Battery system, electric vehicle and battery monitoring unit

Abstract

The utility model relates to a battery system, an electric vehicle and a battery monitoring unit. The battery system includes: a battery pack including a plurality of battery cells; a monomer monitoring circuit; and a conductor arrangement including a plurality of conductor lines, a flexible flat cable, and a plurality of printed circuit boards overlapping the flexible flat cable, a first end of the conductor line being connected to the cell monitoring circuit via the flexible flat cable, and a second end of the conductor line being electrically connected to the charged portion of the battery cell via the printed circuit board.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to a battery system and a battery monitoring unit for a battery system. Background Art

[0002] Recently, vehicles for transporting goods and people have been developed that use electricity as a source of motion. Such electric vehicles are cars propelled by an electric motor using energy stored in rechargeable batteries. Electric vehicles can be powered solely by batteries or in the form of hybrid vehicles powered by, for example, a gasoline generator or a hydrogen fuel cell. Hybrid vehicles can include a combination of an electric motor and a conventional internal combustion engine. Typically, an electric vehicle battery (EVB) or traction battery is the battery used to power the propulsion of a battery electric vehicle (BEV). Electric vehicle batteries differ from starting batteries, lighting batteries, and ignition batteries in that they are designed to provide power for a sustained period of time. Rechargeable or secondary batteries differ from primary batteries in that they are designed to be repeatedly charged and discharged, while the latter are designed only to provide irreversible conversion of chemical energy into electrical energy. Low-capacity rechargeable batteries are used as power sources for small electronic devices such as cell phones, notebook computers, and camcorders, while high-capacity rechargeable batteries are used as power sources for electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles, etc.

[0003] Typically, a rechargeable battery includes an electrode assembly, a housing, and electrode terminals electrically connected to the electrode assembly, the electrode assembly including a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a separator interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, and the housing receives the electrode assembly. An electrolyte solution is injected into the housing, thereby enabling the battery to be charged and discharged via an electrochemical reaction of the positive electrode, the negative electrode, and the electrolyte solution. The shape of the housing (such as cylindrical or rectangular) can be selected based on the intended purpose of the battery. Lithium-ion (and similar lithium polymer) batteries (best known by their use in laptop computers and consumer electronics) dominate the latest batch of electric vehicles under development.

[0004] Rechargeable batteries can be used as battery modules, which are formed by combining multiple unit battery cells in series and / or parallel to provide high density, such as for use in motor drives for hybrid vehicles. For example, a battery module can be formed by interconnecting the electrode terminals of multiple unit battery cells in an arrangement or configuration depending on the desired amount of power, thereby realizing a high-power rechargeable battery.

[0005] Battery modules can be constructed in a block design or a modular design. In a block design, each battery is coupled to a common current collector structure and a common battery management system, and its cells are arranged in a housing. In a modular design, multiple battery cells are connected together to form a submodule, and several submodules are connected together to form a battery module. In automotive applications, the battery system typically includes multiple battery modules connected in series to provide the desired voltage. A battery module may include a submodule having multiple stacked battery cells, and each stack includes parallel-connected cells connected in series or series-connected cells connected in parallel.

[0006] A battery pack is a group of any number of (usually, identical) battery modules. The battery modules can be configured in series, parallel, or a mixture of both to provide the desired voltage, capacity, and / or power density. The components of a battery pack include the individual battery modules and the interconnects that provide electrical conductivity between the battery modules.

[0007] The battery system may also include a battery management system (BMS), which is any suitable electronic system configured to manage the rechargeable batteries, battery modules, and battery packs, such as by protecting the batteries from operating outside their safe operating areas, monitoring their status, calculating secondary data, reporting the data, controlling their environment, verifying them, and / or balancing them. For example, the BMS may monitor the status of the battery, which is represented by the following: voltage (e.g., the total voltage of the battery pack or battery module and / or the voltage of each cell), temperature (e.g., the average temperature of the battery pack or battery module, the coolant inlet temperature, the coolant outlet temperature, and / or the temperature of each cell), coolant flow (e.g., flow rate and / or cooling liquid pressure), and current. In addition, the BMS can calculate the following values ​​based on the above parameters, such as minimum and maximum cell voltage, state of charge (SOC) or depth of discharge (DOD) to indicate the battery's charge level, state of health (SOH; variously defined measurements of the remaining capacity of a battery as a percentage of its original capacity), state of power (SOP; the amount of charge available over a defined time interval taking into account current power usage, temperature, and other conditions), state of safety (SOS), maximum charge current as charge current limit (CCL), maximum discharge current as discharge current limit (DCL), and the internal impedance of the cell (used to determine the open circuit voltage).

