Discharger and discharge control method

Abstract

To provide a discharger capable of facilitating the discharge of a storage battery.SOLUTION: A discharger 1 includes a control unit 11 that controls the discharge of a battery 2. The control unit 11 is configured to disable the over-discharge protection function of the battery 2 first, which protects the battery 2 from over-discharge, and then discharge the battery 2.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a discharger for discharging a storage battery and a discharge control method. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a battery pack, in which, when an abnormality detection circuit detects an abnormality in the battery pack, the ON / OFF control unit is controlled to discharge the battery cells using a remaining capacity display element. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-306782 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The present disclosure aims to provide a discharger and a discharge control method that facilitates discharging a storage battery. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In order to achieve the above object, a discharger according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a control unit that controls discharging of a storage battery, and the control unit disables an over-discharge protection function that protects the storage battery from over-discharge before discharging the storage battery.

[0006] Furthermore, a discharge control method according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a discharge control method for controlling the discharge of a storage battery, and includes disabling an over-discharge protection function of the storage battery that protects the storage battery from over-discharge, and then discharging the storage battery. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] The discharger and the like according to the present disclosure has the advantage of making it easy to discharge a storage battery. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration including a discharger according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the discharger and the storage battery according to the embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the discharge control of the battery cells in the discharger according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the discharger according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that each of the embodiments described below represents a specific example of the present disclosure. Therefore, the numerical values, shapes, materials, components, component arrangements and connection forms, steps, step order, etc. shown in the following embodiments are merely examples and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Therefore, among the components in the following embodiments, components not recited in independent claims will be described as optional components.

[0010] Furthermore, each figure is a schematic diagram and is not necessarily an exact illustration. Therefore, for example, the scales and the like do not necessarily match in each figure. Furthermore, in each figure, substantially the same configurations are assigned the same reference numerals, and duplicate explanations are omitted or simplified.

[0011] A discharger and a discharge control method according to an embodiment will be described below.

[0012] (Embodiment) [1. Configuration] Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration including a discharger 1 according to an embodiment. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the discharger 1 according to an embodiment and a storage battery 2. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram showing discharge control of a battery cell 21 (described later) in the discharger 1 according to an embodiment.

[0013] First, a storage battery 2 according to an embodiment will be described. The storage battery 2 is used by being connected to, for example, an electric bicycle. The electric bicycle is a vehicle that can travel on a road surface using electrical power supplied from the storage battery 2, and is, for example, an electrically assisted bicycle or a specific small motorized bicycle such as an electric kick scooter. The electric bicycle may be a vehicle for which the user does not require a driver's license. Furthermore, the storage battery 2 is not limited to being used in an electric bicycle, and may also be used in any vehicle that can travel on a road surface using electrical power.

[0014] 1, the storage battery 2 includes a plurality of battery cells 21, a control circuit 22, and a terminal unit 2A. The terminal unit 2A has one or more conductive terminals and is configured to be connectable to the connection terminal unit 1A of the discharger 1.

[0015] Each of the plurality of battery cells 21 is a cell of a secondary battery such as a lithium ion battery, a nickel-metal hydride battery, or a nickel-cadmium battery. The plurality of battery cells 21 may be connected in series. Alternatively, the plurality of battery cells 21 may be configured such that two or more battery cells 21 connected in parallel form one block, and multiple blocks are connected in series. In this embodiment, the number of the plurality of battery cells 21 is seven, and they are connected in series.

[0016] The control circuit 22 is, for example, a microcomputer (microcontroller) or the like, and is composed of a non-volatile memory in which programs and the like are stored, a volatile memory (storage unit) which is a temporary storage area for executing the programs, an input / output port, a processor for executing the programs, etc. The control circuit 22 may also be realized by a dedicated electronic circuit.

