Battery system for sequential charging of batteries and control method thereof

Abstract

A battery system according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a plurality of battery packs; and a battery control device that collects voltage values ​​for each of the plurality of battery packs and controls charging of the plurality of battery packs based on the collected voltage values. The battery control device may select one or more battery packs having a voltage value within a predefined range to determine a charging group, and control the battery packs included in the charging group to be charged together to a predefined target voltage. Here, when charging to the target voltage is completed, the battery control device may select a battery pack having a voltage value within a predefined range as well as the voltage value of the charging group from among battery packs in which charging is not in progress, and update the charging group.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] This application claims the benefit of the filing date of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2022-0082964, filed with the Korean Intellectual Property Office on July 6, 2022, and all of the contents disclosed in the documents of that Korean patent application are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present invention relates to a battery system and a control method thereof, and more particularly to a battery system for sequentially charging batteries with different voltages and a control method thereof. [Background technology]

[0003] Secondary batteries are batteries that can be reused by charging after discharging, and can be used as energy sources for small devices such as mobile phones, tablet PCs, and vacuum cleaners, as well as medium- to large-sized devices such as automobiles and Energy Storage Systems (ESS) for smart grids.

[0004] Secondary batteries are applied to systems in the form of assemblies such as battery modules in which multiple battery cells are connected in series and parallel, or battery packs in which battery modules are connected in series and parallel, depending on the requirements of the system. In the case of medium- to large-sized devices such as electric vehicles, a high-capacity battery system in which multiple battery packs are connected in parallel can be applied to meet the capacity requirements of the device.

[0005] In such a high-capacity battery system having a large number of battery packs, when a new battery pack is added to expand the capacity or when an abnormality occurs in some of the battery packs, a high voltage difference may occur between the battery packs. If the battery packs are charged using a general charging method at this time, the charging efficiency may decrease, the battery life may be shortened, and some components of the battery system may be damaged.

[0006] Therefore, a suitable control technique is needed for charging battery packs that exhibit high voltage differences. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT EMBODIMENT In order to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a battery system for sequential charging of batteries.

[0008] Another object of the present invention to solve the above problems is to provide a method for controlling such a battery system.

[0009] Another object of the present invention to solve the above problems is to provide a battery control device for controlling the operation of such a battery system. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] To achieve the above object, a battery system according to one embodiment of the present invention may include a plurality of battery packs; and a battery control device that collects voltage values ​​for each of the plurality of battery packs and controls charging of the plurality of battery packs based on the collected voltage values.

[0011] The battery control device may select one or more battery packs having a voltage value within a predefined range to determine a charge group, and control the battery packs included in the charge group to be charged together to a predefined target voltage. Here, when charging to the target voltage is completed, the battery control device may select a battery pack having a voltage value within a predefined range as well as the voltage value of the charge group from among battery packs not being charged, and update the charge group.

[0012] The battery control device can determine a first battery pack having the lowest voltage value among the multiple battery packs, select a second battery pack whose voltage value difference with the first battery pack is equal to or less than a preset first threshold value, and determine the first and second battery packs as a charging group.

[0013] When the charging group is charged to a target voltage, the battery control device selects a third battery pack from among the battery packs for which charging is not in progress, the third battery pack having a voltage value equal to or greater than that of the charging group and a voltage value difference from the charging group equal to or less than a preset second threshold, and adds the selected third battery pack to the charging group to update the charging group.

[0014] The battery control device can select a fourth battery pack from among the battery packs in which charging is not in progress, the fourth battery pack having a voltage value lower than that of the charging group and a voltage value difference from the charging group equal to or lower than a preset third threshold value, and add the selected fourth battery pack to the charging group.

[0015] The third threshold value can be defined based on at least one of a measurement error range of a voltage measuring device that measures a voltage value of the battery pack and a data processing speed of the battery control device.

[0016] The third threshold value can be defined as a value equal to or greater than a maximum measurement error value of the voltage measuring device and equal to or less than the second threshold value.

[0017] The third threshold value may be defined as a value equal to or greater than a maximum rising voltage value during a data processing time for updating the charging group and equal to or less than the second threshold value.

[0018] In order to achieve another object of the present invention, a method for controlling a battery system including a plurality of battery packs and a battery control device includes a step in which the battery control device collects voltage values ​​for each of the plurality of battery packs; a step in which the battery control device selects one or more battery packs having a voltage value within a predefined range to determine a charging group; a step in which the battery control device controls the battery packs included in the charging group to be charged together to a predefined target voltage; and, when charging to the target voltage is completed, a step in which the battery control device selects battery packs having a voltage value within a predefined range as well as the voltage value of the charging group from among battery packs for which charging is not in progress, and updates the charging group.