[0008] A BMS can be centralized, with a single controller connected to the battery cells via multiple wires. In other examples, the BMS can be distributed, with a BMS board installed at each cell and only one communication cable between the battery and the controller. In another example, the BMS can have a modular construction with several controllers, each handling a certain number of cells, with communication between the controllers. A centralized BMS is the most economical, but the least scalable and suffers from numerous wires. A distributed BMS is the most expensive, but is the simplest to install and provides the neatest assembly. A modular BMS offers a compromise between the features and problems of the other two topologies.

[0009] Static control of battery power output and charging may not be sufficient to meet the dynamic power requirements of various electrical devices connected to the battery system. Therefore, a stable information exchange between the battery system and the controller of the electrical device can be adopted. Such information can include the actual state of charge (SoC), potential electrical performance, charging capacity and internal resistance of the battery system and the actual or predicted power demand or remaining power of the electrical device. Therefore, the battery system typically includes a battery management system (BMS) for acquiring and processing such information at the system level, and may also include multiple battery module managers (BMMs) that are part of the battery module of the system and acquire and process relevant information at the module level. The BMS typically measures the system voltage, system current, local temperatures at different locations inside the system housing, and the insulation resistance between the live components and the system housing, while the BMM typically measures the individual cell voltages and temperatures of the battery cells in the battery module.

[0010] A BMS / BMU is provided to manage the battery pack, such as by protecting the batteries from operating outside their safe operating area (or safe operating parameters), monitoring their status, calculating secondary data, reporting that data, controlling their environment, validating them, and / or balancing them.

[0011] In the event of an abnormal operating state (or in the event of an abnormal condition), the battery pack should be disconnected from the load connected to the terminals of the battery pack. Therefore, the battery system may include a battery disconnect unit (BDU) that is electrically connected between the battery module and the battery system terminals. The BDU is the main interface between the battery pack and the vehicle's electrical system. The BDU includes an electromechanical switch that opens or closes the high current path between the battery pack and the electrical system. The BDU provides feedback, such as voltage and current measurements, to a battery control unit (BCU) that accompanies the battery module. The BCU controls the switches in the BDU by using a low current path based on feedback received from the BDU. The main functions of the BDU may include controlling the current flow between the battery pack and the electrical system and current sensing. The BDU may also manage additional functions, such as external charging and pre-charging.

[0012] In this regard, the vehicle battery pack includes a wiring harness that combines a main line and flexible printed circuit branch lines. This allows for easier and more cost-effective connection to the battery cells compared to traditional flexible circuit boards. The wiring harness comprises a flexible flat cable main line with multiple conductors and an insulation layer. The insulation layer is partially stripped to create gaps that expose the conductors, allowing the flexible printed circuit branch lines to be soldered to the conductors via holes in the solder points. The circuit boards are connected to connectors to complete the overall circuit connection of the vehicle battery pack wiring harness and enable monitoring of the battery pack's battery cells.

[0013] Furthermore, related art provides a structure comprising a flexible flat cable, a printed circuit board, a temperature sensing package, and a busbar. The flexible flat cable may include a main body, a flexible flat cable voltage sub-strip, and a flexible flat cable temperature sensing sub-strip. The flexible flat cable temperature sensing sub-strip is bent twice and soldered to the temperature sensing package. The temperature sensing package may include a printed circuit branch line temperature acquisition board, a thermistor, and an insulating plate.

[0014] The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the disclosure and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art. Utility Model Content

[0015] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a battery system is provided, comprising: a battery pack including a plurality of battery cells; a cell monitoring circuit; and a conductor arrangement including a plurality of conductor wires, a flexible flat cable, and a plurality of printed circuit boards overlapping the flexible flat cables, wherein first ends of the conductor wires are connected to the cell monitoring circuits via the flexible flat cables, and second ends of the conductor wires are electrically connected to live parts of the battery cells via the printed circuit boards.

