and method for fast charging of a battery, and more particularly to a device and method for fast charging of a battery by measuring an initial charge amount of the battery and reflecting a corresponding compensation current. Background Art

[0003] As the price of energy rises due to the depletion of fossil fuels and interest in environmental pollution, the demand for secondary batteries as an environmentally friendly alternative energy source is rapidly increasing.

[0004] Due to the fact that secondary batteries can be repeatedly charged and regenerated, secondary batteries are applied to large industrial fields such as automobiles, robots, and energy storage devices, as well as small devices such as mobile phones and laptop computers as a response to today's environmental regulations and high oil price issues.

[0005] Among secondary batteries, lithium secondary batteries have attracted attention due to their advantages such as small memory effect, low self-discharge rate and high energy density compared with nickel-based secondary batteries.

[0006] As the frequency of use of lithium batteries increases, fast / rapid charging technology has been introduced to quickly charge the batteries.

[0007] The conventional fast charging technology uses a fast charging map to obtain information about the magnitude of a charging current for fast charging based on the temperature and state of charge (SOC) of a battery to be charged, thereby quickly charging the battery.

[0008] However, since the conventional fast charging diagram does not take into account the initial state of charge of the battery to be charged, when the initial state of charge of the battery exceeds the lowest segment of the state of charge, the charging current is limited. Even though the battery can be charged with a charging current exceeding the current upper limit defined in the fast charging diagram without lithium plating, it will result in the disadvantage of reduced efficiency. Summary of the invention

[0009] Technical issues

[0010] Aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus for fast charging of a battery.

[0011] Aspects of the present disclosure also provide a method for fast charging of a battery.

[0012] Technical Solution

[0013] One aspect of the present disclosure provides a device for fast charging of a battery, which may include: at least one processor; and a memory configured to store at least one instruction executed by the at least one processor, wherein the at least one instruction may include: instructions for identifying an initial state of charge (SOC) of a battery to be charged; instructions for calculating a magnitude of an initial charging current based on the initial state of charge of the battery; and instructions for providing the calculated magnitude of the initial charging current to the battery to fast charge the battery.

[0014] Here, the instructions for calculating the magnitude of the initial charging current may include instructions for calculating the magnitude of the initial charging current of the battery based on a fast charging map that defines a current upper limit according to the initial charging state of the battery and a compensation current map that defines a compensation current according to the initial charging state of the battery.

[0015] Instructions for calculating the magnitude of the initial charging current may include: instructions for identifying the magnitude of the upper current limit based on the initial charging state of the battery using a rapid charging diagram; instructions for identifying the magnitude of the compensation current based on the initial charging state of the battery using a compensation current diagram; and instructions for calculating the magnitude of the initial charging current based on the magnitude of the upper current limit and the magnitude of the compensation current.

[0016] In addition, the magnitude of the initial charging current may be the sum of the magnitudes of the current upper limit and the compensation current.

[0017] Meanwhile, the instructions for identifying the initial charging state of the battery may further include instructions for checking the real-time charging state of the battery.

[0018] In addition, at least one instruction may further include instructions for monitoring the real-time charging status of the battery; and instructions for providing a charging current corresponding to the magnitude of the changed upper current limit to the battery to quickly charge the battery when the upper current limit in the fast charging diagram changes according to the change of the real-time charging status of the battery.

[0019] One aspect of the present disclosure provides a method for fast charging of a battery, which may include: identifying an initial state of charge (SOC) of a battery to be charged; calculating a magnitude of an initial charging current based on the initial state of charge of the battery; and providing the calculated magnitude of the initial charging current to the battery to fast charge the battery.

[0020] Here, calculating the magnitude of the initial charging current may include calculating the magnitude of the initial charging current of the battery based on a fast charging map defining a current upper limit according to the initial charging state of the battery and a compensation current map defining a compensation current according to the initial charging state of the battery.

[0021] Calculating the size of the initial charging current may include: using a fast charging diagram to identify the size of the current upper limit based on the initial charging state of the battery; using a compensation current diagram to identify the size of the compensation current based on the initial charging state of the battery; and calculating the size of the initial charging current based on the size of the current upper limit and the size of the compensation current.

