Power supply device combining battery with super capacitor

Abstract

The invention discloses a power supply device with a battery combined with a super capacitor, which can be used for supplying power to a load requiring strong instant large current in initial starting, such as a starting motor of an automobile engine. According to the invention, a battery pack and a super capacitor are simultaneously utilized to provide power, i.e., a switch unit, such as a relay, is switched to an on state (ON) at the initial moment when a load is just started, so that the super capacitor and the battery pack are simultaneously utilized to jointly provide a fast and strong instant large current to the load. In the application of the automobile engine, the automobile engine starting current-limiting device can replace a traditional lead-acid battery and is used for providing a quick and strong instant large current for a starting motor of the automobile engine when the automobile engine is to be started, so that the instant initial operation of the motor has a relatively high acceleration, and the automobile engine can be started more quickly.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a battery power supply technology, and more particularly to a battery combined with a supercapacitor power supply device, which can be applied to a load that initially requires a strong and large current to start quickly, such as a starter motor of a car engine, to provide an initial instantaneous large current to the load so that the load can be started quickly. Background Art

[0002] Cars are a popular means of transportation that mainly use gasoline engines as a power source for travel. Traditionally, when starting a car engine, a lead-acid battery and an electric motor are used as the power source for starting the gasoline engine, that is, the lead-acid battery provides electricity to the motor, and then the operation of the motor starts the car engine.

[0003] However, there is a problem with lead-acid batteries in practical applications, that is, their discharge and charging speeds are slow, and when they are first connected to the starter motor, they can only provide a small instantaneous initial current, so that the instantaneous initial operation of the starter motor has only a small acceleration, resulting in a slow start of the car engine.

[0004] In view of the above problems, the automobile industry therefore needs a solution that can be used to provide a fast initial instantaneous large current to the starter motor of the automobile engine when the automobile engine is about to start, so that the instantaneous initial operation of the motor has a greater acceleration, thereby starting the automobile engine more quickly. Summary of the invention

[0005] The main purpose of the present invention is to propose a feasible solution to the above-mentioned problem, that is, to provide a power supply device combining a battery and a supercapacitor, which can replace the traditional commonly used lead-acid battery and be used to provide a fast initial instantaneous large current to the starter motor of the car engine when the car engine is to be started, so that the instantaneous initial operation of the motor has a greater acceleration, thereby being able to start the car engine more quickly and effectively.

[0006] However, in a broad sense, the battery combined with supercapacitor power supply device of the present invention is not limited to being applied to the starter motor of an automobile engine, but can be widely applied to any load that requires a large instantaneous current during initial startup.

[0007] In terms of structure, the battery combined with supercapacitor power supply device of the present invention at least includes: (a) a battery pack; (b) a supercapacitor; (c) a switch unit; (d) a voltage step-up and step-down conversion unit; (e) a load start detection unit; (f) a supercapacitor voltage detection unit; and (g) a main control unit.

[0008] In actual operation, the battery combined with supercapacitor power supply device of the present invention can respond to execute a power supply operation procedure when the load is activated. The power supply operation procedure first provides a momentary large current to the load by the supercapacitor and the battery pack at the same time, thereby enabling the load to be quickly activated.

[0009] The voltage of the supercapacitor in the present invention is detected to see if it is greater than a set value. If not, the present invention will then use the battery pack to charge the supercapacitor internally, so that when the load is to be started next time, the supercapacitor has sufficient stored electricity to provide an initial instantaneous high current to the load again.