[0017] The control circuit 22 executes various controls related to the storage battery 2. For example, the control circuit 22 has a charging function of receiving power from a charger to charge the storage battery 2 when the storage battery 2 is connected to the charger. Also, for example, the control circuit 22 has a cell balancing function of controlling charging or discharging of the storage battery 2 so as to maintain a balance between the voltages of the plurality of battery cells 21. Also, for example, the control circuit 22 has an over-discharge protection function of forcibly stopping discharging of the storage battery 2 when the voltage of any one of the plurality of battery cells 21 falls below a reference voltage.

[0018] Next, a discharger 1 according to an embodiment will be described. The discharger 1 has a function of discharging a storage battery 2. In the embodiment, the discharger 1 is loaned to a user when, for example, an event occurs that requires the storage battery 2 used by the user to be collected. The user then discharges the storage battery 2 using the loaned discharger 1. In this case, the storage battery 2 is collected after being sufficiently discharged by the discharger 1.

[0019] The discharger 1 may be loaned to a user by a company that provides the user with the storage battery 2, such as a manufacturer of the storage battery 2 or a manufacturer of an electric bicycle. The discharger 1 may also be used by a company that recycles the storage battery 2. In this case, the discharger 1 is used not by the user but by an employee of the company.

[0020] As shown in Fig. 2, the discharger 1 includes a housing 100 that houses internal circuits such as a processing unit 10 and a power supply 17, which will be described later. The housing 100 is provided with a base 101 on which the storage battery 2 is placed. The base 101 is provided with a connection terminal 1A (see Fig. 1) that can be connected to a terminal 2A (see Fig. 1) of the storage battery 2. By placing the storage battery 2 on the base 101, the connection terminal 1A of the discharger 1 and the terminal 2A of the storage battery 2 are connected, and the internal circuitry of the discharger 1 is connected to the internal circuitry of the storage battery 2.

[0021] 1, the discharger 1 includes a control unit 11, a determination unit 12, a charge limiting unit 13, a temperature acquisition unit 14, a voltage acquisition unit 15, a notification unit 16, and a power supply 17. In the embodiment, the control unit 11, the determination unit 12, the charge limiting unit 13, the temperature acquisition unit 14, the voltage acquisition unit 15, and the notification unit 16 are realized by a processing unit 10 such as a microcomputer (microcontroller).

[0022] The processing unit 10 is composed of, for example, a non-volatile memory in which programs and the like are stored, a volatile memory (storage unit) which is a temporary storage area for executing the programs, an input / output port, a processor that executes the programs, etc. The processing unit 10 may also be realized by a dedicated electronic circuit.

[0023] The control unit 11 controls the discharge of the storage battery 2. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3 , the control unit 11 turns on both a first switch Sw1 connected in series to a resistor 18 mounted on the discharger 1 and a second switch Sw2 connected in series to the plurality of battery cells 21, thereby discharging the plurality of battery cells 21 via the resistor 18. Furthermore, while the storage battery 2 is being discharged, the control unit 11 turns off both the first switch Sw1 and the second switch Sw2 to stop the discharge of the storage battery 2. Each of the first switch Sw1 and the second switch Sw2 is, for example, a field effect transistor (FET). Furthermore, the control unit 11 may issue instructions to each of the first switch Sw1 and the second switch Sw2 directly via the connection terminal unit 1A and the terminal unit 2A, or indirectly via the control circuit 22.

[0024] Here, the control unit 11 disables the over-discharge protection function of the storage battery 2, which protects the storage battery 2 from over-discharge, before discharging the storage battery 2. Specifically, before starting to discharge the storage battery 2, the control unit 11 disables the over-discharge protection function by rewriting software for executing the over-discharge protection function executed by the control circuit 22 of the storage battery 2. Therefore, while the storage battery 2 is being discharged, the over-discharge protection function of the control circuit 22 does not work, and the discharge of the storage battery 2 is not forcibly stopped even if any of the battery cells 21 falls below the reference voltage.