[0019] The step of determining the charging group may include a step of determining a first battery pack having the lowest voltage value among the plurality of battery packs; a step of selecting a second battery pack whose voltage value difference from the first battery pack is equal to or less than a preset first threshold value; and a step of determining the first and second battery packs as a charging group.

[0020] The step of updating the charging group may include a step of selecting a third battery pack from among battery packs for which charging is not in progress, the third battery pack having a voltage value equal to or greater than that of the charging group and a voltage value difference between the third battery pack and the charging group equal to or less than a preset second threshold value; and a step of adding the selected third battery pack to the charging group.

[0021] The step of updating the charging group may include a step of selecting a fourth battery pack from among battery packs for which charging is not in progress, the fourth battery pack having a voltage value lower than that of the charging group and a voltage value difference from the charging group equal to or lower than a preset third threshold value; and a step of adding the selected fourth battery pack to the charging group.

[0022] The third threshold value can be defined as a value equal to or greater than a maximum measurement error value of the voltage measuring device and equal to or less than the second threshold value.

[0023] The third threshold value may be defined as a value equal to or greater than a maximum rising voltage value during a data processing time for updating the charging group and equal to or less than the second threshold value.

[0024] In order to achieve the above-mentioned yet another object, a battery control device according to one embodiment of the present invention is a battery control device located in a battery system including a plurality of battery packs, and may include at least one processor; and a memory for storing at least one instruction executed through the at least one processor.

[0025] Here, the at least one command may include an command to collect voltage values ​​for each of the plurality of battery packs; an command to select one or more battery packs having a voltage value within a predefined range to determine a charging group; an command to control the battery packs included in the charging group to be charged together to a predefined target voltage; and, if charging to the target voltage is completed, an command to select a battery pack having a voltage value within a predefined range as well as the voltage value of the charging group from among battery packs for which charging is not in progress, and update the charging group.

[0026] The instruction to determine the charging group may include an instruction to determine a first battery pack having the lowest voltage value among the plurality of battery packs; an instruction to select a second battery pack whose voltage value difference from the first battery pack is equal to or less than a preset first threshold value; and an instruction to determine the first and second battery packs as a charging group.

[0027] The command to update the charging group may include a command to select a third battery pack from among battery packs for which charging is not in progress, the third battery pack having a voltage value equal to or greater than that of the charging group and a voltage value difference between the third battery pack and the charging group equal to or less than a preset second threshold value; and a command to add the selected third battery pack to the charging group.

[0028] The command to update the charging group may include a command to select a fourth battery pack from among battery packs for which charging is not in progress, the fourth battery pack having a voltage value lower than that of the charging group and a voltage value difference from the charging group equal to or lower than a preset third threshold value; and a command to add the selected fourth battery pack to the charging group.

[0029] The third threshold value can be defined as a value equal to or greater than a maximum measurement error value of the voltage measuring device and equal to or less than the second threshold value.

[0030] The third threshold value may be defined as a value equal to or greater than a maximum rising voltage value during a data processing time for updating the charging group and equal to or less than the second threshold value. Effect of the Invention

[0031] According to the above-described embodiment of the present invention, battery packs having voltage values ​​within a certain range are grouped and sequentially charged, thereby making it possible to effectively charge battery packs exhibiting a large voltage difference. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0032] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram illustrating a battery system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a control method for a battery system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] 1 is an illustration of a battery pack showing a voltage difference. [Figure 4] 4 is a reference diagram for explaining a method for controlling charging of the battery pack shown in FIG. 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] 4 is a reference diagram for explaining a method for updating a charging group of the battery pack shown in FIG. 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] 1 is a block diagram of a battery control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0033] Since the present invention can be modified in various ways and has various embodiments, specific embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description. However, it is understood that this is not intended to limit the present invention to the specific embodiment, but includes all modifications, equivalents, or alternatives within the spirit and technical scope of the present invention. Similar reference numerals are used for similar components while describing each drawing.

[0034] Terms such as first, second, A, B, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only to distinguish one component from another. For example, a first component may be named a second component, and similarly, a second component may be named a first component, without departing from the scope of the present invention. The term "and / or" includes a combination of multiple associated listed items or any of multiple associated listed items.