[0010] In summary, the present invention proposes a feasible solution to the aforementioned problem, that is, a power supply device combining a battery and a supercapacitor is provided, which can replace the conventional lead-acid battery and is used to provide a fast initial instantaneous large current to the starter motor of the car engine when the car engine is to be started, so that the instantaneous initial operation of the motor has a greater acceleration, thereby being able to start the car engine more quickly. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] The accompanying drawings are a part of the present invention and are used to provide a further understanding of the present invention. In the accompanying drawings:

[0012] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an application, showing the application of the battery combined with super capacitor power supply device of the present invention connected to a load;

[0013] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an application, showing an example of applying the battery combined with super capacitor power supply device of the present invention to a car;

[0014] FIG3 is a schematic diagram showing the basic structure of the power supply device of the present invention combining a battery with a super capacitor;

[0015] FIG. 4A is a waveform diagram showing the charge and discharge characteristics of a battery pack;

[0016] FIG. 4B is a waveform diagram showing the charge and discharge characteristics of a supercapacitor;

[0017] FIG5 is a schematic diagram showing the circuit structure of an embodiment of a voltage step-up / down conversion unit used in the present invention;

[0018] FIG6 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of the voltage step-up / step-down conversion unit of FIG5 when switching to a step-up / step-down operation mode;

[0019] FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the process steps of the control program executed by the battery combined with supercapacitor power supply device of the present invention.

[0020] Description of the symbols in the figure

[0021] 10 Load

[0022] 20 Vehicles

[0023] 31 Engine

[0024] 32 Starter Motor

[0025] 100 The battery of the present invention is combined with a supercapacitor power supply device

[0026] 110 battery pack

[0027] 120 Supercapacitor

[0028] 130 switch units

[0029] 140 Voltage step-up and step-down conversion unit

[0030] 141 first transistor switch (Q1)

[0031] 142 Second transistor switch (Q2)

[0032] 143 Third transistor switch (Q3)

[0033] 144 fourth transistor switch (Q4)

[0034] 145 Inductor

[0035] 150 Load start detection unit

[0036] 151 Resistor

[0037] 152 Potential difference detection circuit

[0038] 160 Supercapacitor Voltage Detection Unit

[0039] 170 Master Control Unit

[0040] N1 First Node

[0041] N2 Second Node

[0042] N3 Third Node DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] The technical content and specific embodiments of the power supply device of the battery combined with a supercapacitor of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0044] FIG. 1 shows the practical application of the battery combined with supercapacitor power supply device (such as the block indicated by the reference numeral 100) of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, in practical application, the battery combined with supercapacitor power supply device 100 of the present invention is connected to a load 10, wherein the load 10 is a load that requires a large instantaneous current at the moment of initial startup, such as a starter motor of a car engine, to provide power to the load 10, and the power provided has a strong instantaneous large current at the beginning.

[0045] FIG. 2 shows an example of the battery combined with super capacitor power supply device 100 of the present invention being applied to a vehicle 20, wherein the vehicle 20 is driven by an engine 31, and the engine 31 is started by an electric motor 32. Since the start of the electric motor 32 requires an initial instantaneous large current, the battery combined with super capacitor power supply device 100 of the present invention can be used to provide such power to the electric motor 32, that is, the electric motor 32 shown in FIG. 2 is the load 10 shown in FIG. 1.

[0046] However, in a broad sense, the battery combined with supercapacitor power supply device 100 of the present invention is not limited to being used to supply power to an electric motor of a vehicle for starting an engine, but can be widely used in any load that requires an instantaneous large current during initial startup.

[0047] FIG. 3 shows the basic structure of the battery combined with super capacitor power supply device 100 of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the basic structure of the battery combined with super capacitor power supply device 100 of the present invention at least includes: (a) a battery pack 110; (b) a super capacitor 120; (c) a switch unit 130; (d) a voltage step-up and step-down conversion unit 140; (e) a load start detection unit 150, which includes a resistor 151 and a potential difference detection circuit 152; (f) a super capacitor voltage detection unit 160; and (g) a main control unit 170. The following first describes the individual properties and functions of these components.