[0022] In addition, the magnitude of the initial charging current may be the sum of the magnitudes of the current upper limit and the compensation current.

[0023] Identifying the initial charge state of the battery further includes checking the real-time charge state of the battery.

[0024] In addition, the method may further include: monitoring the real-time charging status of the battery; and when the upper current limit in the fast charging diagram changes according to the change of the real-time charging status of the battery, providing a charging current corresponding to the magnitude of the changed upper current limit to the battery to quickly charge the battery.

[0025] Beneficial Effects

[0026] According to aspects of the present disclosure, an apparatus and method for fast charging of a battery can add a compensation current that takes into account a current gain according to an initial charging state of the battery to an existing charging current of the battery obtained by considering only the temperature and real-time charging state of the battery and supply it to the battery, thereby shortening the fast charging time. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] Figure 1 This is a table of a rapid charging chart used in general equipment for rapid charging of a battery.

[0028] Figure 2 is a block diagram of an apparatus for fast charging of a battery according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0029] Figure 3 is a flowchart for explaining a method for fast charging of a battery that may be performed by a processor in an apparatus for fast charging of a battery according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0030] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for calculating an initial charging current of a battery fast charging method according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0031] Figure 5 is a table of compensation current diagrams for a method of fast charging of a battery according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0032] 100: Memory 200: Processor

[0033] 300: transceiver 400: input interface device

[0034] 500: output interface device 600: storage device

[0035] 700: Bus DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] The present disclosure may be modified in various forms and have various aspects, and specific aspects thereof are shown in the accompanying drawings by way of example and will be described in detail below. However, it should be understood that it is not intended to limit the present disclosure to specific aspects, but rather, the present disclosure will cover all modifications, equivalents, and substitutions that fall within the spirit and technical scope of the present disclosure. Throughout the description of the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals refer to the same elements.

[0037] It should be understood that although various elements may be described herein using terms such as first, second, A, B, etc., these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. For example, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, a first element may be referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element may be referred to as a first element. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes a combination of any of a plurality of associated listed items or a plurality of associated listed items.

[0038] It should be understood that when an element is referred to as being "coupled" or "connected" to another element, it can be directly coupled or connected to the other element, or there can be intervening elements. Conversely, when an element is referred to as being "directly coupled" or "directly connected" to another element, there are no intervening elements.

[0039] The terms used in this application are only used to describe specific aspects and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. If there is no obvious contrary meaning in the context, the singular form includes the plural form. In this application, it should be understood that the term "including" or "having" means that the features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts or combinations thereof described in the specification exist, but do not exclude the possibility of pre-existing or adding one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts or combinations thereof.

[0040] Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical and scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs. It should also be understood that terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art, and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless explicitly defined as such herein.

[0041] Figure 1 This is a table of a rapid charging chart used in general equipment for rapid charging of a battery.

[0042] refer to Figure 1, a general device for fast charging of a battery uses a fast charging map to fast charge the battery, and the fast charging map provides a limit current for each charging section according to temperature.

[0043] More specifically, a general device for fast charging of a battery monitors the temperature and charging state of the battery, and provides a charging current as an upper limit value in a corresponding section of a fast charging diagram to the battery based on the monitoring information. Therefore, the battery can be quickly charged.

[0044] The upper limit value of the current provided in the fast charge diagram may be the magnitude of the limiting current to prevent lithium plating on the negative electrode surface of the battery that may occur during fast charge. In other words, the limiting current may be the upper limit value of the current set to prevent lithium plating during fast charge.

[0045] Here, the magnitude of the limit current may vary depending not only on the temperature and the charge state of the battery but also on the initial charge state of the battery.

[0046] The limit current value may increase as the initial state of charge of the battery increases.

[0047] However, a general fast charging diagram does not consider the initial charge state of the battery to be charged, but provides a limited current for each temperature assuming that the initial charge state of the battery is the lowest section of the charge state. Therefore, in a general device for fast charging of a battery that provides a charge current using a fast charging diagram, when the initial charge state of the battery exceeds the lowest section of the charge state, the charge current is limited, which results in a disadvantage of reduced efficiency even though the battery can be charged at a charge current exceeding the current upper limit defined in the fast charging diagram without lithium plating.