[0016] In some embodiments, conductor lines may be routed along a flexible flat cable and branched into multiple printed circuit boards.

[0017] In some embodiments, the flexible flat cable may include portions of conductor wires that are conductively routed through and secured to openings in a printed circuit board.

[0018] In some embodiments, the portion of the conductor wire that is routed through and secured to the opening of the printed circuit board may be soldered to the opening of the printed circuit board.

[0019] In some embodiments, at least one of the flexible flat cable and the printed circuit board can include at least one stability enhancing element routed through and secured to the opening of the printed circuit board.

[0020] In some embodiments, the stability-enhancing element can be isolated from the cell monitoring circuit by interrupting at least one cutout of the stability-enhancing element.

[0021] In some embodiments, all printed circuit boards connecting the flexible flat cables to the live parts may be identical.

[0022] In some embodiments, a printed circuit board may include a temperature sensor, and all printed circuit boards including a temperature sensor may be identical.

[0023] In some embodiments, at least one of the printed circuit boards connecting the flexible flat cable with the live part may include a fuse.

[0024] In some embodiments, at least one of the printed circuit boards may include a temperature sensor, and a conductor line of the plurality of conductor lines may be electrically connected to a live portion of a battery cell of the plurality of battery cells via the temperature sensor.

[0025] In some embodiments, the conductor arrangement may include an additional printed circuit board having a plurality of fuses connected between the flexible flat cable and the cell monitoring circuit.

[0026] In some embodiments, an electric vehicle may include a battery system as described above.

[0027] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a battery monitoring unit is provided, comprising: a cell monitoring circuit; and a conductor arrangement comprising a plurality of conductor lines, a flexible flat cable, and a plurality of printed circuit boards overlapping the flexible flat cables, wherein first ends of the conductor lines are connected to the cell monitoring circuit via the flexible flat cables, and second ends of the conductor lines are electrically connectable to live parts of battery cells via the printed circuit boards.

[0028] Other aspects, features, and characteristics not described above will be more clearly understood from the accompanying drawings, claims, and detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Features will become apparent to those skilled in the art by describing in detail exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0030] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a battery system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0031] Figure 2 Schematic diagrams of battery monitoring units according to some examples of related art are shown.

[0032] Figure 3A schematic perspective view illustrating a conductor arrangement of a battery monitoring unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0033] Figure 4 Another schematic diagram shows a conductor arrangement of a battery monitoring unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0034] Figure 5 A larger section of a conductor arrangement with a flexible flat cable and a printed circuit board is shown according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0035] Figure 6 A flexible flat cable of a battery monitoring unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0036] Figure 7 Another view of a flexible flat cable of a battery monitoring unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0037] Figure 8 A printed circuit board of a battery monitoring unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0038] Figure 9 A printed circuit board of a battery monitoring unit according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0039] Figure 10 Another printed circuit board for a battery monitoring unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0040] Figure 11 A flow chart illustrating a process for assembling such a battery system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] Reference will now be made in detail to some embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The effects and features of the exemplary embodiments and their implementation methods will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the accompanying drawings, similar reference numerals refer to similar elements and redundant descriptions are omitted. However, the present disclosure can be implemented in various suitable forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments shown herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided as examples so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the aspects and features of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art.

[0042] Therefore, processes, elements, and techniques that are not considered necessary for one of ordinary skill in the art to fully understand the aspects and features of the present disclosure may not be described or may be only briefly described.In the drawings, the relative sizes of elements, layers, and regions may be exaggerated for clarity.

[0043] In view of the entirety of the present disclosure, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that each suitable feature of the various embodiments of the present disclosure may be partially or completely combined or combined with each other, and may be technically interlocked and operated in various suitable ways, and each embodiment may be implemented independently of each other or in combination with each other in any suitable manner, unless otherwise stated or implied.

[0044] It will be understood that although the terms "first," "second," "third," etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers, and / or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers, and / or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer, or section from another element, component, region, layer, or section. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer, or section discussed below could be referred to as a second element, component, region, layer, or section without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0045] The terms used herein are intended to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms "a" and "an" are also intended to include the plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprise," "comprising," "including," "comprising," "having," and "having," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or parts, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, parts, and / or groups thereof.