[0048] The battery pack 110 can be any type of battery, such as a rechargeable lithium battery pack, which can be used to provide a dynamic current, and its output voltage is represented by VB, and its output current is represented by IB. In actual operation, the battery pack 110 is used to provide power to the load 10, that is, its output current IB can be transmitted to the load 10. In terms of circuit configuration, the output end of the battery pack 110 is connected to the resistor 151, and the resistor 151 is connected to a first node N1, and the first node N1 is further connected to two branch paths, wherein the first branch path is connected to the load 10, and the second branch path is connected to the input end Vin of the voltage step-up and step-down conversion unit 140. The discharge characteristics of the battery pack 110 are shown in FIG. 4A, that is, its disadvantage is that when it is initially connected, it cannot quickly provide a strong initial instantaneous large current, but can only slowly supply a smaller current, but its advantage is that the capacity is large, so it can supply power for a long time, that is, the power supply time can be up to several hours.

[0049] The supercapacitor 120, also known as supercapacitor (SC) or ultracapacitor in English, is a capacitor with an ultra-large capacitance, and its capacitance is usually greater than 0.1 farad (F). The default voltage of the supercapacitor 120 is represented by VC0, and the current output voltage during actual operation is represented by VC, and its output current is represented by IC. In the circuit configuration, the output end of the supercapacitor 120 is connected to a second node N2, and the second node N2 is further connected to three branch paths, wherein the first branch path is connected to the switch unit 130, the second branch path is connected to the output end Vout of the voltage step-up and step-down conversion unit 140, and the third branch path is connected to the supercapacitor voltage detection unit 160. Since the switch unit 130 is connected to the load 10, when the switch unit 130 is switched to the on state (ON), the supercapacitor 120 can be electrically connected to the load 10, so that the output current IC of the supercapacitor 120 can be delivered to the load 10 through the switch unit 130. The charging and discharging characteristics of the supercapacitor 120 are shown in FIG. 4B , which means that the supercapacitor 120 has the advantage of being able to quickly provide an initial instantaneous large current and being able to quickly charge to a saturation value during charging, but has the disadvantage of providing power for only a few seconds.

[0050] The switch unit 130 is disposed between the second node N2 and a third node N3, and the third node N3 is connected to the load 10. In actual operation, the on state (ON) and the off state (OFF) of the switch unit 130 are controlled by a switch control signal SW issued by the main control unit 170. If the switch unit 130 is switched to the on state (ON), the second node N2 is connected to the third node N3, that is, the supercapacitor 120 is connected to the load 10, so that the output current IC of the supercapacitor 120 can be transmitted to the load 10 through the switch unit 130; on the contrary, if it is switched to the off state (OFF), the supercapacitor 120 and the load 10 are isolated. In specific implementation, the switch unit 130 can be any type of circuit switch, such as a relay, a solid-state relay, or an electronic switch.

[0051] The voltage step-up / down conversion unit 140 has an input terminal Vin and an output terminal Vout, wherein the input terminal Vin is connected to the first node N1 for receiving the output voltage VB of the battery pack 110, and the output terminal Vout is connected to the second node N2 for transmitting the output voltage to the super capacitor 120. The voltage step-up / down conversion unit 140 can be controlled by the step-up / down control signal BOOST_CTRL issued by the main control unit 170 to perform a step-up / down operation mode (buck / boost mode), so that the output voltage VB of the battery pack 110 can be converted into the voltage Vout through the voltage step-up / down conversion unit 140 to obtain a voltage step-up / down effect, and then the super capacitor 120 is charged by using Vout.

[0052] In specific implementations, the internal circuit architecture of the voltage step-up / step-down conversion unit 140 may have many different specific implementations, such as a four-transistor switch type voltage step-up / step-down conversion circuit (buck / boost converter) shown in Figure 5, whose circuit architecture includes: a first transistor switch (Q1) 141, a second transistor switch (Q2) 142, a third transistor switch (Q3) 143, a fourth transistor switch (Q4) 144, and an inductor 145.

[0053] In practical applications, the voltage step-up / down conversion unit 140 shown in FIG5 is used to perform the step-up / down operation mode shown in FIG6. As shown in FIG6, the step-up / down operation mode is controlled by a set of control signals BUCK_BOOST_CTRL issued by the main control unit 170, including 4 signals (OFF, ON, PWM, PWM) respectively used to control the switch states of (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4), and PWM is a pulse-width modulation signal, which can enable the voltage step-up / down conversion unit 140 to step-up / down the battery output voltage VB received by the input terminal Vin.

