BATTERY TEST BENCH AND PROCEDURES

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a battery test bench, a connector for a battery test bench and a method.

[0002] Modern motor vehicles are increasingly equipped with fully electric or hybrid drives. A battery, also known as a traction battery, supplies one or more electric motors with electrical power to propel the vehicle.

[0003] During the manufacturing process, these batteries undergo a variety of tests. Among other things, a performance test is conducted to ensure functionality and operational safety as part of an end-of-line test. In this test, the battery is repeatedly charged and discharged within a short period. Furthermore, the battery can be subjected to a high voltage of up to 10 kilovolts for insulation testing.

[0004] During these tests, it is crucial to establish reliable electrical connections to link the battery under test to the test equipment. One known method is to provide a connector with a single pin and a single socket for each battery terminal, with the contact between the pin and socket monitored, for example, by means of thermal sensors or other sensors. However, such thermal sensors are prone to failure and complex to operate. Furthermore, thermal sensors are not approved for high-voltage tests up to 10 kilovolts, so alternative contact monitoring methods must be used for such high-voltage tests, if contact monitoring is required.

[0005] Document US20210313752A1 discloses an adapter for charging a battery. Document US2021278481A1 discloses a monitoring device for the contact area of ​​a plug connector. Document US2016109530A1 discloses a monitoring device for multiple batteries.

[0006] Against this background, the present invention addresses the technical problem of providing a battery test bench that enables reliable monitoring of the contact between plug connectors. Furthermore, a connector and a method are described.

[0007] According to a first aspect, the invention relates to a battery test bench, comprising a source for providing electrical charging power to a battery under test, a first connection for connecting a first terminal of the battery to a first terminal of the source, and a second connection for connecting a second terminal of the battery to a second terminal of the source, wherein the first connection comprises a first connector, the first connector having at least two contact pins, each contact pin being seated in an associated contact socket of the first connector when plugged in, and each contact pin forming an electrical contact with each contact socket, and wherein the second connection comprises a second connector, the second connector having at least two contact pins.wherein each contact pin, when plugged in, sits in a corresponding contact socket of the second connector and each contact pin forms an electrical contact with each contact socket, with a monitoring device for monitoring all electrical contacts.

[0008] Instead of providing a connector for each connection with a single contact pin of sufficient size for power transmission and a single, sufficiently large contact socket associated with the contact pin, the current path in the connector area is artificially divided according to the invention and routed via two or more contacts for each connection in order to monitor these contacts specifically. Therefore, a deliberately excessive number of contact pins and contact sockets is accepted for each connector in order to simplify the monitoring of the respective connection and thus increase the safety of the battery test bench.

[0009] Monitoring all electrical contacts enables the early detection of contact problems before they lead to production downtime, damage, or fire. In particular, gradually developing contact problems can be identified and rectified early. The success of maintenance is immediately measurable after replacing defective components, as all electrical contacts are monitored.

[0010] When a source is mentioned in this context, it may be a source that can also be used as a sink for discharging a battery under test.

[0011] According to one embodiment of the battery test bench, the monitoring device is designed to compare the respective individual currents flowing through the individual electrical contacts, with each electrical contact being assigned a current measurement device.

[0012] It may be provided that the monitoring device is designed to compare the respective contact resistances formed at the individual electrical contacts, wherein each electrical contact is assigned a current measurement device and each connector is assigned a voltage measurement device.

[0013] In particular, the individual currents of all contacts of a respective connector can therefore be monitored.

[0014] In the connected and switched-on state, the symmetry of the current distribution across all contacts of a given connector can be calculated, and optionally, the contact resistance and power drop can be determined for each contact. If either the deviation from the symmetry of the current distribution, the resistance of a strand, or the power drop of a strand exceeds a warning threshold, either optionally or in combination, this can be detected and trigger a warning message and / or initiate countermeasures. For example, the current flow can be interrupted when a given fault threshold is reached.