[0048] Therefore, aspects of the present disclosure provide a battery fast charging apparatus and method which consider an initial charging state of a battery and accordingly reflect a compensation current during initial charging of the battery.

[0049] Hereinafter, various aspects of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0050] Figure 2 is a block diagram of an apparatus for fast charging of a battery according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0051] refer to Figure 2 , the apparatus for fast charging of a battery may use a fast charging map and a compensation current map to provide a charging current that takes into account an initial state of charge (hereinafter referred to as SOC) of a battery to be charged.

[0052] In more detail, regarding the components of the apparatus for fast charging of a battery, the apparatus for fast charging of a battery may include a memory 100 , a processor 200 , a transceiver 300 , an input interface 400 , an output interface 500 , and a storage device 600 .

[0053] The respective components 100 , 200 , 300 , 400 , 500 , 600 included in the battery charging control device may be connected via a bus 700 to communicate with each other.

[0054] The memory 100 and the storage device 600 among the components 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 may include at least one of a volatile storage medium and a nonvolatile storage medium. For example, the memory 100 and the storage device 600 may include at least one of a read-only memory (ROM) and a random access memory (RAM).

[0055] Among them, the memory 100 may include at least one instruction executed by the processor 200 .

[0056] At least one instruction may include: instructions for identifying an initial state of charge (SOC) of a battery to be charged; instructions for calculating a magnitude of an initial charging current based on the initial state of charge of the battery; and instructions for providing the calculated magnitude of the initial charging current to the battery to quickly charge the battery.

[0057] The instructions for calculating the magnitude of the initial charging current may include instructions for calculating the magnitude of the initial charging current of the battery based on a fast charging map defining a current upper limit according to the initial state of charge of the battery and a compensation current map defining a compensation current according to the initial state of charge of the battery.

[0058] Instructions for calculating the magnitude of the initial charging current may include: instructions for identifying the magnitude of the upper current limit based on the initial charging state of the battery using a rapid charging diagram; instructions for identifying the magnitude of the compensation current based on the initial charging state of the battery using a compensation current diagram; and instructions for calculating the magnitude of the initial charging current based on the magnitude of the upper current limit and the magnitude of the compensation current.

[0059] The magnitude of the initial charging current may be the sum of the magnitudes of the current upper limit and the compensation current.

[0060] The instructions for identifying an initial state of charge of the battery may further include instructions for checking a real-time state of charge of the battery.

[0061] At least one instruction may further include: instructions for monitoring the real-time charging status of the battery; and instructions for providing a charging current corresponding to the magnitude of the changed upper current limit to the battery to quickly charge the battery when the upper current limit in the fast charging diagram changes according to the change of the real-time charging status of the battery.

[0062] Meanwhile, the processor 200 may mean a central processing unit (CPU), a graphic processing unit (GPU), or a dedicated processor on which the method according to aspects of the present disclosure is executed.

[0063] As described above, the processor 200 may execute at least one program command stored in the memory 100 .

[0064] Figure 3 is a flowchart for explaining a method for fast charging of a battery that may be executed by a processor in an apparatus for fast charging of a battery according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0065] refer to Figure 3 , the apparatus for fast charging of a battery may check a fast charging condition through the operation of the processor 200 ( S1000 ).

[0066] Here, the fast charging condition may be a condition of at least one battery required to determine the size of the charging current for fast charging the battery. The fast charging condition may include an initial charging state of the battery to be charged and temperature information of the battery.

[0067] Thereafter, the apparatus for rapid charging of a battery may calculate the magnitude of an initial charging current (S2000). Here, the initial charging current may be the magnitude of a charging current that satisfies a rapid charging condition of a battery to be rapidly charged. Figure 4 and Figure 5 Describe the method for calculating the initial charging current.

[0068] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for calculating an initial charging current of a battery fast charging method according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0069] refer to Figure 4 , the apparatus for fast charging of a battery may use a fast charging map to identify the size of an upper current limit according to a charging state at a corresponding temperature ( S2100 ).