[0046] As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. For example, the expression "A and / or B" means A, B, or A and B. Expressions such as "one or more of..." and "at least one of...", when following a list of elements, modify the entire list of elements, not the individual elements in the list. For example, the expressions "one or more of A, B, and C," "at least one of A, B, or C," "at least one of A, B, and C," and "at least one selected from the group consisting of A, B, and C" indicate only A, only B, only C, both A and B, both A and C, both B and C, or all of A, B, and C.

[0047] Additionally, when describing embodiments of the present disclosure, the use of “may” refers to “one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.” Additionally, the term “exemplary” is intended to refer to an example or illustration.

[0048] It will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “connected to,” “coupled to,” or “adjacent to” another element or layer, it can be directly on, connected to, coupled to, or adjacent to the other element or layer, or one or more intervening elements or layers may be present. When an element or layer is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly connected to,” “directly coupled to,” “in contact with,” “directly in contact with,” or “immediately adjacent to” another element or layer, there are no intervening elements or layers present.

[0049] As used herein, the terms "use," "utilizing," and "used" may be considered synonymous with the terms "utilize," "utilizing," and "utilized," respectively.

[0050] When one or more embodiments can be implemented differently, the specific process order may be performed differently from the order described. For example, (i) the operations of the disclosed process are only examples and may involve various additional operations not explicitly covered, and (ii) the temporal order of the operations may be changed.

[0051] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure belongs. It will be further 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 / or the context of this specification, and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless explicitly defined as such herein.

[0052] Some aspects of the present disclosure relate to a battery system including a battery pack and a plurality of battery cells. The battery system also includes a cell monitoring circuit and a conductor arrangement comprising a plurality of conductor lines. The conductor arrangement includes a flexible flat cable and a plurality of printed circuit boards overlapping the flexible flat cable. First ends of the conductor lines are connected to the cell monitoring circuit via the flexible flat cable, and second ends of the conductor lines are electrically connected to live portions of the battery cells via the printed circuit boards.

[0053] Some aspects of the present disclosure relate to a battery system having a battery pack that includes a plurality of battery cells and a unit for electrically connecting those battery cells. Electrical connection lines connect the cell poles of the battery cells to a battery measurement module. The battery system also includes a battery monitoring system having a conductor arrangement that includes a plurality of conductor lines that electrically connect a cell monitoring circuit to the battery cells of the battery pack. The conductor arrangement includes a flexible flat cable as a main string and a plurality of printed circuit boards that at least partially overlap the flexible flat cable. A first end of the conductor line is connected to the battery cell monitoring circuit via the flexible flat cable. A second end of the conductor line is electrically connected to a live portion of the battery cell via the printed circuit board.

[0054] The battery system allows for a low-cost conductor arrangement to replace more expensive flexible printed circuits for electrical connection and monitoring of battery cells. In addition, cheaper materials can be used and costly materials (such as polyimide) can be avoided. The new design allows for the use of much lower-cost materials for flexible flat cables instead of current state-of-the-art solutions with flexible printed circuits. Flexible flat cables can be made of straight copper and / or aluminum wires without the need for strict environmental processes. Based on the use of straight metal wires, the design of electrical connections can be improved (e.g., optimized), thereby further reducing costs and increasing reliability. In addition, the proposed battery system allows for easy connection for voltage sensing and temperature sensing and overall flexibility in assembly location.

[0055] According to some embodiments, the conductor lines are routed along the flexible flat cable and branched into a plurality of printed circuit boards. This enables particularly simple assembly and particularly simple contacting of the battery cells.

[0056] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the flexible flat cable comprises a portion of the conductor line which is routed in an electrically conductive manner through an opening in the printed circuit board and fixed thereto. This ensures a particularly stable and reliable fastening of the conductor line to the printed circuit board.

[0057] For example, the portion of the conductor line that is routed through and fixed to the opening of the printed circuit board is soldered to the opening of the printed circuit board. This further improves the connection between the conductor line and the printed circuit board.

[0058] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the flexible flat cable and / or printed circuit board includes at least one stability-enhancing element routed through and secured to an opening in the printed circuit board. This stability-enhancing element improves the bending stiffness of the flexible flat cable, thereby reducing the risk of conductor breakage. Furthermore, this stability-enhancing element simplifies the assembly process and facilitates electrical contact between battery cells in a battery pack.