[0015] According to one embodiment of the battery test bench, the first connector has exactly two contact pins and exactly two contact sockets and / or the second connector has exactly two contact pins and exactly two contact sockets.

[0016] It may be provided that the first connector has exactly three contact pins and exactly three contact sockets and / or the second connector has exactly three contact pins and exactly three contact sockets.

[0017] According to one embodiment of the battery test bench, the first connector has up to ten contact pins and up to ten contact sockets and / or the second connector has up to ten contact pins and up to ten contact sockets.

[0018] A third connection may be provided for connecting a third pole of the battery to a third pole of the source, wherein the third connection has a third connector, wherein the third connector has at least two contact pins, each contact pin being in an associated contact socket of the third connector when plugged in, and each contact pin forming an electrical contact with each contact socket.

[0019] According to one embodiment of the battery test bench, each connector has a plug and a mating plug, wherein the plug has the contact pins and the mating plug has the contact sockets, or wherein the mating plug has the contact pins and the plug has the contact sockets.

[0020] According to a second aspect, the invention relates to a connector for a battery test bench according to the invention, wherein the connector is designed to connect a pole of the battery to a pole of the source, wherein the connector has at least two contact pins, wherein each contact pin, when plugged in, sits in an associated contact socket of the connector and each contact pin forms an electrical contact with each contact socket.

[0021] According to a third aspect, the invention relates to a method comprising the following steps: operating a battery test bench, wherein a source for providing electrical charging power is connected to a battery under test, wherein a first connection is formed between a first pole of the battery and a first pole of the source, wherein a second connection is formed between a second pole of the battery and a second pole of the source, wherein the first connection has a first connector, wherein the first connector has at least two contact pins, wherein each contact pin, when plugged in, sits in an associated contact socket of the first connector and each contact pin forms an electrical contact with each contact socket, wherein the second connection has a second connector, wherein the second connector has at least two contact pins.wherein each contact pin, when plugged in, sits in a corresponding contact socket of the second connector and each contact pin forms an electrical contact with each contact socket; monitoring of all electrical contacts by means of a monitoring device.

[0022] The invention is described in more detail below with reference to exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawings. These schematically depict: Fig. 1 a connector according to the invention for a battery test bench; Fig. 2 a battery test bench according to the invention; Fig. 3 the battery test bench according to the invention made of Fig. 2 ; Fig. 4 Process steps; Fig. 5 Process steps; Fig. 6 a further battery test bench according to the invention; Fig. 7 a further battery test bench according to the invention.

[0023] Fig. 1 Figure 2 shows a connector 2 for a battery test bench. Connector 2 has a plug 4 and a mating plug 6. Connector 2 is designed to connect one terminal of a battery under test to a terminal of a power source. When a power source is mentioned here, it refers to a source for providing electrical power, such as a current source, a voltage source, or the like.

[0024] Connector 2 has three contact pins 8, which are attached to the mating connector 6. Connector 2 also has three contact sockets 10, which are attached to the plug 4.

[0025] Each contact pin 8 forms an electrical connection with an associated contact socket 10 when plugged in, with each contact socket 10 containing one contact pin 8 when plugged in. Therefore, when plugged in, the connector 2 has three electrical contacts to electrically connect two conductors 12 and 14.

[0026] Fig. 2 Figure 18 shows a battery test bench 18. The battery test bench 18 has a source 20 for providing electrical charging power to a battery 22 under test. The source 20 can also serve as a sink for discharging the battery 22 under test.

[0027] Between the battery 22 and the source 20, a first connection 24, a second connection 26 and a third connection 28 are formed.

[0028] The first connection 24 connects a first terminal 30 of battery 22 to a first terminal 32 of the power source. The second connection 26 connects a second terminal 34 of battery 22 to a second terminal 36 of the power source. The third connection 28 connects a third terminal 38 of battery 22 to a third terminal 40 of the power source. The terminals of battery 22 can be, for example, a positive terminal (+), a negative terminal (-), and a terminal (PE) for protective earth.