[0025] In this embodiment, the control unit 11 discharges the storage battery 2, in principle, until all voltages of the multiple battery cells 21 acquired by the voltage acquisition unit 15 (described later) fall below a reference voltage. Specifically, the control unit 11 monitors the voltages of the multiple battery cells 21 acquired by the voltage acquisition unit 15, and continues discharging the multiple battery cells 21 via the resistor 18 until the voltages across all of the battery cells 21 fall below the reference voltage. Then, when the voltages across all of the battery cells 21 fall below the reference voltage, the control unit 11 turns off both the first switch Sw1 and the second switch Sw2, thereby stopping the discharging of the multiple battery cells 21 via the resistor 18.

[0026] Furthermore, when the temperature acquired by the temperature acquisition unit 14 (described later) exceeds a reference temperature while the storage battery 2 is being discharged, the control unit 11 stops the discharge of the storage battery 2. Specifically, the control unit 11 turns off the first switch Sw1 to temporarily stop the discharge of the plurality of battery cells 21 via the resistor 18. Then, when the temperature acquired by the temperature acquisition unit 14 falls below the reference temperature while the discharge of the storage battery 2 is stopped, the control unit 11 resumes the discharge of the storage battery 2. Specifically, the control unit 11 turns on the first switch Sw1 to resume the discharge of the plurality of battery cells 21 via the resistor 18.

[0027] Furthermore, when the storage battery 2 is connected to the discharger 1, the control unit 11 starts up the control circuit 22 by supplying power from a power source 17 (described later) to the control circuit 22 included in the storage battery 2. Specifically, the control unit 11 starts up the control circuit 22 by supplying operating power from the power source 17 to the control circuit 22 via the connection terminal 1A of the discharger 1 and the terminal 2A of the storage battery 2. The above process is effective when the control circuit 22 is in a sleep state.

[0028] Here, when the control circuit 22 is in a sleep state, it is common to start the control circuit 22 by connecting the storage battery 2 to a charger and applying a voltage to the plurality of battery cells 21 before starting to discharge the storage battery 2. In contrast, the discharger 1 according to the embodiment is provided with a power supply 17, and therefore the control circuit 22 can be started without having to bother connecting the storage battery 2 to a charger, which has the advantage of making it easier to reduce the workload required to discharge the storage battery 2.

[0029] The determination unit 12 determines whether the storage battery 2 is to be discharged. Here, the storage battery 2 being to be discharged means, for example, that a storage battery manufactured during a certain period may have a defect that requires recall, and if the storage battery 2 was manufactured during that period, the storage battery 2 is to be recalled. Specifically, the determination unit 12 acquires identification information from the storage battery 2 via the terminal unit 2A and the connection terminal unit 1A, and determines whether the storage battery 2 is to be discharged based on the identification information. The identification information is, for example, a lot number or a serial number, and is information for identifying the storage battery 2.

[0030] The determination unit 12 compares the acquired identification information with a list of identification numbers stored in memory. If the acquired identification information is included in the list, the determination unit 12 determines that the storage battery 2 is to be discharged, and if the acquired identification information is not included in the list, the determination unit 12 determines that the storage battery 2 is not to be discharged. The list of identification numbers is stored in memory in advance, for example, before the discharger 1 is loaned to a user.

[0031] The charge limiting unit 13 limits the charging function of the storage battery 2 to charge the storage battery 2. Specifically, before starting to discharge the storage battery 2, the charge limiting unit 13 disables the charging function by rewriting software for executing the charging function executed by the control circuit 22 of the storage battery 2. Therefore, after the charging function is disabled, even if the storage battery 2 is connected to a charger, the charging function by the control circuit 22 does not work, and it is possible to prevent the storage battery 2 to be collected from being unnecessarily charged.

