Battery diagnostic device and method

Abstract

A battery diagnostic device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a pre-determined condition determination unit configured to determine a pre-determined condition corresponding to a diagnosis content for a battery, obtain pre-determined information corresponding to the pre-determined condition from an external device, and determine whether the pre-determined condition is satisfied based on the obtained pre-determined information; and a status diagnosis unit configured to obtain battery information corresponding to the diagnosis content, and diagnose a battery status based on the diagnosis content and the battery information depending on whether the pre-determined condition is satisfied.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2022-0064999, filed on May 26, 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety in the specification and drawings.

[0002] The present invention relates to a battery diagnostic device and method, and more particularly to a battery diagnostic device and method capable of diagnosing a battery. [Background technology]

[0003] Recently, the demand for portable electronic products such as laptops, video cameras, and mobile phones has increased dramatically, and the development of electric vehicles, energy storage batteries, robots, satellites, etc. has progressed in earnest. As a result, research into high-performance batteries that can be repeatedly charged and discharged is being actively conducted.

[0004] Batteries currently in commercial use include nickel-cadmium batteries, nickel-metal hydride batteries, nickel-zinc batteries, and lithium batteries. Of these, lithium batteries are attracting attention due to their advantages over nickel-based batteries, such as the fact that they have almost no memory effect and can be charged and discharged freely, their extremely low self-discharge rate, and their high energy density.

[0005] When such a battery is installed in a drive device such as a vehicle or an ESS (Energy storage system), the BMS (Battery management system) diagnoses the battery condition and generates and outputs a DTC (Diagnostic Trouble Code) for the diagnosis result. Since the DTC indicates the diagnosis result for the battery, the battery condition at the time of diagnosis can be confirmed through the DTC.

[0006] In general, the BMS can first check whether diagnosis can be performed before diagnosing the battery state. Specifically, the BMS checks pre-defined pre-conditions for each diagnosis content, and can diagnose the battery state for the diagnosis content only if all the pre-conditions are met. The reason why the BMS checks the pre-conditions first is that if the pre-conditions are not met, the diagnosis result may be inaccurate even if the battery state is diagnosed. Therefore, the BMS is designed to diagnose the battery state for the diagnosis content only if all the pre-conditions are met.

[0007] However, when there are multiple prerequisites for a certain diagnosis, if even one of the prerequisites is not met, the battery condition for that diagnosis may not be diagnosed. As a result, a DTC for the diagnosis may not be generated, which creates a problem in that it is not possible to confirm the reason why the diagnosis was not performed for that diagnosis and the battery condition. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has an object to provide a battery diagnosis device and method that can diagnose the state of a battery based on whether or not a prerequisite condition is satisfied, and if the prerequisite condition is not satisfied, record the reason why the prerequisite condition is not satisfied, and predictively diagnose the state of the battery.

[0009] Other objects and advantages of the present invention can be understood from the following description and will become more apparent from the embodiments of the present invention. Also, it will be easily understood that the objects and advantages of the present invention can be realized by the means and combinations thereof as set forth in the claims. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] A battery diagnostic device according to one aspect of the present invention may include a pre-determined condition determination unit configured to determine predetermined pre-determined conditions corresponding to diagnostic contents for a battery, obtain pre-determined information corresponding to the pre-determined conditions from an external device, and determine whether the pre-determined conditions are satisfied based on the obtained pre-determined information; and a status diagnosis unit configured to obtain battery information corresponding to the diagnostic contents, and diagnose a battery status based on the diagnostic contents and the battery information depending on whether the pre-determined conditions are satisfied.

[0011] The state diagnosis unit may be configured to diagnose the state of the battery by comparing the battery information corresponding to the diagnosis content with the diagnosis content when the precondition is satisfied.

[0012] The status diagnosis unit may be configured to, when the prerequisite condition is not satisfied, assume that the prerequisite condition is satisfied, and compare the battery information corresponding to the diagnosis content with the diagnosis content to diagnose a predicted status of the battery.

[0013] When the preconditions are multiple, the state diagnosis unit may be configured to diagnose a predicted state of the battery when any one of the multiple preconditions is not satisfied.

[0014] The battery diagnostic device according to another aspect of the present invention may further include a storage unit configured to store one or more diagnostic contents for the battery state and one or more prerequisite conditions corresponding to the diagnostic contents.

[0015] The state diagnosis unit may be configured to store the diagnosis result for the battery, a diagnosis type indicating a state of the battery, and whether or not the precondition is satisfied in the storage unit.