[0070] Here, the fast charging map may be a table that divides the state of charge of the battery into a certain range of segments and defines the upper limit of the current at a certain temperature. More specifically, the fast charging map may provide 5 segments about the range of the state of charge of the battery, from 10% to less than 20%, from 20% to less than 40%, from 40% to less than 60%, from 60% to less than 80%, and from 80% to less than 90%, and may provide the upper limit of the current for each corresponding state of charge segment at 25°C, 35°C, and 45°C.

[0071] For example, the fast charging diagram can be compared with the Figure 1 The fast charging diagram provided by the general battery charging device disclosed in is the same.

[0072] Thereafter, the apparatus for fast charging of a battery may use the compensation current map to identify the size of the compensation current according to the charging state at the corresponding temperature ( S2300 ).

[0073] Aspects of the present disclosure may additionally provide a compensation current that compensates for a difference between an upper current limit according to a fast charge map and a limit current at which lithium is not deposited, taking into account an initial charge state of the battery.

[0074] Figure 5 is a table of compensation current diagrams for a method of fast charging of a battery according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0075] refer to Figure 5 The compensation current map may be a table that provides the magnitude of the compensation current for each temperature according to the initial charge state of the battery, so as to consider the current gain according to the initial charge state of the battery that is not considered in the fast charge map.

[0076] More specifically, as previously described, the fast charge map assumes that the initial state of charge of the battery before charging is in the lowest range of 10%, and then provides a current limit defined by considering only the temperature and real-time state of charge of the battery to be charged.

[0077] Therefore, the method for fast charging of a battery can, in addition to the upper limit of the fast charging diagram, identify the size of the compensation current according to the compensation current diagram based on the initial charge state of the battery when the initial charge state of the battery to be charged exceeds the minimum charge state segment, that is, when the initial charge state of the battery is above 20%.

[0078] In the compensation current diagram, the compensation current value increases as the initial state of charge (SOC) of the battery increases.

[0079] Reference again Figure 4The apparatus for fast charging of a battery may calculate an initial charging current based on the magnitude of the current upper limit in the fast charging map and the magnitude of the compensation current according to the compensation current map (S2500). The initial charging current may be the sum of the current upper limit and the compensation current corresponding to the temperature and initial charging state of the battery to be charged.

[0080] For example, when the temperature of the battery to be charged is 35°C and the state of charge is 50%, the device for fast charging of the battery can obtain 250A as the current upper limit through the fast charging diagram. Here, since the battery has not been charged, the state of charge of the battery to be charged can be the same as the initial charge state.

[0081] Meanwhile, the apparatus for fast charging of the battery can use the compensation current map to obtain a compensation current of 11 A under the same fast charging conditions (battery temperature 35°C, initial state of charge 50%).

[0082] Therefore, the apparatus for rapid charging of the battery can calculate a total of 265 A as the initial charging current by adding 250 A as the current upper limit and 11 A as the magnitude of the compensation current.

[0083] Reference again Figure 3 , the apparatus for rapid charging of a battery may rapidly charge the battery by providing an initial charging current corresponding to the calculated initial charging current information ( S3000 ).

[0084] Thereafter, the device for rapid charging of the battery may continuously monitor the charging state of the battery.

[0085] When the real-time charging status segment of the battery exceeds the segment to which the initial charging status belongs, that is, when the charging status segment of the battery changes (S5000), the device for fast charging of the battery can use a fast charging diagram to set the size of the current upper limit corresponding to the real-time charging status segment of the battery to the size of the charging current, and provide the charging current to the battery (S7000).

[0086] Thereafter, when the real-time charging state of the battery changes due to continuous fast charging, the apparatus for fast charging of the battery may charge the battery with a magnitude of charging current corresponding to the real-time charging state segment of the battery based on the fast charging map, as in step S7000.

[0087] The apparatus and method for fast charging of a battery according to aspects of the present disclosure have been described above.