[0032] The temperature acquisition unit 14 acquires the temperature of at least one of the storage battery 2 and the discharger 1. In the embodiment, the temperature acquisition unit 14 acquires the internal temperature of the discharger 1 by acquiring the detection result of a temperature detection element such as a thermistor mounted inside the discharger 1. Note that the temperature acquisition unit 14 may also acquire the internal temperature of the storage battery 2 by acquiring the detection result of a temperature detection element mounted inside the storage battery 2.

[0033] The voltage acquisition unit 15 acquires the voltage of each of the plurality of battery cells 21. In the embodiment, the control circuit 22 of the storage battery 2 monitors the voltage across each of the plurality of battery cells 21. Therefore, the voltage acquisition unit 15 acquires data on the voltage across each of the plurality of battery cells 21 from the control circuit 22 by communicating with the control circuit 22 via the connection terminal unit 1A and the terminal unit 2A, thereby acquiring the voltage of each of the plurality of battery cells 21.

[0034] The notification unit 16 notifies the user of the discharger 1 of the discharge status of the storage battery 2. In the embodiment, the notification unit 16 lights up any one of one or more (here, three) indicator lights 102 (see FIG. 2) provided on the housing 100 of the discharger 1, thereby notifying the user of the discharger 1 of the discharge status of the storage battery 2. Each indicator light 102 is, for example, an LED (Light Emitting Diode).

[0035] Here, the discharging status may include, for example, a status in which the storage battery 2 is being discharged or a status in which the discharging of the storage battery 2 has been completed. In addition, the discharging status may also include, for example, a status in which the storage battery 2 is not a target for discharging or a status in which the storage battery 2 cannot be discharged due to some abnormality.

[0036] In the embodiment, when the determination unit 12 determines that the storage battery 2 is not a target for discharge, the notification unit 16 turns on the red indicator light 102 among the three indicator lights 102. Furthermore, when the control unit 11 starts discharging the storage battery 2, the notification unit 16 turns on the yellow indicator light 102 among the three indicator lights 102. Furthermore, when the control unit 11 completes discharging the storage battery 2, the notification unit 16 turns on the blue indicator light 102 among the three indicator lights 102.

[0037] The power supply 17 is a primary battery or a secondary battery such as an AA battery, and supplies operating power to the processing unit 10. In other words, the power supply 17 is a power source for operating the discharger 1. As described above, the power supply 17 is also used to supply power to the storage battery 2 connected to the discharger 1, thereby activating the control circuit 22 of the storage battery 2 from a sleep state.

[0038] [2. Operation] An example of the operation of the discharger 1 according to the embodiment will be described below with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the discharger 1 according to the embodiment. In the following description, it is assumed that the control circuit 22 of the storage battery 2 is in a sleep state. If the control circuit 22 of the storage battery 2 is not in a sleep state, the processing of step S1 below will be omitted.

[0039] First, when the storage battery 2 is connected to the discharger 1, the control unit 11 supplies power from the power source 17 to the control circuit 22 of the storage battery 2, thereby starting up the storage battery 2 (control circuit 22) (S1).

[0040] Next, the determination unit 12 determines whether the storage battery 2 connected to the discharger 1 is to be discharged (S2). If the determination unit 12 determines that the storage battery 2 is to be discharged (S2: Yes), the charge limiting unit 13 disables the charging function of the control circuit 22 of the storage battery 2 (S3). Furthermore, the control unit 11 disables the over-discharge protection function of the control circuit 22 of the storage battery 2 (S4). Note that the order of executing steps S3 and S4 may be reversed. Furthermore, steps S3 and S4 may be executed simultaneously.

[0041] Next, the control unit 11 starts discharging the storage battery 2 (S5). At this time, the notification unit 16 notifies that discharging of the storage battery 2 has started, for example, by turning on the yellow indicator light 102 (S6).

[0042] When the discharge of the storage battery 2 starts, the voltage acquisition unit 15 periodically acquires the voltage of each of the plurality of battery cells 21 (S7). Then, the control unit 11 continues discharging the storage battery 2 while the voltages of all the battery cells 21 are above the reference voltage (S8: No).