[0016] The status diagnosis unit may be configured to determine a DTC flag indicating the diagnosis result for the battery, a diagnosis type flag indicating the type of diagnosis, and a pre-determined condition flag indicating whether the pre-determined condition is satisfied, and to map the DTC flag, the diagnosis type flag, and the pre-determined condition flag and store them in the storage unit.

[0017] When there are a plurality of the prerequisite conditions, the condition diagnosis unit may be configured to determine the prerequisite condition flag for each of the plurality of prerequisite conditions.

[0018] A battery pack according to another aspect of the present invention may include the battery diagnostic device according to an aspect of the present invention.

[0019] A vehicle according to still another aspect of the present invention may include the battery diagnostic device according to one aspect of the present invention.

[0020] According to another aspect of the present invention, a battery diagnostic method may include a prerequisite condition determining step of determining a prerequisite condition preset to correspond to a diagnostic content for a battery, a prerequisite information acquiring step of acquiring prerequisite information corresponding to the prerequisite condition from an external device, a prerequisite condition fulfillment determining step of determining whether the prerequisite condition is fulfilled based on the acquired prerequisite information, a battery information acquiring step of acquiring battery information corresponding to the diagnostic content, and a battery status diagnosing step of diagnosing a battery status based on the diagnostic content and the battery information depending on whether the prerequisite condition is fulfilled. Effect of the Invention

[0021] According to an aspect of the present invention, the battery state can be diagnosed after first determining whether a prerequisite is satisfied, thereby improving the accuracy and reliability of the battery state diagnosis result.

[0022] Also, according to one embodiment of the present invention, there is an advantage that the predicted state of the battery can be diagnosed even if at least one of the prerequisites is not satisfied.

[0023] In addition, according to one embodiment of the present invention, since the diagnosis result, the diagnosis type, and whether or not the prerequisite conditions are satisfied are mapped and stored, it is advantageous in that various information regarding the battery state diagnosis can be provided.

[0024] The effects of the present invention are not limited to those mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description of the claims.

[0025] The following drawings attached to this specification illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention and, together with the detailed description of the invention, serve to further understand the technical ideas of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention should not be interpreted as being limited only to the matters described in the drawings. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0026] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating a battery diagnostic device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] 1 is a diagram illustrating a battery diagnostic device and an external device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 3] 4 is a diagram illustrating a pre-determined condition list referred to by the battery diagnostic device according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a pre-determined condition list according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] 4 is a diagram illustrating mapping information stored in a battery diagnostic device according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of mapping information according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of a battery pack according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8]FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a battery diagnostic method according to another embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0027] Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. Prior to this, the terms and words used in the present specification and claims are not to be construed as being limited to their ordinary and dictionary meanings, but are to be construed as having meanings and concepts according to the technical ideas of the present invention, in accordance with the principle that the inventors themselves can appropriately define the concepts of terms in order to best describe the invention.

[0028] Therefore, it should be understood that the configurations shown in the embodiments described in this specification are merely the most preferred embodiments of the present invention and do not represent the entire technical idea of ​​the present invention, and therefore there may be various equivalents and modifications that can be substituted therefor at the time of this application.

[0029] In addition, in describing the present invention, if a detailed description of related known structures or functions is determined to make the gist of the present invention unclear, the detailed description will be omitted.

[0030] Terms including ordinal numbers, such as first, second, etc., are used only to distinguish one of the various components from the rest, and are not used to limit the components by such terms.

[0031] Throughout the specification, when a part is said to "comprise" certain elements, this means that it can further include other elements, rather than excluding other elements, unless specifically stated to the contrary.

[0032] In addition, throughout the specification, when a part is said to be "connected" to another part, this includes not only the case where the part is "directly connected" to another part, but also the case where the part is "indirectly connected" via another element between them.

[0033] The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

[0034] Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating a battery diagnostic device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating the battery diagnostic device 100 and an external device 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0035] Referring to FIG. 1, a battery diagnostic device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a pre-determined condition determination unit 110 and a status diagnosis unit 120.

[0036] The pre-determined condition determination unit 110 may be configured to determine a pre-determined condition that is preset to correspond to the diagnosis content of the battery.