[0054] Since the circuit structures shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 and the method of controlling the voltage increase and decrease by using the pulse width modulation signal PWM belong to the prior art, they will not be described in detail below.

[0055] The load start detection unit 150 is connected between the battery pack 110 and the load 10 to detect whether the load 10 is started. In a specific implementation, a feasible implementation of the load start detection unit 150 includes a resistor 151 and a potential difference detection circuit 152, wherein the resistor 151 is connected between the output terminal of the battery pack 110 and the first node N1, and the potential difference detection circuit 152 is used to detect the potential difference ΔV between the two ends of the resistor 151. When the load 10 is not started, that is, when the battery pack 110 is not electrically connected to the load 10, since the battery pack 110 does not output current, the potential difference ΔV at this time is 0. On the contrary, when the load 10 is started, the output current IB of the battery pack 110 will pass through the resistor 151, thereby generating a potential difference ΔV between the two ends of the resistor 151, and the generation of this potential difference ΔV indicates that the load 10 is started. In actual operation, the potential difference detection circuit 152 can detect the potential difference ΔV and transmit it to the main control unit 170 in the form of an analog signal, which is then converted by the main control unit 170 into a digital signal (represented by AD1) to indicate that the load 10 is activated.

[0056] The super capacitor voltage detection unit 160 is connected to the second node N2, and is used to detect the current output voltage value VC of the super capacitor 120 during actual operation, and transmit the detected voltage value VC to the main control unit 170 for subsequent processing. In a specific implementation, this voltage value VC is transmitted to the main control unit 170 in an analog form, and then converted by the main control unit 170 into a digital signal (represented by AD2).

[0057] The main control unit 170 is used to provide a main control function for the operation of the battery combined with super capacitor power supply device 100 of the present invention. In terms of circuit configuration, the main control unit 170 is connected to the switch unit 130, the voltage up / down conversion unit 140, the load start detection unit 150, and the super capacitor voltage detection unit 160. In actual operation, the main control unit 170 can receive the signal AD1 (indicating that the load 10 is started) from the load start detection unit 150 and the signal AD2 (indicating the current output voltage VC of the super capacitor 120) from the super capacitor voltage detection unit 160, and then generate a switch control signal SW to control the ON / OFF state of the switch unit 130 and a set of buck-boost control signals BUCK_BOOST_CTRL to control the voltage up / down conversion unit 140 to perform the voltage up / down conversion function according to the situation. When the load 10 is activated, the main control unit 170 can be triggered to first perform a battery combined with super capacitor discharge process, thereby using the battery pack 110 and the super capacitor 120 to discharge together to supply power to the load 10, and after completing the power supply to the load 10, then perform a super capacitor charging process to recharge the exhausted super capacitor 120. The process steps executed by the main control unit 170 will be described in detail below with reference to the flowchart of Figure 7. In specific implementation, the main control unit 170 is, for example, an embedded microprocessor, or a customized or programmable logic circuit, such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a programmable logic array (PLA), a programmable array logic (PAL), and the like.

[0058] The following is a description of the overall operation process of the battery combined with super capacitor power supply device 100 of the present invention in practical application with reference to FIG. 7 .

[0059] During actual use, the power supply device 100 combining a battery and a supercapacitor of the present invention is connected to a load 10, such as a starting motor of an automobile engine. When the load 10 is started, the power supply device 100 combining a battery and a supercapacitor of the present invention can respond to execute a discharging program of the battery combined with the supercapacitor, so as to simultaneously discharge the battery pack 110 and the supercapacitor 120 to supply power to the load 10, that is, initially use the supercapacitor 120 to provide a strong current IC, and at the same time use the battery pack 110 to provide a battery current IB, so that the current received by the load 10 is IC + IB, rather than only IB received by the prior art, thus enabling the load 10 to be quickly started.

[0060] After the power supply device 100 combining a battery and a supercapacitor of the present invention is started, the main control unit 170 can be started to execute the control program shown in FIG. 7, and the steps are as follows.