[0035] When a component is referred to as being "coupled" or "connected" to another component, it should be understood that the component may be directly coupled or connected to the other component, but there may also be other components in between. In contrast, when a component is referred to as being "directly coupled" or "directly connected" to another component, it should be understood that there are no other components in between.

[0036] The terms used in this application are merely used to describe certain embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. A singular expression includes a plural expression unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this application, the terms "include" or "have" are intended to specify the presence of features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification, and are not intended to preclude the presence or additional possibility of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

[0037] Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs. Terms as defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the meaning they have in the context of the relevant art, and should not be interpreted as having an ideal or overly formal meaning unless expressly defined in this application.

[0038] Some terms used in this specification are defined as follows:

[0039] A battery cell is the smallest unit that serves to store power, and a battery module refers to an assembly of a plurality of battery cells that are electrically connected together.

[0040] A battery pack or battery rack refers to a system with a minimum single structure that electrically connects modular units set by a battery manufacturer and can be monitored and controlled through a BMS, and can be composed of multiple battery modules and one BPU or protection device.

[0041] A battery bank can refer to a large-scale collection of battery rack systems that are made up of multiple battery racks connected in parallel. The battery bank BMS can monitor and control the rack BMS (RBMS) for each battery rack.

[0042] The battery assembly means an assembly including a plurality of electrically connected battery cells and applied to a specific system or device to function as a power supply source. Here, the battery assembly may mean a battery module, a battery pack, a battery rack, a battery bank, or the like, but the scope of the present invention is not limited to these.

[0043] SOC (State of Charge) is the current charged state of the battery expressed as a percentage [%], and SOH (State of Health) is the current remaining state of the battery expressed as a percentage [%].

[0044] Nominal Capacity (Nominal Capa.) can refer to the set capacity [Ah] of a battery set by the battery manufacturer at the time of development.

[0045] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0046] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a battery system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0047] Referring to FIG. 1, the battery system includes a battery assembly including a plurality of battery packs 100 and a battery control device 200.

[0048] A number of battery packs 100 can be connected in parallel to each other to form a battery assembly.

[0049] The battery system according to the embodiment of the present invention may be embodied in an electric vehicle, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, the battery system according to the embodiment of the present invention may be applied to a device including a plurality of battery packs, and may control charging of the battery packs exhibiting a voltage difference through a control operation described below.

[0050] The battery control device 200 may be embodied and included in a BMS located inside the battery system.

[0051] The battery control device 200 can collect voltage values ​​for each of the multiple battery packs 100 and control charging of the multiple battery packs based on the collected voltage values. Here, the battery control device 200 can control charging of each of the multiple battery packs 100 by controlling a charging circuit connected to each of the multiple battery packs 100 (for example, ON / OFF control of a relay circuit).

[0052] The operation of the battery system and the battery control device 200 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS.

[0053] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a control method for a battery system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0054] The battery control device 200 collects voltage values ​​for each of a plurality of battery packs. Here, the battery control device 200 can collect the voltage values ​​of the battery packs at a preset unit time (e.g., 1 second) or at a preset time point (e.g., a time point when a charging group is determined or updated).

[0055] The battery control device 200 determines a charging group including some of the plurality of battery packs based on the voltage values ​​for each of the plurality of battery packs (S210).

[0056] Here, the battery control device 200 may select one or more battery packs having a voltage value within a predefined range and determine the selected battery packs as a charging group. Meanwhile, if the selected battery pack is determined to be in an abnormal state, the abnormal battery pack may be excluded from the charging group.

[0057] Thereafter, the battery control device 200 controls the battery packs included in the charging group determined in S210 to be charged together to a predefined target voltage (S220). Here, the target voltage may be defined as the lowest voltage value among the respective voltage values ​​of the battery packs not included in the charging group.

[0058] When the battery packs included in the charging group are charged up to the target voltage, the battery control device 200 checks whether charging of all the battery packs is completed (S230).

[0059] If charging of all the battery packs has not been completed (NO in S230), the battery control device 200 updates the charge group and the target voltage determined in S220 (S240).

[0060] Here, the battery control device 200 can update the charging group by selecting battery packs having a voltage value within a predefined range from the voltage value of the charging group among battery packs not being charged (i.e., battery packs not included in the charging group) and including the selected battery pack in the charging group. Meanwhile, if the selected battery pack is determined to be in an abnormal state, the battery pack in the abnormal state can be excluded from the charging group. Also, the battery control device 200 can update the currently set target voltage to the lowest value among the voltage values ​​of the battery packs not included in the updated charging group.