[0037] Specifically, the pre-determined condition determination unit 110 may first receive diagnostic content for the battery. Preferably, the pre-determined condition determination unit 110 may receive diagnostic content for the battery from the external device 200. In the embodiment of Fig. 2, the pre-determined condition determination unit 110 may be connected to the external device 200 so as to be able to communicate with the external device 200 via wired and / or wireless communication. The external device 200 is a device for diagnosing a state of a battery, and may be, for example, a device or server capable of testing a battery.

[0038] Specifically, the diagnosis content may be a content for comparing the state of the battery with a predetermined value. For example, the diagnosis content may include a comparison content for whether the temperature of the battery is below a predetermined temperature value or whether the voltage of the battery is equal to or higher than a predetermined voltage value. As a specific example, the diagnosis content may include a content for whether the temperature of the battery is below -30°C.

[0039] One or more prerequisites corresponding to the diagnosis contents may be stored in advance in the form of a prerequisite list. Specifically, prerequisites corresponding to factors to be diagnosed among the diagnosis contents may be stored in advance in the form of a prerequisite list.

[0040] 3 is a diagram illustrating a pre-determined condition list referred to by the battery diagnosis device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, the pre-determined condition list starts from record 0, and each record may include a pre-determined condition.

[0041] The pre-determined condition determination unit 110 can determine a pre-determined condition corresponding to the diagnosis content for the battery by referring to the pre-determined condition list. As in the above embodiment, it is assumed that the diagnosis content is "whether the battery temperature is below -30°C". The diagnosis target factor included in the diagnosis content is "temperature". Therefore, the pre-determined condition determination unit 110 can determine one or more pre-determined conditions corresponding to "temperature" from the pre-determined condition list.

[0042] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a pre-determined condition list according to an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing only the pre-determined condition corresponding to the above-mentioned diagnosis content ("whether the temperature of the battery is less than -30°C"). The pre-determined condition determination unit 110 can determine a first pre-determined condition for whether the voltage of the auxiliary battery is 7V or more, a second pre-determined condition for whether the voltage of the auxiliary battery is 18V or less, a third pre-determined condition for whether a CAN (Controller area network) signal "X" is 1, a fourth pre-determined condition for whether a DTC (Diagnostic trouble code) "AA" is set, a fifth pre-determined condition for whether a DTC "BB" is set, and a sixth pre-determined condition for whether a DTC "CC" is set.

[0043] The predetermined condition determining unit 110 may be configured to obtain predetermined information corresponding to the predetermined condition from the external device 200.

[0044] Specifically, the pre-determined condition determining unit 110 may obtain pre-determined information from the external device 200 in order to verify the determined pre-determined condition.

[0045] For example, it is assumed that the first to sixth preconditions of the above embodiment have been determined. The precondition determination unit 110 can obtain from the external device 200 the voltage of the auxiliary battery, the value of the CAN signal "X", whether or not DTC "AA" is set, whether or not DTC "BB" is set, and whether or not DTC "CC" is set.

[0046] The pre-determined condition determining unit 110 may be configured to determine, based on the obtained pre-determined information, whether the pre-determined condition is satisfied.

[0047] Specifically, the pre-determined condition determination unit 110 can determine whether the pre-determined condition corresponding to the diagnosis content is satisfied by substituting the acquired pre-determined information for the corresponding pre-determined condition. Here, the battery state can be diagnosed as normal only when the pre-determined condition is satisfied. In other words, the battery state according to the diagnosis content can be diagnosed as normal when all the pre-determined conditions corresponding to the diagnosis content are satisfied.

[0048] For example, in the above embodiment, it is assumed that the predetermined information received by the predetermined condition decision unit 110 is as follows.

[0049] 1) Auxiliary battery voltage: 7V 2) Value of CAN signal "X": 1 3) DTC "AA" setting: Not set 4) DTC "BB" setting: Not set 5) DTC "CC" setting: Not set

[0050] Referring to FIG. 4, since the voltage of the auxiliary battery is 7V, the first and second prerequisite conditions may be met. Also, since the value of the CAN signal "X" is 1, the third prerequisite condition may be met. Also, since none of the DTCs "AA", "BB", and "CC" are set, the fourth to sixth prerequisite conditions may be met. Therefore, the prerequisite condition determination unit 110 can determine that all the prerequisite conditions corresponding to the diagnosis contents are met.

[0051] The condition diagnosis unit 120 may be configured to obtain battery information corresponding to the diagnosis content.

[0052] Specifically, the status diagnosis unit 120 may be configured to acquire battery information corresponding to the diagnosis content, including the battery voltage, current, temperature, and SOC, etc. Preferably, the status diagnosis unit 120 may acquire information regarding a diagnosis target factor included in the diagnosis content.