[0029] The first connection has a first connector 42. The second connection 26 has a second connector 44. The third connection 28 has a third connector 46. The connectors 42, 44, and 46 are identical in construction to those described above with reference to Fig. 1 described connector 2. Accordingly, each of the connectors 42, 44, 46 has three contact pins, each of which sits in associated contact sockets, so that each of the connectors 42, 44, 46 forms three separate electrical contacts, i.e. a first contact, a second contact and a third contact.

[0030] A monitoring device monitors each individual electrical contact. Thus, during the transfer of charging power from source 20 to battery 22, and also during the discharge of battery 22, the current flowing in the area of ​​each contact is measured. The monitoring device is represented here by the current measurements I1, I2, I3, I4, I5, I6, I7, I8, and I9.

[0031] To monitor the individual contacts of each connector 42, 44, 46, it is checked whether the individual partial currents of the paths formed by the individual contact sockets and contact pins are approximately equal. For connector 42, the partial currents I1, I2, and I3 should be approximately equal, provided each contact is fault-free. This applies analogously to the partial currents I4, I5, and I6 of connector 44 and to the partial currents I7, I8, and I9 of connector 46.

[0032] Thus, for the connector 42, the average partial current I m ​​= (I1+I2+I3) / 3 is obtained, since a total current I24 of the first connection 24 should be distributed evenly across all three paths of the connector 42, provided that each of the contacts is fault-free.

[0033] If, during a check of the partial currents, it turns out that, for example, a deviation ΔI = I1 - Im of the first partial current of connector 42 exceeds a predefined limit, the contact in question is faulty. This can be checked analogously for each of the values ​​I2, I3, I4, I5, I6, I7, I8, I9.

[0034] Fig. 3 Figure 1 shows an alternative design of a monitoring device for which, in addition to the aforementioned partial currents I1, I2, I3, I4, I5, I6, I7, I8, I9, a measurement of the respective voltage U1, U2, U3 is taken across the respective connector 42, 44, 46.

[0035] From the voltage U1, the power P1 = U1 * I1 or the resistance R1 of the first contact of connector 42 can be calculated using the partial current I1 as R1 = U1 / I1. This calculation can be performed analogously for each of the three paths of a respective connector 42, 44, 46. Here, too, it can be checked whether a corresponding power and / or resistance deviates too much from a specified target value or whether a specified deviation exceeds a threshold value.

[0036] Because each of the connections 24, 26, 28 does not only use a connector with one contact pin and one contact socket, i.e., a connector with only one contact, but the connectors 42, 44, 46 in question each have three contact pins and three associated contact sockets, i.e., each have three contacts, these three contacts of a respective connector 42, 44, 46 can be used, due to their symmetry, to monitor each other and check their function.

[0037] Therefore, a procedure can be specified, comprising the following steps: (A) Operating a battery test stand 18, wherein a source 20 for providing electrical charging power is connected to a battery 22 under test, wherein a first connection 24 is formed between a first terminal 30 of the battery 22 and a first terminal 32 of the source 20, wherein a second connection 26 is formed between a second terminal 34 of the battery 22 and a second terminal 36 of the source 20, wherein a third connection 28 is formed between a third terminal 38 of the battery 22 and a third terminal 40 of the source 20, wherein the first connection 24 has a first connector 42, wherein the first connector 42 has three contact pins, each contact pin being seated in an associated contact socket of the first connector 42 when plugged in, and each contact pin forming an electrical contact with each contact socket, wherein the second connection 26 has a second connector 44,wherein the second connector 44 has three contact pins, each contact pin being seated in an associated contact socket of the second connector 44 when plugged in, and each contact pin forming an electrical contact with each contact socket; and wherein the third connection 28 has a third connector 46, the third connector 46 having three contact pins, each contact pin being seated in an associated contact socket of the second connector 44 when plugged in, and each contact pin forming an electrical contact with each contact socket; (B) Monitoring all electrical contacts by means of a monitoring device.