[0043] Furthermore, when discharging of the storage battery 2 starts, the temperature acquisition unit 14 periodically acquires the temperature of at least one of the discharger 1 and the storage battery 2 (here, the temperature of the internal circuit of the discharger 1) (S9). Then, if the temperature acquired by the temperature acquisition unit 14 exceeds the reference temperature, that is, if there is a temperature abnormality (S10: Yes), the control unit 11 temporarily stops discharging of the storage battery 2 (S11). On the other hand, if the temperature acquired by the temperature acquisition unit 14 is below the reference temperature, that is, if there is no temperature abnormality (S10: No), the control unit 11 continues discharging of the storage battery 2 (S12).

[0044] Thereafter, the processes of steps S7 to S12 are repeated. Then, when the voltages of all the battery cells 21 fall below the reference voltage (S8: Yes), the control unit 11 stops discharging the storage battery 2 (S13). At this time, the notification unit 16 notifies that discharging of the storage battery 2 has been completed by, for example, turning on the blue indicator light 102 (S14).

[0045] If the determination unit 12 determines that the storage battery 2 is not a target for discharge (S2: No), the notification unit 16 notifies that the storage battery 2 is not a target for discharge, for example, by turning on the red indicator light 102 (S15). In this case, the control unit 11 does not start discharging the storage battery 2.

[0046] [3. Advantages] The advantages of the discharger 1 (discharge control method) according to the embodiment will be explained below, along with a comparison with a discharger of a comparative example. The discharger of the comparative example differs from the discharger 1 according to the embodiment in that it does not have the function of disabling the over-discharge protection function of the storage battery 2, but simply has the function of discharging via a resistor.

[0047] When discharging a storage battery using the discharger of the comparative example, if the storage battery does not have an over-discharge protection function, it is possible to sufficiently discharge each battery cell. However, if the storage battery has an over-discharge protection function, the over-discharge protection function activates and the voltage across any battery cell falls below a reference voltage, causing the discharge of the storage battery to stop. Therefore, the discharger of the comparative example has the problem that it cannot discharge the remaining battery cells, and as a result, the storage battery cannot be sufficiently discharged.

[0048] In contrast, the discharger 1 according to the embodiment disables the over-discharge protection function of the storage battery 2 before discharging the storage battery 2, so that even if the voltage across any one of the battery cells 21 falls below the reference voltage, the over-discharge protection function does not activate and the discharge of the storage battery 2 does not stop. Therefore, the discharger 1 according to the embodiment has the advantage that all the battery cells 21 can be sufficiently discharged, making it easy to discharge the storage battery 2.

[0049] (Other variations, etc.) Although the present disclosure has been described above based on the embodiments, the present disclosure is not limited to these embodiments.

[0050] In the above embodiment, the power supply 17 is configured as a primary battery or a secondary battery, but is not limited to this. For example, the power supply 17 may be a constant voltage power supply that generates a constant voltage by receiving AC power supplied from a commercial power source. In this case, the discharger 1 only needs to have a power plug socket.

[0051] Furthermore, each unit used in the discharger 1 according to the above embodiment is typically realized as an LSI, which is an integrated circuit. These may be individually implemented as single chips, or some or all of them may be integrated into a single chip.

[0052] Furthermore, the integration is not limited to LSI, but may be realized by dedicated circuits or general-purpose processors. FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays), which can be programmed after LSI manufacturing, or reconfigurable processors, which allow the connections and settings of circuit cells within LSI to be reconfigured, may also be used.

[0053] In the above-described embodiments, each component may be configured with dedicated hardware, or may be realized by executing a software program suitable for each component. Each component may also be realized by a program execution unit such as a CPU or processor reading and executing a software program recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or semiconductor memory.

[0054] Furthermore, all of the numbers used above are examples for specifically explaining the present disclosure, and the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the numbers shown as examples.