[0053] For example, the state diagnosis unit 120 can obtain battery information corresponding to the diagnosis contents from a measurement unit that measures the state of the battery or a storage unit that stores the battery state information. As another example, the state diagnosis unit 120 can obtain battery information required for the battery state diagnosis from an external server or the like.

[0054] For example, as in the above embodiment, it is assumed that the diagnosis content is "whether the battery temperature is below -30°C." The state diagnosis unit 120 can obtain the current temperature information of the battery as the battery information.

[0055] The status diagnosis unit 120 may be configured to diagnose the status of the battery based on the diagnosis content and the battery information depending on whether a pre-determined condition is met.

[0056] Specifically, the state diagnosis unit 120 can diagnose the state of the battery by substituting the acquired battery information into the diagnosis content. Preferably, the battery state can be determined in advance so as to correspond to whether the diagnosis content is satisfied or not. For example, if the battery information satisfies the diagnosis content, the battery state may be normal, and if the battery information does not satisfy the diagnosis content, the battery state may be abnormal. Conversely, if the battery information satisfies the diagnosis content, the battery state may be abnormal, and if the battery information does not satisfy the diagnosis content, the battery state may be normal. That is, the battery state corresponding to whether the diagnosis content is satisfied or not may be preset based on the correspondence between the diagnosis target factor and the comparison value, or may be set in the process of generating the diagnosis content.

[0057] As in the above embodiment, it is assumed that the diagnostic content is "whether the battery temperature is below -30°C". If the diagnostic content is met, the battery temperature is below -30°C, and the battery state can be diagnosed as abnormal. Conversely, if the diagnostic content is not met, the battery temperature is -30°C or higher, and the battery state can be diagnosed as normal.

[0058] The battery diagnostic device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that it does not immediately diagnose the battery state based on the battery information, but first determines whether the prerequisites for diagnosing the battery state are satisfied. Therefore, the battery diagnostic device 100 has an advantage in that it can more accurately diagnose the battery state corresponding to the diagnosis content because it takes into consideration whether the prerequisites are satisfied.

[0059] Meanwhile, the predetermined condition determination unit 110 and the state diagnosis unit 120 provided in the battery diagnostic device 100 may include a processor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), other chipsets, logic circuits, registers, communication modems, data processing devices, etc., known in the art, as necessary, to perform various control logics performed in the present invention. Also, when the control logic is realized by software, the predetermined condition determination unit 110 and the state diagnosis unit 120 may be realized as a collection of program modules. In this case, the program modules may be stored in a memory and executed by the predetermined condition determination unit 110 and the state diagnosis unit 120. The memory may be present inside or outside the predetermined condition determination unit 110 and the state diagnosis unit 120, and may be connected to the predetermined condition determination unit 110 and the state diagnosis unit 120 by various known means.

[0060] Specifically, the status diagnosis unit 120 may be configured to diagnose the battery status by comparing the diagnosis content with battery information corresponding to the diagnosis content when the prerequisite condition is met.

[0061] For example, in the case where there are multiple prerequisites, when all of the multiple prerequisites are satisfied, the state diagnosis unit 120 can diagnose the state of the battery by comparing the battery information with the diagnosis content.

[0062] Preferably, the one or more prerequisite conditions corresponding to the diagnostic content may be prerequisites that must be satisfied before the battery state can be diagnosed by the diagnostic content.

[0063] For example, if the prerequisites are not met, even if the battery state is diagnosed based on the diagnosis content, it is not certain that the diagnosis result accurately reflects the current state of the battery. Therefore, when the prerequisites are met, the state diagnosis unit 120 can diagnose the battery state by substituting the battery information into the diagnosis content.

[0064] In the above embodiment, it is assumed that the first to sixth prerequisite conditions are all satisfied, the diagnosis content is "whether the battery temperature is below -30°C", and the obtained battery information is -40°C. The status diagnosis unit 120 can substitute the battery information (-40°C) for the diagnosis content (whether the battery temperature is below -30°C) and determine that the battery information satisfies the diagnosis content. Furthermore, the status diagnosis unit 120 can diagnose the battery status as an abnormal state.

[0065] In this embodiment, since the diagnostic content is "whether the battery temperature is below -30°C", the battery information satisfies the diagnostic content, but the battery state is diagnosed as abnormal. In contrast, if the diagnostic content is "whether the battery temperature is above -30°C", the battery information does not satisfy the diagnostic content, and the battery state is diagnosed as abnormal. In other words, whether the diagnostic content is satisfied and the diagnosed battery state may vary depending on the diagnostic content.