[0088] According to aspects of the present disclosure, an apparatus and method for fast charging of a battery can add a compensation current that takes into account a current gain according to an initial charging state of the battery to an existing charging current of the battery obtained by considering only the temperature and real-time charging state of the battery and supply it to the battery, thereby shortening the fast charging time.

[0089] The operation of the method according to aspects of the present disclosure can be implemented as a computer-readable program or code on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium includes all types of recording devices having data readable by a computer system stored therein. In addition, the computer-readable recording medium can be distributed in a network-connected computer system to store and execute the computer-readable program or code in a distributed manner.

[0090] In addition, the computer-readable recording medium may include hardware devices specially configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, etc. The program instructions may include not only machine language codes created by a compiler, but also high-level language codes that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter.

[0091] Although some aspects of the present disclosure have been described in the context of an apparatus, it can also be represented by a description according to a corresponding method, where a block or apparatus corresponds to a method step or a feature of a method step. Similarly, the aspects described in the context of a method can also represent a feature of a corresponding block or item or a corresponding apparatus. Some or all of the method steps can be performed by (or using) a hardware device, such as, for example, a microprocessor, a programmable computer, or an electronic circuit. In some embodiments, one or more of the most important method steps can be performed by such an apparatus.

[0092] In the foregoing, the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, but those skilled in the art will appreciate that various corrections and changes may be made to the present invention within the scope without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention described in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A device for fast charging of a battery, the device comprising: at least one processor; as well as a memory configured to store at least one instruction executed by the at least one processor, The at least one instruction includes: identifying an initial state of charge (SOC) of the battery; calculating a magnitude of an initial charging current based on the initial charging state of the battery; and The calculated magnitude of the initial charging current is provided to the battery to charge the battery.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein: Calculating the magnitude of the initial charging current includes instructions for calculating the magnitude of the initial charging current of the battery based on a fast charging map that defines a current upper limit according to the initial charging state of the battery and a compensation current map that defines a compensation current according to the initial charging state of the battery.

3. The device according to claim 2, wherein: Calculating the magnitude of the initial charging current further includes: using the fast charging map to identify the magnitude of the current upper limit according to the initial charging state of the battery; identifying the magnitude of the compensation current according to the initial state of charge of the battery using the compensation current map; and The magnitude of the initial charging current is calculated based on the magnitude of the current upper limit and the magnitude of the compensation current.

4. The device according to claim 3, wherein: The magnitude of the initial charging current is the sum of the magnitudes of the current upper limit and the compensation current.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein: Identifying the initial charging state of the battery further includes checking a real-time charging state of the battery.

6. The device according to claim 5, wherein: The at least one instruction further comprises: monitoring the real-time charging status of the battery; and In response to a current upper limit in a fast charging map being changed according to a change in the real-time charging state of the battery, a charging current corresponding to a magnitude of the changed current upper limit is supplied to the battery to charge the battery.

7. A method for fast charging of a battery, the method comprising: identifying an initial state of charge (SOC) of the battery; Calculating the magnitude of an initial charging current based on the initial charging state of the battery; as well as The calculated magnitude of the initial charging current is provided to the battery to charge the battery.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein: Calculating the size of the initial charging current includes calculating the size of the initial charging current of the battery based on a fast charging diagram that defines a current upper limit according to the initial charging state of the battery and a compensation current diagram that defines a compensation current according to the initial charging state of the battery.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein: Calculating the magnitude of the initial charging current further includes: using the fast charging map to identify the magnitude of the current upper limit according to the initial charging state of the battery; identifying the magnitude of the compensation current according to the initial state of charge of the battery using the compensation current map; and The magnitude of the initial charging current is calculated based on the magnitude of the current upper limit and the magnitude of the compensation current.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The magnitude of the initial charging current is the sum of the magnitudes of the current upper limit and the compensation current.

11. The method according to claim 7, wherein: Identifying the initial charging state of the battery further includes checking a real-time charging state of the battery.

12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising: Monitoring the real-time charging status of the battery; as well as In response to a current upper limit in a fast charging map being changed according to a change in the real-time charging state of the battery, a charging current corresponding to a magnitude of the changed current upper limit is supplied to the battery to charge the battery.

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