[0055] The division of functional blocks in the block diagram is an example, and multiple functional blocks may be realized as a single functional block, one functional block may be divided into multiple blocks, or some functions may be moved to another functional block.Furthermore, the functions of multiple functional blocks having similar functions may be processed in parallel or in time-sharing by a single piece of hardware or software.

[0056] The order in which the steps in the flowchart are executed is merely an example for specifically explaining the present disclosure, and an order other than the above may be used. Also, some of the steps may be executed simultaneously (in parallel) with other steps.

[0057] The present disclosure may also be realized as a method executed by a computer, or as a program for causing a computer to execute such a method. The present disclosure may also be realized as a computer-readable non-transitory recording medium having such a program recorded thereon.

[0058] In addition, this disclosure also includes forms obtained by making various modifications to the embodiments that a person skilled in the art would think of, and forms realized by arbitrarily combining the components and functions of the embodiments within the scope that does not deviate from the intent of this disclosure.

[0059] (summary) As described above, the discharger 1 according to the first aspect includes the control unit 11 that controls the discharge of the storage battery 2. The control unit 11 disables the over-discharge protection function of the storage battery 2 that protects the storage battery 2 from over-discharge, and then discharges the storage battery 2.

[0060] According to this, the over-discharge protection function of the storage battery 2 is disabled before the storage battery 2 is discharged, so even if the voltage across any of the battery cells 21 falls below the reference voltage, the over-discharge protection function does not work and the discharge of the storage battery 2 does not stop. Therefore, this has the advantage that all the battery cells 21 can be sufficiently discharged and the storage battery 2 can be easily discharged.

[0061] In addition, the discharger 1 according to the second aspect of the present disclosure is the same as in the first aspect, but further includes a determination unit 12 that determines whether the storage battery 2 is a target for discharge. When the determination unit 12 determines that the storage battery 2 is a target for discharge, the control unit 11 discharges the storage battery 2.

[0062] This has the advantage that only the storage battery 2 determined to be subject to discharge can be discharged, and therefore it is possible to prevent the storage battery 2 that does not need to be discharged from being accidentally discharged.

[0063] Moreover, the discharger 1 according to the third aspect of the present disclosure is the first or second aspect, and further includes a temperature acquisition unit 14 that acquires the temperature of at least one of the storage battery 2 and the discharger 1. The control unit 11 stops discharging the storage battery 2 when the temperature exceeds a reference temperature during discharging of the storage battery 2.

[0064] This has the advantage that, for example, it becomes easier to maintain the temperature of the internal circuit of the discharger 1 or storage battery 2 below the reference temperature, making it easier to prevent the internal circuit of the discharger 1 or storage battery 2 from overheating and becoming unable to operate normally.

[0065] In addition, in the discharger 1 according to the fourth aspect of the present disclosure, in the third aspect, the control unit 11 resumes discharging the storage battery 2 when the temperature falls below the reference temperature while discharging of the storage battery 2 is stopped.

[0066] This has the advantage that, for example, if the temperature of the internal circuit of the discharger 1 or the storage battery 2 is below the reference temperature, the discharge of the storage battery 2 that has been temporarily stopped can be resumed, making it easier to discharge the storage battery 2 sufficiently.

[0067] Moreover, the discharger 1 according to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure is the same as in any one of the first to fourth aspects, and further includes a charge limiting unit 13 that limits the charging function of the storage battery 2 to charge the storage battery 2.

[0068] This has the advantage that after the charging function is disabled, the charging function will not work even if the storage battery 2 is connected to a charger, so that the storage battery 2 to be collected can be prevented from being charged unnecessarily.

[0069] Furthermore, in the discharger 1 according to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, in any one of the first to fifth aspects, the storage battery 2 has a plurality of battery cells 21. The discharger 1 further includes a voltage acquisition unit 15 that acquires the voltage of each of the plurality of battery cells 21. The control unit 11 discharges the storage battery 2 until the voltages of all of the plurality of battery cells 21 fall below a reference voltage.