[0066] The battery diagnostic device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention diagnoses the state of the battery only when all prerequisites are satisfied, and therefore has the advantage that the diagnostic result is accurate and highly reliable.

[0067] On the other hand, if the prerequisite condition is not met, the status diagnosis unit 120 may be configured to assume that the prerequisite condition is met and diagnose the expected status of the battery by comparing the diagnosis content with battery information corresponding to the diagnosis content.

[0068] For example, in the case where there are multiple pre-determined conditions, the state diagnosis unit 120 may be configured to diagnose the expected state of the battery when any one of the multiple pre-determined conditions is not satisfied.

[0069] Here, the predicted battery state may be temporary state information for the battery diagnosed based on the obtained battery information and diagnosis contents. That is, the predicted battery state may be battery state information that can be diagnosed only when the prerequisite conditions are not met. Since the prerequisite conditions are not met, the accuracy of the diagnosis result may be lower than that of the battery state.

[0070] However, if the prerequisite conditions for the battery are strictly considered to be satisfied, a problem may occur in which the battery status is not diagnosed because the prerequisite conditions are not satisfied. Therefore, the status diagnosis unit 120 can normally diagnose the battery status when the prerequisite conditions are satisfied, and can temporarily diagnose the battery status even when the prerequisite conditions are not satisfied.

[0071] For example, it is assumed that the first to sixth prerequisites are the same as those in the embodiment of FIG. 4, and the prerequisites acquired by the prerequisite determining unit 110 are as follows.

[0072] 1) Auxiliary battery voltage: 7V 2) Value of CAN signal "X": 2 3) DTC "AA" setting: Setting 4) DTC "BB" setting: Not set 5) DTC "CC" setting: Not set

[0073] Referring to FIG. 4, since the voltage of the auxiliary battery is 7V, the first and second prerequisite conditions may be satisfied. However, since the value of the CAN signal "X" is 2, the third prerequisite condition may not be satisfied. Also, since the DTC "AA" is set, the fourth prerequisite condition may not be satisfied. Since neither the DTC "BB" nor "CC" is set, the fifth and sixth prerequisite conditions may be satisfied. Therefore, the prerequisite condition determination unit 110 can determine that the third and fourth prerequisite conditions are not satisfied among the first to sixth prerequisite conditions corresponding to the diagnosis contents. Since the third and fourth prerequisite conditions are not satisfied, the state diagnosis unit 120 cannot diagnose the state of the battery. However, the state diagnosis unit 120 can diagnose the expected state of the battery by substituting the battery information into the diagnosis contents on the assumption that the third and fourth prerequisite conditions are satisfied.

[0074] That is, the battery diagnostic device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may diagnose the battery state based on the battery information when all the prerequisite conditions are satisfied. Also, in order to solve the problem that the battery state is not diagnosed because some of the prerequisite conditions are not satisfied, the battery diagnostic device 100 may diagnose the expected state of the battery assuming that all the prerequisite conditions are satisfied. However, even if the expected state of the battery is diagnosed, the same follow-up measures as when the battery state is diagnosed may not be taken because the prerequisite conditions are not satisfied.

[0075] Referring to FIG. 1, the battery diagnostic device 100 may further include a storage unit 130.

[0076] The storage unit 130 may be configured to store one or more diagnostic contents for the battery state and one or more preconditions corresponding to the diagnostic contents.

[0077] Here, the storage unit 130 may store data or programs necessary for each component of the battery diagnostic device 100 to operate and function, or data generated during the operation and function. The type of the storage unit 130 is not particularly limited as long as it is a known information storage means known to be capable of recording, erasing, updating and reading data. As an example, the information storage means may include a RAM, a flash memory, a ROM, an EEPROM, a register, etc. In addition, the storage unit 130 may store program code that defines processes that can be executed by each component of the battery diagnostic device 100.

[0078] Specifically, the storage unit 130 may store in advance one or more prerequisite conditions corresponding to the diagnosis contents in the form of a prerequisite condition list. Preferably, the storage unit 130 may store in advance prerequisite conditions corresponding to factors to be diagnosed among the diagnosis contents in the form of a prerequisite condition list. For example, the prerequisite condition lists according to the embodiments of FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 may be stored in advance in the storage unit 130.