[0038] The procedure described above can be applied equally to a battery test stand 18' according to the Fig. 6 und Fig. 7transferred. To avoid repetition, only the differences from the previously described embodiment will be discussed, with the same reference numerals assigned to identical features.

[0039] Battery test stand 18' differs from battery test stand 18 in that connections 24', 26', 28' are provided with only two paths, i.e., two contacts. Each connector 42', 44', 46' therefore has exactly two contact sockets and exactly two contact pins.

[0040] Therefore, a procedure can be specified, comprising the following steps: (I) Operating a battery test stand 18', wherein a source 20 for providing electrical charging power is connected to a battery 22 under test, wherein a first connection 24' is formed between a first terminal 30 of the battery 22 and a first terminal 32 of the source 20, wherein a second connection 26' is formed between a second terminal 34 of the battery 22 and a second terminal 36 of the source 20, wherein a third connection 28' is formed between a third terminal 38 of the battery 22 and a third terminal 40 of the source 20, wherein the first connection 24' has a first connector 42', wherein the first connector 42' has two contact pins, each contact pin being seated in an associated contact socket of the first connector 42' when plugged in, and each contact pin forming an electrical contact with each contact socket,wherein the second connection 26' has a second connector 44', wherein the second connector 44' has two contact pins, each contact pin being seated in an associated socket of the second connector 44' when plugged in, and each contact pin forming an electrical contact with each socket; and wherein the third connection 28' has a third connector 46', wherein the third connector 46' has two contact pins, each contact pin being seated in an associated socket of the second connector 44' when plugged in, and each contact pin forming an electrical contact with each socket; (II) Monitoring all electrical contacts by means of a monitoring device. Reference sign

[0041] 2 Connector 4 Plug 6 Mating plug 8 Contact pin 10 Contact socket 12 Lead 14 Lead 18, 18' Battery test stand 20 Source 22 Battery 24, 24' First connection 26, 26' Second connection 28, 28' Third connection 30 First terminal of battery 32 First terminal of source 34 Second terminal of battery 36 Second terminal of source 38 Third terminal of battery 40 Third terminal of source 42, 42' First connector 44, 44' Second connector 46, 46' Third connector I1 Current measurement I2 Current measurement I3 Current measurement I4 Current measurement I5 Current measurement I6 Current measurement I7 Current measurement I8 Current measurement I9 Current measurement U1 Voltage measurement U2 Voltage measurement U3 Voltage measurement

Claims

1. A battery test stand, - having a source (20) for providing electrical charging power to a battery (22) to be tested, - having a first connection (24, 24') for connecting a first terminal (30) of the battery (22) to a first terminal (32) of the source (20), - having a second connection (26, 26') for connecting a second terminal (34) of the battery (22) to a second terminal (36) of the source (20), - wherein the first connection (24, 24') comprises a first connector (42, 42'), wherein the first connector (42, 42') comprises at least two contact pins (8), wherein, in the mated state, a respective contact pin (8) is seated in each case in an associated contact socket (10) of the first connector (42, 42') and each contact pin (8) forms in each case an electrical contact with each contact socket (10), - wherein the second connection (26, 26') comprises a second connector (44, 44'), wherein the second connector (44, 44') comprises at least two contact pins (8), wherein, in the mated state, a respective contact pin (8) is seated in each case in an associated contact socket (10) of the second connector (44, 44') and each contact pin (8) forms in each case an electrical contact with each contact socket (10), and - having a monitoring device (I1, I2, I3, I4, I5, I6, I7, I8, I9, U1, U2, U3) characterized in that - the monitoring device (I1, I2, I3, I4, I5, I6, I7, I8, I9, U1, U2, U3) is provided for monitoring all electrical contacts.