[0061] In step (S0), the main control unit 170 first starts an initialization program.

[0062] Then in step (S1), the main control unit 170 executes the following initialization items:

[0063] (1) Default the rated output voltage of the supercapacitor 120 when fully charged to Vc0;

[0064] (2) Default the switch unit 130 to the open state (OFF);

[0065] (3) Initialize the voltage step-up / down conversion unit 140, so that the power supply device 100 combining a battery and a supercapacitor of the present invention is set to the standby state to detect whether the load 10 is started.

[0066] In step (S2), the main control unit 170 continuously receives the current output voltage value VC of the supercapacitor 120 detected by the supercapacitor voltage detection unit 160, and compares the VC value with the default rated output voltage Vc0 of the supercapacitor 120 to determine the subsequent steps to be executed, as follows:

[0067] (Condition 1): If (VC < VC0), then jump to step (S10);

[0068] (Condition 2): If (VC ≥ VC0), then jump to step (S20).

[0069] In step (S10), since the condition of (VC < VC0) indicates that the current stored power of the supercapacitor 120 is insufficient, the main control unit 170 then starts a supercapacitor charging program.

[0070] Next, in step (S11), the main control unit 170 issues a buck-boost control signal BUCK_BOOST_CTRL to the buck-boost conversion unit 140, but does not issue a switch enabling signal SW. That is, at this time, the switch unit 130 is still maintained in an open state (OFF). In this case, the buck-boost conversion unit 140 is driven to execute a buck-boost operation mode, so that the output voltage VB of the battery pack 110 can be buck-boosted through the buck-boost conversion unit 140, and then the output voltage Vout of the buck-boost conversion unit 140 is used to charge the super capacitor 120, thereby fully charging the super capacitor 120 to its predetermined output voltage Vc0.

[0071] In step (S12), during the execution of the super capacitor charging program, the main control unit 170 continuously detects the current output voltage value VC of the super capacitor 120, and compares VC with Vc0 to determine the subsequent steps to be executed, as follows:

[0072] (Condition 1) If (VC < Vc0), since this condition indicates that the super capacitor 120 has not been fully charged, the super capacitor charging program in step (S11) is continuously performed;

[0073] (Condition 2) If (VC = Vc0), this condition indicates that the super capacitor 120 has been fully charged to its predetermined rated output voltage Vc0, so it jumps to the next step (S13).

[0074] In step (S13), the main control unit 170 stops the super capacitor charging program, and then jumps the program to step (S20).

[0075] In step (S20), the main control unit 170 detects whether the load 10 is started, that is, detects whether the potential difference detection circuit 152 in the load start detection unit 150 detects a potential difference ΔV across the resistor 151. If not, step (S20) is continuously performed; conversely, if so, it jumps to the next step (S21).

[0076] In step (S21), the main control unit 170 issues a switch control signal SW to the switch unit 130, causing the switch unit 130 to switch to the on state (ON), so that the battery pack 110 and the super capacitor 120 can simultaneously supply power to the load 10. That is, the super capacitor 120 provides a strong instantaneous large current IC through the switch unit 130, and at the same time, the battery pack 110 provides a battery current IB to the load 10. This can make the current received by the load 10 be (IC + IB), rather than just IB as in the prior art, thereby enabling the load 10 to be quickly started.

[0077] Next, in step (S22), the main control unit 170 continuously detects whether the load 10 (the engine 31 of the vehicle 20) is still running. If so, step (S22) is continuously performed; otherwise, if not, it means that the load 10 has completed and ended its operation, so it jumps to the next step (S23).

[0078] Next, in step (S23), after the main control unit 170 detects the end of the operation of the load 10, it issues a switch control signal SW to the switch unit 130, causing the switch unit 130 to switch back to the open state (OFF), thereby isolating the supercapacitor 120 and the load 10. After this step (S23) is completed, the program then jumps back to step (S2).