[0059] For example, the stability enhancing element is isolated from the cell monitoring circuit by blocking at least one cutout of the stability enhancing element. This reduces the risk of electrical short circuits.

[0060] In some other embodiments of the battery system, all printed circuit boards connecting the flexible flat cables to the live parts of the battery cells are identical. Using identical printed circuit boards reduces the number of parts and associated costs. Furthermore, using identical components reduces assembly costs and prevents the use of incorrect parts.

[0061] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, all printed circuit boards (PCBs) comprising the temperature sensors are identical. Using the same PCB for temperature sensor connections or integration can reduce the number of parts and associated costs. Furthermore, using identical components can reduce assembly costs and avoid using the wrong part.

[0062] According to some other embodiments of the present disclosure, at least one of the printed circuit boards connecting the flexible flat cable to the live parts of the battery cells includes a fuse. By integrating the fuse into the printed circuit board, the number of components can be reduced when assembling the battery system. This reduces the number of steps and, therefore, the cost of the assembly process.

[0063] For example, all printed circuit boards connecting flexible flat cables to live parts of battery cells include fuses.

[0064] In some other embodiments of the present disclosure, the conductor arrangement includes an additional printed circuit board having a plurality of fuses connected between the flexible flat cable and the cell monitoring circuit.

[0065] According to some other embodiments, a cell monitoring unit is provided that includes a cell monitoring circuit and a conductor arrangement including a plurality of conductor lines. The conductor arrangement includes a flexible flat cable and a plurality of printed circuit boards at least partially overlapping the flexible flat cable, wherein first ends of the conductor lines are connected to the cell monitoring circuit via the flexible flat cable, and second ends of the conductor lines are electrically connected to live parts of the battery cells and / or to at least one temperature sensor included in one of the printed circuit boards via the printed circuit boards.

[0066] Yet another aspect of the present disclosure relates to an electric vehicle comprising a battery system as described in the above paragraphs.

[0067] According to some other aspects of the present disclosure, a method for assembling a battery system is provided, wherein the method includes: providing a battery system as described in the above paragraph; connecting a first end of a conductor wire to a cell monitoring circuit via a flexible flat cable; and connecting a second end of the conductor wire to a live part of the battery cell and / or to at least one temperature sensor included in one of the printed circuit boards via a printed circuit board.

[0068] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a battery system 100 having a battery pack 10 and a battery monitoring unit 50 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The battery monitoring unit 50 includes a cell monitoring circuit 14 and a conductor arrangement 16 including a plurality of conductor wires 18. The conductor arrangement 16 includes a flexible flat cable 20 and a plurality of printed circuit boards 22 overlapping the flexible flat cable 20. A first end (or first side) 24 of the conductor wire 18 is connected to the cell monitoring circuit 14 via the flexible flat cable 20. A second end (or second side) 26 of the conductor wire 18 is connected to a live part 28 (such as a cell pole 60 of a battery cell 12) via the printed circuit board 22. Figure 1 The battery pack 10 shown in FIG. 7 includes a housing 70 and a plurality of battery cells 12 arranged within the housing 70 into a first battery stack 66 and a second battery stack 68 .

[0069] Figure 2 A battery monitoring unit 50 according to some examples of the related art is shown. The battery monitoring unit 50 includes a plurality of flexible printed circuits 52 connected to a circuit board 54 of the battery monitoring unit 50. The battery monitoring unit 50 according to the prior art is good and reliable, but expensive and over-designed in terms of the materials used. For example, in the flexible printed circuits 52, expensive materials such as PI (polyimide) are used, which may also overshoot parameters such as voltage resistance, insulation resistance, and temperature resistance. Based on the flexible printed circuit 52 technology, additional materials are required for production, which must be scraped off after final production, which means significant material loss.