[0079] The status diagnosis unit 120 may be configured to store in the storage unit 130 the diagnosis result for the battery, a diagnosis type indicating the status of the battery, and whether or not the prerequisite conditions are satisfied.

[0080] Specifically, the condition diagnosis unit 120 may map and store in the storage unit 130 the diagnosis result, the diagnosis type, and whether or not the prerequisite conditions are satisfied.

[0081] Here, the diagnosis result may indicate normal or abnormal with respect to the diagnosed battery state. The diagnosis type may indicate the battery state or the predicted battery state with respect to the diagnosed content. That is, the diagnosis type may indicate whether the result diagnosed by the state diagnosis unit 120 is related to the battery state or the predicted battery state. The satisfaction of the prerequisite conditions may indicate satisfaction or non-satisfaction with respect to the satisfaction of one or more prerequisite conditions corresponding to the diagnosed content.

[0082] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the diagnosis results for the diagnosis contents, the diagnosis types, and whether or not the prerequisites are met are mapped and stored, which has the advantage that the overall diagnosis status can be easily checked.

[0083] The condition diagnosis unit 120 may be configured to determine a DTC flag indicating a diagnosis result for the battery, a diagnosis type flag indicating a diagnosis type, and a pre-determined condition flag indicating whether a pre-determined condition is satisfied.

[0084] Specifically, the condition diagnosis unit 120 may be configured to map the DTC flag, the diagnosis type flag, and the pre-determined condition flag and store them in the storage unit 130 .

[0085] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating mapping information stored in the battery diagnostic device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0086] In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the mapping information may include a DTC type, a DTC flag, a diagnosis type flag, and a pre-determined condition flag.

[0087] The DTC type is a value related to the DTC type, and a value set in advance for the DTC type to be diagnosed can be recorded.

[0088] The DTC flag is a value related to the diagnosis result, and whether the battery condition is normal or abnormal can be recorded. For example, if the battery condition is normal, "0" can be recorded, and if the battery condition is abnormal, "1" can be recorded.

[0089] The diagnosis type flag is a value related to the diagnosis type, and may record whether the diagnosis result of the status diagnosis unit 120 is the battery status or the predicted battery status. For example, if the diagnosis result is related to the battery status, "0" may be recorded, and if the diagnosis result is related to the predicted battery status, "1" may be recorded.

[0090] The prerequisite condition flag may record whether or not one or more prerequisite conditions corresponding to the diagnosis contents are satisfied. For example, if a prerequisite condition is satisfied, a "0" may be recorded, and if not, a "1" may be recorded.

[0091] When there are multiple pre-determined conditions, the condition diagnosis unit 120 can be configured to determine a pre-determined condition flag for each of the multiple pre-determined conditions.

[0092] 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of mapping information according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which diagnoses regarding DTC A, DTC B, and DTC C have been performed.

[0093] First, record 601 may store mapping information related to DTC A. The DTC flag is "0", which indicates that the battery has been diagnosed as being in a normal state. The diagnosis type flag is "0", which indicates that the battery condition has been diagnosed. The prerequisite condition flag is "0", which indicates that one or more prerequisite conditions corresponding to DTC A were all satisfied at the time of diagnosis.

[0094] Record 602 may then store mapping information for DTC B. The DTC flag is "1", indicating that the battery has been diagnosed as being in an abnormal state. The diagnosis type flag is "0", indicating that the battery condition has been diagnosed. The prerequisite flag is "0", indicating that one or more prerequisite conditions corresponding to DTC B were all satisfied at the time of diagnosis.

[0095] Finally, the record 603 may store mapping information regarding DTC C. Since the DTC flag is "1", it can be seen that the battery has been diagnosed as being in an abnormal state. Since the diagnosis type flag is "1", it can be seen that the expected state of the battery has been diagnosed. The first to sixth prerequisites may be the prerequisites shown in FIG. 4. Since the prerequisite condition flags of the first, second, fifth and sixth prerequisites are "0", it can be seen that the prerequisites are met. However, since the prerequisite condition flags of the third and fourth prerequisites are "1", it can be seen that the prerequisites are not met. Thus, the diagnosis type flag for DTC C may be "1".

[0096] The battery diagnostic device 100 has an advantage in that it can easily check the details of the battery state diagnosis result by storing specific mapping information for the battery state diagnosis result. That is, if a prerequisite is not met, it can be easily checked through the mapping information which prerequisite was not met at the time of diagnosis.