2. The battery test stand according to claim 1, characterized in that - the monitoring device (I1, I2, I3, I4, I5, I6, I7, I8, I9, U1, U2, U3) is designed to compare the respective individual currents flowing across the individual electrical contacts, - wherein a device for current measurement is assigned to each electrical contact.

3. The battery test stand according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that - the monitoring device (I1, I2, I3, I4, I5, I6, I7, I8, I9, U1, U2, U3) is designed to compare the respective contact resistances formed at the individual electrical contacts, - wherein a device for current measurement (I1, I2, I3, I4, I5, I6, I7, I8, I9) is assigned to each electrical contact and wherein a device for voltage measurement (U1, U2, U3) is assigned to each connector (42, 44, 42', 44').

4. The battery test stand according to any one of the claims 1- 3, characterized in that - the first connector (42') has exactly two contact pins (8) and exactly two contact sockets (10) and / or - the second connector (44') has exactly two contact pins (8) and exactly two contact sockets (10).

5. The battery test stand according to any one of the claims 1-3, characterized in that - the first connector (42) has exactly three contact pins (8) and exactly three contact sockets (10) and / or - the second connector (44) has exactly three contact pins and exactly three contact sockets.

6. The battery test stand according to any one of the claims 1-3, characterized in that - the first connector (42, 42') has up to ten contact pins (8) and up to ten contact sockets (10) and / or - the second connector (44. 44') has up to ten contact pins (8) and up to ten contact sockets (10).

7. The battery test stand according to any one of the preceding claims 1-6, characterized by - a third connection (28, 28') for connecting a third terminal (38) of the battery (22) to a third terminal (30) of the source (20), - wherein the third connection (28, 28') comprises a third connector (46, 46'), wherein the third connector (46, 46') comprises at least two contact pins (8), wherein, in the mated state, a respective contact pin (8) is seated in each case in an associated contact socket (10) of the second connector and each contact pin (8) forms in each case an electrical contact with each contact socket (10).

8. The battery test stand according to any one of the preceding claims 1-7, characterized in that - each connector (42, 42', 44, 44', 46, 46') has a plug (4) and a mating plug (6), - wherein the plug (4) carries the contact pins (8) and the mating plug (6) carries the contact sockets (10) or - wherein the plug (4) carries the contact pins and the mating plug (6) carries the contact sockets (10).

9. A connector for a battery test stand according to any one of the preceding claims 1-8, - wherein the connector (2, 42, 44, 46, 42', 44', 46') is adapted to connect a terminal (30, 34, 38) of the battery (22) to a terminal (32, 36, 40) of the source (20), - wherein the connector (2, 42, 44, 46, 42', 44', 46') has at least two contact pins (8), - wherein, in the mated state, a respective contact pin (8) is seated in each case in an associated contact socket (10) of the connector (2, 42, 44, 46, 42', 44', 46') and each contact pin (8) forms in each case a respective electrical contact with each contact socket (10).

10. A method, comprising the method steps of - operating a battery test stand, - wherein a source (20) for providing electrical charging power is connected to a battery (22) to be tested, - wherein a first connection (24, 24') is formed between a first terminal (30) of the battery (22) and a first terminal (32) of the source (20), - wherein a second connection (26, 26') is formed between a second terminal (34) of the battery (22) and a second terminal (36) of the source (20), - wherein the first connection (24, 24') comprises a first connector (42, 42'), wherein the first connector (42, 42') comprises at least two contact pins, wherein, in the mated state, a respective contact pin is seated in each case in an associated contact socket of the first connector (42, 42') and each contact pin forms in each case an electrical contact with each contact socket, - wherein the second connection (26, 26') comprises a second connector (44, 44'), wherein the second connector (44, 44') comprises at least two contact pins (8), wherein, in the mated state, a respective contact pin (8) is seated in each case in an associated contact socket (10) of the second connector (44, 44') and each contact pin (10) forms in each case an electrical contact with each contact socket (8); characterized in that - all of electrical contacts are monitored by means of a monitoring device.