[0070] Figure 3 A conductor arrangement 16 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is disclosed. The conductor arrangement 16 includes a flexible flat cable 20 having a plurality of conductor lines 18. The flexible flat cable 20 includes a plurality of pins 56 for connecting the openings 30 of the printed circuit board 22 to the conductor lines 18. The pins 56 are routed along the flexible flat cable 20 and branch into the plurality of printed circuit boards 22. Figure 3As shown in , the flexible flat cable 20 includes pins 56 that are routed in an electrically conductive manner through the openings 30 of the printed circuit board 22 and fixed to the openings 30 of the printed circuit board 22. For example, the pins 56 of the conductor wires 18 of the flexible flat cable 20 are soldered to the openings 30 of the printed circuit board 22. The new solution allows the use of a flexible flat cable 20 of much lower cost materials instead of the flexible printed circuit 52 of the current state of the art solution. The flexible flat cable 20 is made of straight copper or aluminum conductor wires 18 without the need for strict environmental processes. This ends up in better material usage compared to the flexible printed circuit 52. Based on this straight conductor wire 18, the design is adopted to realize the concept of the flexible flat cable 20 and the printed circuit board 22 of the conductor arrangement 16. The printed circuit board 22 also includes a soldering surface 58 for connecting the printed circuit board 22 to the live parts 28 of the battery cells 12.

[0071] Figure 4 Shown is a printed circuit board 22 which is connected to the flexible flat cable 20 via pins 56 of the flexible flat cable 20 and openings 30 in the printed circuit board 22. The printed circuit board 22 further comprises a fuse 38, for example an SMD type fuse or the like.

[0072] Figure 5 Another view of the conductor arrangement 16 is shown, comprising a flexible flat cable 20 and a printed circuit board 22 electrically connected to the flexible flat cable 20. The flexible flat cable 20 also comprises a cutout 34 to prevent contact between the pins 56 and the cell poles 60 of the battery cells 12.

[0073] Figure 6 The flexible flat cable 20 is shown with a plurality of cutouts 34. The flexible flat cable 20 includes three cutouts 34 for the pins 56 and four additional cutouts before and after the pins 56 to avoid potential shortcuts between the pins 56.

[0074] Figure 7 Shown as Figure 6 FIG. 1 is an enlarged view of a section of the flexible flat cable 20 shown in FIG. The flexible flat cable 20 has three pins 56 that are cut out and bent 90 degrees to allow for soldering to the printed circuit board 22. The first pin 56 a and the last pin 56 c are used for mechanical stability of the soldered printed circuit board 22, and the middle contact pin 56 b is used for connection to the soldering surface 58 and the cell pole 60 of the battery cell 12.

[0075] Figure 8A printed circuit board 22 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The printed circuit board 22 is designed to be used at any point and is in contact with the single pole 60 via a soldering surface 58 or copper plating and a fuse 38 (as a pre-designed break point in the event of an accidental short circuit). The printed circuit board 22 is small and versatile, which is why it can be produced in large quantities and is also why it can be a very cheap and low-cost component.

[0076] Instead of one middle contact pin, two pins can be cut out and bent to create a connection for the temperature sensor. Figure 9 An alternative example of a printed circuit board 22 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The printed circuit board 22 includes two rows 62 and 64 of openings 30 with stability enhancing elements 32, and a temperature sensor 36 is provided on the printed circuit board 22. A first pin of the flexible flat cable 20 is connected to the first row 62, and a second pin is connected to the second row 64, such that the flexible flat cable 20 is connected to the live portion 28 of the battery cell 12 via the temperature sensor 36.

[0077] A desirable feature of the above small universal printed circuit board 22 is that voltage sensing and / or temperature sensing are connected in the same manner and are generally flexible as to assembly location.

[0078] Figure 10 An additional printed circuit board 40 is disclosed that includes a plurality of fuses 42, 44, 46, and 48. The additional printed circuit board 40 can be used to have all fuses 42, 44, 46, and 48 on one additional printed circuit board 40, allowing other printed circuit boards to function without additional fuses. The additional printed circuit board 40 includes a first row 62 and a second row 64 of contact elements having openings 30 for electrically connecting the printed circuit board 40 to the flexible flat cable 20. The fuses 42, 44, 46, and 48 are located between the first row 62 and the second row 64 of contact elements.