[0070] This has the advantage that all the battery cells 21 can be discharged, rather than only some of the battery cells 21, making it easier to discharge the storage battery 2 sufficiently.

[0071] Furthermore, the discharger 1 according to a seventh aspect of the present disclosure is in any one of the first to sixth aspects, and further includes a power source 17 that supplies power to the storage battery 2. When the storage battery 2 is connected to the discharger 1, the control unit 11 supplies power from the power source 17 to a control circuit 22 included in the storage battery 2, thereby starting up the control circuit 22.

[0072] This has the advantage that the control circuit 22 can be started without having to take the trouble of connecting the storage battery 2 to a charger, making it easier to reduce the workload required to discharge the storage battery 2.

[0073] Moreover, the discharger 1 according to an eighth aspect of the present disclosure is the discharger 1 of any one of the first to seventh aspects, further including a notification unit 16 that notifies the state of discharge of the storage battery 2.

[0074] This has the advantage that the user discharging the storage battery 2 can know the state of discharging the storage battery 2, and therefore the work required to discharge the storage battery 2 can be easily performed.

[0075] Furthermore, a discharge control method according to a ninth aspect of the present disclosure is a discharge control method for controlling discharge of the storage battery 2. The discharge control method includes disabling an over-discharge protection function of the storage battery 2 that protects the storage battery 2 from over-discharge (S4), and then discharging the storage battery 2 (S5).

[0076] According to this, the over-discharge protection function of the storage battery 2 is disabled before the storage battery 2 is discharged, so even if the voltage across any of the battery cells 21 falls below the reference voltage, the over-discharge protection function does not work and the discharge of the storage battery 2 does not stop. Therefore, this has the advantage that all the battery cells 21 can be sufficiently discharged and the storage battery 2 can be easily discharged. [Explanation of symbols]

[0077] 1 discharger 11 Control section 12 Judgment section 13 Charging limit unit 14 Temperature acquisition section 15 Voltage acquisition unit 16 Notification Department 17 Power supply 2. Storage battery 21 Battery Cells 22 Control circuit

Claims

1. a control unit that controls discharging of the storage battery; The control unit disables an over-discharge protection function of the storage battery that protects the storage battery from over-discharge, and then discharges the storage battery. discharger.

2. a determination unit that determines whether the storage battery is to be discharged; The control unit discharges the storage battery when the determination unit determines that the storage battery is the discharge target. The discharger according to claim 1 .

3. a temperature acquisition unit that acquires a temperature of at least one of the storage battery and the discharger; the control unit stops discharging the storage battery when the temperature exceeds a reference temperature during discharging of the storage battery.

3. The discharger according to claim 1 or 2.

4. the control unit resumes discharging the storage battery when the temperature falls below the reference temperature while discharging of the storage battery is stopped. The discharger according to claim 3.

5. The storage battery further includes a charge limiting unit that limits a charging function of the storage battery to charge the storage battery.

3. The discharger according to claim 1 or 2.

6. The storage battery has a plurality of battery cells, the discharger further includes a voltage acquisition unit that acquires a voltage of each of the plurality of battery cells; the control unit discharges the storage battery until the voltages of all of the plurality of battery cells fall below a reference voltage.

3. The discharger according to claim 1 or 2.

7. Further comprising a power source that supplies power to the storage battery; When the storage battery is connected to the discharger, the control unit supplies power from the power source to a control circuit included in the storage battery to start the control circuit.

3. The discharger according to claim 1 or 2.

8. Further, a notification unit that notifies the discharge status of the storage battery is provided.

3. The discharger according to claim 1 or 2.

9. A discharge control method for controlling discharge of a storage battery, comprising: disabling an over-discharge protection function of the storage battery that protects the storage battery from over-discharge, and then discharging the storage battery. Discharge control method.

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