[0097] The battery diagnostic device 100 according to the present invention may be applied to a BMS (Battery Management System). That is, the BMS according to the present invention may include the above-described battery diagnostic device 100. In this configuration, at least a part of the components of the battery diagnostic device 100 may be realized by complementing or adding functions of components conventionally included in a BMS. For example, the pre-determined condition determination unit 110, the state diagnosis unit 120, and the storage unit 130 of the battery diagnostic device 100 may be realized as components of a BMS.

[0098] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of a battery pack according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0099] The battery diagnostic device 100 according to the present invention may be provided in a battery pack 10. That is, the battery pack 10 according to the present invention may include the above-mentioned battery diagnostic device 100 and one or more battery cells. The battery pack 10 may further include electrical components (e.g., relays, fuses, etc.), a case, etc.

[0100] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a battery pack 10 including a battery diagnostic device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0101] The positive terminal of the battery 11 can be connected to the positive terminal (P+) of the battery pack 10, and the negative terminal of the battery 11 can be connected to the negative terminal (P-) of the battery pack 10.

[0102] The measurement unit 12 may be connected to the first sensing line SL1, the second sensing line SL2, and the third sensing line SL3. Specifically, the measurement unit 12 may be connected to the positive terminal of the battery 11 via the first sensing line SL1 and to the negative terminal of the battery 11 via the second sensing line SL2. The measurement unit 12 may measure the voltage of the battery 11 based on the voltages measured on the first sensing line SL1 and the second sensing line SL2, respectively.

[0103] Furthermore, the measurement unit 12 may be connected to the current measurement unit A via a third sensing line SL3. For example, the current measurement unit A may be an ammeter or a shunt resistor capable of measuring the charging current and discharging current of the battery 11. The measurement unit 12 may measure the charging current of the battery 11 via the third sensing line SL3 to calculate the charging amount. The measurement unit 12 may measure the discharging current of the battery 11 via the third sensing line SL3 to calculate the discharging amount.

[0104] The measurement unit 12 is connected to the battery diagnostic device 100, and battery information measured by the measurement unit 12 can be stored in the storage unit 130. In addition, the battery information measured by the measurement unit 12 can be used in the process of diagnosing the battery state by the state diagnosis unit 120.

[0105] The positive terminal (P+) and the negative terminal (P-) of the battery pack 10 can be connected to a load or a charging device.

[0106] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle 1 according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.

[0107] 8, a battery pack 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be included in an automobile 1 such as an electric vehicle (EV) or a hybrid vehicle (HV). The battery pack 10 may supply power to a motor via an inverter provided in the automobile 1 to drive the automobile.

[0108] Preferably, the battery diagnostic device 100 is included in a battery pack 10 , which may be included in an automobile 1 .

[0109] FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a battery diagnostic method according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

[0110] Each step of the battery diagnostic method can be performed by the battery diagnostic device 100. Please note that, for convenience of explanation, the contents overlapping with the above contents will be briefly explained or omitted below.

[0111] Referring to FIG. 9, the battery diagnosis method may include a step of determining a predetermined condition (S100), a step of acquiring predetermined information (S200), a step of determining whether the predetermined condition is satisfied (S300), a step of acquiring battery information (S400), and a step of diagnosing a battery state (S500).

[0112] The step of determining the predetermined condition (S100) is a step of determining a predetermined condition that is set in advance so as to correspond to the diagnosis content of the battery, and can be performed by the predetermined condition judgment unit 110.

[0113] For example, the predetermined condition determination unit 110 may be configured to determine a predetermined condition corresponding to the diagnosis content for the battery. For example, the predetermined condition determination unit 110 may determine one or more predetermined conditions corresponding to the diagnosis content by referring to a list of predetermined conditions stored in advance.

[0114] The predetermined information acquiring step (S200) is a step of acquiring predetermined information corresponding to the predetermined condition from the external device 200, and can be performed by the predetermined condition determining section 110.

[0115] For example, the predetermined condition determining unit 110 can obtain predetermined information from the external device 200 to verify the predetermined condition.

[0116] The step of determining whether or not the predetermined condition is satisfied (S300) is a step of determining whether or not the predetermined condition is satisfied based on the obtained predetermined information, and can be performed by the predetermined condition determining unit 110.

[0117] For example, specifically, the pre-determined condition determining unit 110 can determine whether or not the pre-determined condition corresponding to the diagnosis content is satisfied by substituting the acquired pre-determined information for the corresponding pre-determined condition.