[0079] Figure 11 A flow chart of a process for assembling a battery system 100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is disclosed. In some embodiments, the method includes providing a battery system as described in the previous section (S200). The process also includes connecting the first end 24 of the conductor wire 18 to the cell monitoring circuit 14 via the flexible flat cable 20 (S210), and connecting the second end 26 of the conductor wire 18 to the live portion 28 of the battery cell 12 via the printed circuit board 22 (S220). This allows for an easy assembly process of the battery system 100 and easy installation of the battery monitoring unit 50 because the printed circuit board 22 can be easily connected to the live portion 28 of the battery cell (such as the cell pole 60).

[0080] It should be understood that the embodiments described herein should be considered illustrative rather than restrictive. Descriptions of features or aspects within each embodiment should generally be considered applicable to other similar features or aspects in other embodiments. Although one or more embodiments have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0081] List of some reference numerals

[0082] 10 battery pack

[0083] 12 battery cells

[0084] 14 Single-cell monitoring circuit

[0085] 16 Conductor Arrangement

[0086] 18 conductor wire

[0087] 20 Flexible Flat Cable

[0088] 22 printed circuit boards

[0089] 24 First End

[0090] 26 Second End

[0091] 28 Live parts

[0092] 30 Opening

[0093] 32 Stability Enhancement Components

[0094] 34 incision

[0095] 36 Temperature Sensor

[0096] 38 Fuse

[0097] 40 printed circuit boards

[0098] 42 Fuse

[0099] 44 Fuse

[0100] 46 Fuse

[0101] 48 Fuse

[0102] 50 Battery Monitoring Unit

[0103] 52 Flexible Printed Circuit

[0104] 54 circuit boards

[0105] 56 pins

[0106] 58 welding surface

[0107] 60 single pole

[0108] 62 first row

[0109] 64 Second Row

[0110] 66 First battery stack

[0111] 68 Second battery stack

[0112] 70 housing

[0113] 100 battery system

Claims

1. A battery system, characterized in that: include: A battery pack, comprising a plurality of battery cells; Single-cell monitoring circuit; as well as A conductor arrangement includes a plurality of conductor wires, a flexible flat cable, and a plurality of printed circuit boards overlapping the flexible flat cables, wherein first ends of the conductor wires are connected to the cell monitoring circuit via the flexible flat cable, and second ends of the conductor wires are electrically connected to the live parts of the battery cells via the printed circuit boards.

2. The battery system according to claim 1, wherein: The conductor wires are routed along the flexible flat cable and branched into the plurality of printed circuit boards.

3. The battery system according to claim 1, wherein: The flexible flat cable includes a portion of the conductor wire that is routed through and secured to an opening of the printed circuit board in an electrically conductive manner.

4. The battery system according to claim 3, characterized in that The portion of the conductor wire routed through and secured to the opening of the printed circuit board is soldered to the opening of the printed circuit board.

5. The battery system according to claim 3, characterized in that At least one of the flexible flat cable and the printed circuit board includes at least one stability enhancing element routed through and secured to the opening of the printed circuit board.

6. The battery system according to claim 5, characterized in that The stability-enhancing element is isolated from the cell monitoring circuit by blocking at least one cutout of the stability-enhancing element.

7. The battery system according to claim 1, wherein: All of the printed circuit boards connecting the flexible flat cables to the live parts are identical.

8. The battery system according to claim 1, wherein: The printed circuit boards include a temperature sensor, and all of the printed circuit boards including the temperature sensor are identical.

9. The battery system according to claim 1, wherein: At least one of the printed circuit boards connecting the flexible flat cable and the live part includes a fuse.

10. The battery system according to claim 1, wherein: At least one of the printed circuit boards includes a temperature sensor, and a conductor line of the plurality of conductor lines is electrically connected to a live portion of a battery cell of the plurality of battery cells via the temperature sensor.

11. The battery system according to claim 1, wherein: The conductor arrangement includes an additional printed circuit board having a plurality of fuses connected between the flexible flat cable and the cell monitoring circuit.

12. An electric vehicle, characterized in that: Comprising the battery system according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

13. A battery monitoring unit, characterized in that: include: Single-cell monitoring circuit; as well as A conductor arrangement includes a plurality of conductor lines, a flexible flat cable, and a plurality of printed circuit boards overlapping the flexible flat cables, wherein first ends of the conductor lines are connected to the cell monitoring circuit via the flexible flat cable, and second ends of the conductor lines are electrically connectable to live parts of the battery cells via the printed circuit boards.

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