[0061] Thereafter, the battery control device 200 controls the battery packs included in the updated charging group to be charged together up to the updated target voltage (S220).

[0062] As shown in FIG. 2, the process of sequentially updating and charging the charging group can be repeated until charging of all the battery packs is completed (YES in S230).

[0063] Fig. 3 is an example of a battery pack showing a voltage difference, and Fig. 4 is a reference diagram for explaining a method for controlling charging of the battery pack shown in Fig. 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the following, the control method of the battery system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail using the battery pack shown in Fig. 3 as an example.

[0064] Each of the battery packs included in the battery system shown in FIG. 3 has a different voltage value. As shown in FIG. 3, battery packs #1 to #6 have voltage values ​​of 300, 305, 320, 328, 350, and 355 V, respectively.

[0065] The battery control device 200 determines a first battery pack having the lowest voltage value among the multiple battery packs. The battery control device 200 also selects a second battery pack whose voltage value difference with the first battery pack is equal to or less than a preset first threshold value. After that, the battery control device 200 determines the first and second battery packs as a charging group.

[0066] 4A, for example, the battery control device 200 determines, among packs #1 to #6, pack #1 that exhibits the lowest voltage value (300 V) as the first battery pack. If the first threshold value is defined as 10 V, the battery control device 200 determines pack #2 that exhibits a voltage value equal to or lower than 310 V as the second battery pack, and determines packs #1 and #2 as a charging group.

[0067] The battery control device 200 controls the battery packs included in the charging group to be charged together up to a predefined target voltage. Here, the target voltage may be defined as the lowest voltage value among the respective voltage values ​​of the battery packs not included in the charging group.

[0068] 4A, the target voltage may be defined as 320V, which is the lowest voltage value among the voltage values ​​of packs #3 to #6 that are not included in the charging group. The battery control device 200 controls the charging group (packs #1, #2) to be charged up to the target voltage of 320V.

[0069] On the other hand, even if the battery packs are charged up to a set target voltage, the voltage of the battery packs may not reach the target voltage because the target voltage is the maximum voltage of the battery cells included in the battery packs. For example, as shown in FIG 4B, when charging of packs #1 and #2 is completed up to the target voltage of 320V, packs #1 and #2 may have a voltage value of 318V, which is lower than the target voltage of 320V.

[0070] When the charging group is charged up to the target voltage, the battery control device 200 selects a third battery pack from among the battery packs not being charged, the third battery pack having a voltage value equal to or higher than that of the charging group and a voltage value difference from that of the charging group equal to or lower than a preset second threshold value. Then, the battery control device 200 adds the selected third battery pack to the charging group, and updates the charging group. In addition, the battery control device 200 updates the currently set target voltage to the lowest value among the voltage values ​​of the battery packs not included in the updated charging group.

[0071] For example, when the second threshold is defined as 10V, as shown in Fig. 4(B), the battery control device 200 determines packs #3 and #4, which have a voltage value between 318V and 328V, as the third battery pack among packs #3 to #6, and updates the charging group (packs #1 to #4) by including packs #3 and #4 in the charging group. In addition, the battery control device 200 updates the currently set target voltage (320V) to 350V, which is the lowest value among the voltage values ​​of packs #5 and #6 that are not included in the updated charging group.

[0072] The battery control device 200 controls the battery packs included in the updated charging group so that they are all charged up to the updated target voltage.

[0073] 4(C), for example, the battery control device 200 controls the charging group (packs #1 to #4) so ​​that they are charged up to a target voltage of 350 V. Here, when charging of packs #1 to #4 is completed up to the target voltage (350 V), packs #1 to #4 may be in a state of having a voltage value of 348 V, which is lower than the target voltage (350 V).

[0074] After charging to the target voltage is completed, the battery control device 200 determines that of packs #5 and #6, which have a voltage value between 348V and 358V, are the third battery packs, and updates the charging group (packs #1 to #6) by including packs #5 and #6 in the charging group.

[0075] If there is no battery pack that is not included in the updated charging group, the battery control device 200 can update the currently set target voltage to the highest value among the voltage values ​​of the battery packs included in the updated charging group. For example, the battery control device 200 can update the currently set target voltage (350V) to 355V, which is the highest value among the voltage values ​​of packs #1 to #6 included in the updated charging group.

[0076] Once charging to the updated target voltage (355V) is complete, all battery packs are charged and the charging process ends.