[0079] After jumping back to step (S2), due to the detection of the stored charge of the supercapacitor 120 at this time, if the result of (VC < VC0), the program will then jump to steps (S10) to (S13) again, thereby executing the supercapacitor charging program once again to recharge the depleted supercapacitor 120 to the predetermined rated output voltage Vc0, and then jump to step (S20) after completion. In this way, when the load 10 is started again next time, the supercapacitor 120 can have sufficient stored charge and the battery pack to provide an initial instantaneous large current to the load 10.

[0080] In summary, the power supply device 100 combining a battery and a supercapacitor of the present invention can, when supplying power to the load 10, first use the supercapacitor 120 and the battery pack 110 to provide a fast and powerful initial instantaneous large current (IC + IB) at the initial moment of startup, rather than only providing IB as in the prior art, so that the load 10 can be started quickly. Since the supercapacitor 120 is detected after each power supply, if the power is lower than the preset Vc0, the power supply device 100 combining a battery and a supercapacitor of the present invention will then use the battery pack 110 to charge the supercapacitor 120 internally. In this way, when the load 10 is started again next time, the supercapacitor 120 can have sufficient stored charge and the battery pack 110 to provide an initial instantaneous large current to the load 10.

[0081] In the application of an automobile engine, the present invention can replace the commonly used lead-acid battery to provide a fast initial instantaneous large current to the starting motor of the automobile engine when the engine is to be started, so that the initial instantaneous operation of the motor has a greater acceleration, and thus the engine of the automobile can be started more quickly.

[0082] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The broadest concept of the present invention is defined in the scope of the present application. If any product or technical method completed by others is completely the same as that defined in the following patent application, or is an equivalent variation, it will be deemed to be included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A power supply device combining a battery and a supercapacitor, which can be connected to a load to provide power to the load; It is characterized in that The battery combined with supercapacitor power supply device at least comprises: (a) a battery pack capable of providing a battery voltage; (b) a supercapacitor having a default rated output voltage and capable of providing a supercapacitor function; (c) a switch unit, disposed between the supercapacitor and the load, capable of enabling the supercapacitor to transmit power to the load when switched to a conduction state; (d) a voltage step-up / down conversion unit having an input terminal and an output terminal, wherein the input terminal can receive the output voltage of the battery pack, and the output terminal is connected to the supercapacitor to provide a step-up / down conversion function for the output voltage of the battery pack, and then use the output voltage to charge the supercapacitor; (e) a load activation detection unit connected between the battery pack and the load to detect whether the load is activated; (f) a supercapacitor voltage detection unit, which is connected to the supercapacitor and is used to detect the current output voltage value of the supercapacitor; (g) a main control unit, which can provide a main control function for executing a battery combined with a super capacitor discharge program and a super capacitor charging program in response to the load start detection unit detecting that the load is started; The discharge procedure of the battery combined with the supercapacitor is that when the load is activated, the main control unit switches the switch unit to a conducting state, thereby allowing the supercapacitor and the battery pack to discharge simultaneously to supply power to the load; The supercapacitor charging procedure is to make the voltage step-up / step-down conversion unit perform a step-up / step-down operation mode when the current output voltage of the supercapacitor is lower than its default rated output voltage, so that the output voltage of the battery pack can charge the supercapacitor through the voltage step-up / step-down conversion unit.

2. The battery combined with supercapacitor power supply device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The load is a starter motor of a vehicle engine.

3. The battery combined with supercapacitor power supply device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The battery pack is a lithium battery pack.

4. The battery combined with supercapacitor power supply device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The switch unit is a relay, a solid-state relay, or an electronic switch.

5. The battery combined with supercapacitor power supply device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The voltage step-up / down conversion unit is a four-transistor switch type voltage step-up / down conversion circuit.

6. The battery combined with supercapacitor power supply device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The load start detection unit comprises: A resistor is connected between the battery pack and the load; and a potential difference detection circuit is connected to both ends of the resistor to detect whether a potential difference is generated between the two ends of the resistor; if a potential difference is generated, it means that the load is activated.

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