[0118] The battery information acquisition step (S400) is a step of acquiring battery information corresponding to the diagnosis contents, and can be performed by the condition diagnosis unit 120.

[0119] For example, the condition diagnosis unit 120 may be configured to obtain battery information corresponding to the diagnosis content. Preferably, the condition diagnosis unit 120 may obtain information on a diagnosed factor included in the diagnosis content.

[0120] The battery state diagnosis step (S500) is a step of diagnosing the state of the battery based on the diagnosis contents and battery information depending on whether a prerequisite is satisfied or not, and can be performed by the state diagnosis unit 120.

[0121] For example, the state diagnosis unit 120 can diagnose the state of the battery by substituting the acquired battery information into the diagnosis contents.

[0122] The embodiments of the present invention described above can be realized not only through an apparatus and a method, but also through a program that realizes functions corresponding to the configuration of the embodiments of the present invention or a recording medium on which the program is recorded. Such realization can be easily achieved by an expert in the technical field to which the present invention pertains based on the description of the above-mentioned embodiments.

[0123] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to limited embodiments and drawings, the present invention is not limited thereto, and it goes without saying that a person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention pertains can make various modifications and variations within the technical spirit of the present invention and the equivalent scope of the following claims.

[0124] Furthermore, the present invention described above is not limited to the above-described embodiments and the attached drawings, as various substitutions, modifications and alterations can be made by a person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention pertains, without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. The present invention may be configured by combining all or part of each embodiment as necessary to effect various modifications. [Explanation of symbols]

[0125] 1: Automobiles 10: Battery pack 11: Battery 12: Measuring part 100: Battery diagnostic device 110: Preliminary condition judgment section 120: Status diagnosis section 130: Storage area

Claims

1. a precondition determining unit that determines a precondition that is preset so as to correspond to a diagnosis content for the battery, obtains precondition information corresponding to the precondition from an external device, and determines whether or not the precondition is satisfied based on the obtained precondition information; a status diagnosis unit that acquires battery information corresponding to the diagnosis content, and diagnoses a battery status based on the diagnosis content and the battery information depending on whether the precondition is satisfied.

2. The condition diagnosis unit is 2. The battery diagnostic device according to claim 1, further comprising: a diagnostic unit for diagnosing a state of the battery by comparing the battery information corresponding to the diagnosis content with the diagnosis content when the precondition is satisfied.

3. The condition diagnosis unit is 2. The battery diagnostic device according to claim 1, wherein, when the prerequisite is not satisfied, it is assumed that the prerequisite is satisfied, and a predicted state of the battery is diagnosed by comparing the battery information corresponding to the diagnosis content with the diagnosis content.

4. The condition diagnosis unit is The battery diagnostic device according to claim 3 , wherein, in a case where there are a plurality of preconditions, the predicted state of the battery is diagnosed when any one of the plurality of preconditions is not satisfied.

5. The battery diagnostic device according to claim 1 , further comprising a storage unit for storing one or more diagnostic contents for the state of the battery and one or more preconditions corresponding to the diagnostic contents.

6. The condition diagnosis unit is 6. The battery diagnostic device according to claim 5, wherein the storage unit stores a result of the diagnosis on the battery, a diagnosis type indicating a state of the battery, and whether or not the precondition is satisfied.

7. The condition diagnosis unit is determining a DTC flag indicating a result of the diagnosis on the battery, a diagnosis type flag indicating a type of the diagnosis, and a pre-determined condition flag indicating whether or not the pre-determined condition is satisfied; 7. The battery diagnostic device according to claim 6, wherein the DTC flag, the diagnosis type flag, and the pre-determined condition flag are mapped and stored in the storage unit.

8. The condition diagnosis unit is 8. The battery diagnostic device according to claim 7, wherein, when there are a plurality of prerequisite conditions, the prerequisite condition flag is determined for each of the plurality of prerequisite conditions.

9. A battery pack comprising the battery diagnostic device according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A vehicle comprising the battery diagnostic device according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

11. a precondition determining step of determining a precondition that is preset so as to correspond to a diagnosis content for the battery; a predetermined information acquiring step of acquiring predetermined information corresponding to the predetermined condition from an external device; a pre-condition satisfaction determining step of determining whether the pre-condition is satisfied or not based on the obtained pre-condition information; a battery information acquisition step of acquiring battery information corresponding to the diagnosis content; and diagnosing a battery state based on the diagnosis content and the battery information according to whether the precondition is satisfied.

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