[0077] FIG. 5 is a reference diagram for explaining a method for updating a charging group of the battery pack shown in FIG. 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0078] The battery control device 200 according to the embodiment of the present invention determines or updates a charging group based on the measured voltage value of the battery pack. Here, if the measurement accuracy of the voltage measurement device is low or the data processing speed of the system is slow, a problem may occur in which some of the battery packs that should be included in the charging group are omitted.

[0079] For example, in FIG. 5B, when charging of the charging group (packs #1, #2) is completed, the battery control device 200 selects a third battery pack from among packs #3 to #6 whose voltage value is equal to or higher than that of the charging group and whose voltage value difference with the charging group is 10 V (second threshold value) or less, in order to update the charging group.

[0080] Here, if the voltage measurement device has a certain measurement error range (for example, -4 V to +4 V), the actual voltage values ​​of packs #1 and #2 may be 318 V, but the voltage values ​​of packs #1 and #2 may be measured as 321 V. In this case, the battery control device 200 adds pack #4, which has a voltage value of 321 V or more and 331 V or less, among packs #3 to #6, to the charging group, and pack #3, which should be included in the charging group, may be omitted.

[0081] Furthermore, if the battery system is embodied as a low-performance system, the update process of the charging group may be delayed after the charging of packs #1 and #2 is completed. In this case, during the data processing time for updating the charging group, the voltage of packs #1 and #2 may rise to 319V due to a minute charging current. In this case, the battery control device 200 adds pack #4, which has a voltage value of 319V or more and 329V or less, among packs #3 to #6, to the charging group, and pack #3, which should be included in the charging group, may be omitted.

[0082] When updating a charging group, the battery control device 200 can perform operations according to the following embodiment so as not to miss out on battery packs that should be included in a charging group, depending on the measurement performance of the voltage measurement device and the data processing speed of the battery system.

[0083] When the charging group is charged up to the target voltage, the battery control device 200 selects a fourth battery pack from among the battery packs not being charged, the fourth battery pack having a voltage value lower than that of the charging group and a voltage value difference with the charging group equal to or lower than a preset third threshold value, and then adds the selected fourth battery pack to the charging group.

[0084] For example, in (B) of Fig. 5, after charging of packs #1 and #2 is completed, if the voltage of packs #1 and #2 is measured as 321V, the battery control device 200 adds pack #4, which has a voltage value of 321V or more and 331V or less, among packs #3 to #6, to the charging group. Furthermore, if the third threshold is defined as 5V, the battery control device 200 adds pack #3, which has a voltage value of 316V or more and less than 321V, to the charging group. According to this embodiment, both packs #3 and #4 can be included in the updated charging group.

[0085] The third threshold value can be defined based on at least one of a measurement error range of the voltage measurement device and a data processing speed of the battery control device.

[0086] In an embodiment, the third threshold value may be defined as a value equal to or greater than the maximum measurement error value of the voltage measuring device and equal to or less than the second threshold value. For example, if the second threshold value is 10V and the measurement error range of the voltage measuring device is -4V to +4V, the third threshold value may be defined as a value equal to or greater than 4 and equal to or less than 10.

[0087] In another embodiment, the third threshold value may be defined as a value that is equal to or greater than a maximum rising voltage during a data processing time for updating the charging group and equal to or less than the second threshold value. Here, the maximum rising voltage value may be defined through a pre-test for the charging group updating process. For example, if the second threshold value is 10V and the maximum rising voltage value during a data processing time for updating the charging group is 1V, the third threshold value may be defined as a value that is equal to or greater than 1 and equal to or less than 10.

[0088] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a battery control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0089] A battery control device 600 according to an embodiment of the present invention is located within a battery system including a plurality of battery packs, and may include at least one processor 610, a memory 620 for storing at least one instruction to be executed by the processor, and a transceiver 630 connected to a network for communication.

[0090] The at least one command may include an command to collect voltage values ​​for each of the plurality of battery packs; an command to select one or more battery packs having a voltage value within a predefined range to determine a charging group; an command to control the battery packs included in the charging group to be charged together to a predefined target voltage; and, if charging to the target voltage is completed, an command to select a battery pack having a voltage value within a predefined range as the voltage value of the charging group from among battery packs for which charging is not in progress, and update the charging group.

[0091] The instruction to determine the charging group may include an instruction to determine a first battery pack having the lowest voltage value among the plurality of battery packs; an instruction to select a second battery pack whose voltage value difference from the first battery pack is equal to or less than a preset first threshold value; and an instruction to determine the first and second battery packs as a charging group.

[0092] The command to update the charging group may include a command to select a third battery pack from among battery packs for which charging is not in progress, the third battery pack having a voltage value equal to or greater than that of the charging group and a voltage value difference between the third battery pack and the charging group equal to or less than a preset second threshold value; and a command to add the selected third battery pack to the charging group.

[0093] The command to update the charging group may include a command to select a fourth battery pack from among battery packs for which charging is not in progress, the fourth battery pack having a voltage value lower than that of the charging group and a voltage value difference from the charging group equal to or lower than a preset third threshold value; and a command to add the selected fourth battery pack to the charging group.

[0094] The third threshold value can be defined as a value equal to or greater than a maximum measurement error value of the voltage measuring device and equal to or less than the second threshold value.

[0095] The third threshold value may be defined as a value equal to or greater than a maximum rising voltage value during a data processing time for updating the charging group and equal to or less than the second threshold value.

[0096] The battery control device 600 may further include an input interface device 640, an output interface device 650, a storage device 660, etc. The components included in the battery control device 600 are connected by a bus 670 to communicate with each other.

[0097] Here, the processor 610 may refer to a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or a dedicated processor on which the method according to the embodiment of the present invention is performed. The memory (or storage device) may be composed of at least one of a volatile storage medium and a non-volatile storage medium. For example, the memory may be composed of at least one of a read only memory (ROM) and a random access memory (RAM).

[0098] The operation of the method according to the embodiment of the present invention can be embodied as a computer readable program or code in a computer readable recording medium. The computer readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording devices in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored. In addition, the computer readable recording medium can be distributed to computer systems connected via a network, and the computer readable program or code can be stored and executed in a distributed manner.

[0099] Some aspects of the invention have been described in the context of an apparatus, but it may also be presented in terms of a corresponding method, where a block or apparatus corresponds to a method step or a feature of a method step. Similarly, aspects described in the context of a method may be presented in terms of a corresponding block or item or feature of a corresponding apparatus. Some or all of the method steps may be performed by (or using) a hardware apparatus, such as, for example, a microprocessor, a programmable computer, or an electronic circuit. In some embodiments, one or more of the most important method steps may be performed by such an apparatus.

[0100] Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and variations of the present invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the following claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0101] 100: Battery pack 200: Battery control device 600: Battery control device

Claims

1. A plurality of battery packs; and a battery control device that collects voltage values ​​for each of the plurality of battery packs and controls charging of the plurality of battery packs based on the collected voltage values; The battery control device includes: A battery system comprising: a battery pack system including: a battery pack system including a battery pack unit that is connected to the charging group and a battery pack storage unit that stores a voltage value of the battery pack unit; a battery pack storage unit that stores a voltage value of the battery pack unit;

2. The battery control device includes:

2. The battery system according to claim 1, wherein a first battery pack having the lowest voltage value is determined from among the plurality of battery packs, a second battery pack having a voltage value difference from the first battery pack that is equal to or less than a preset first threshold value is selected, and the first battery pack and the second battery pack are determined to be a charging group.

3. The battery control device includes:

2. The battery system according to claim 1, wherein, when the charging group is charged to a target voltage, a third battery pack is selected from among the battery packs not included in the charging group, the third battery pack having a voltage value equal to or higher than that of the charging group and a voltage value difference between the third battery pack and the charging group equal to or lower than a preset second threshold, and the selected third battery pack is added to the charging group to update the charging group.

4. The battery control device includes:

4. The battery system according to claim 3, further comprising: a fourth battery pack selected from among the battery packs not included in the charging group, the fourth battery pack having a voltage value lower than the voltage value of the charging group and a voltage value difference from the charging group equal to or lower than a preset third threshold; and the selected fourth battery pack added to the charging group.

5. The third threshold value is The battery system according to claim 4 , wherein the voltage measurement is defined based on at least one of a measurement error range of a voltage measurement device that measures a voltage value of the battery pack and a data processing speed of the battery control device.

6. The third threshold value is The battery system according to claim 5 , wherein the second threshold value is defined as a value equal to or greater than a maximum measurement error value of the voltage measuring device and equal to or less than the second threshold value.

7. The third threshold value is The battery system according to claim 5 , wherein the second threshold value is defined as a value equal to or greater than a maximum rising voltage value during a data processing time for updating the charging group and equal to or less than the second threshold value.

8. A method for controlling a battery system including a plurality of battery packs and a battery control device, comprising: the battery control device collecting voltage values ​​for each of the plurality of battery packs; The battery control device selects one or more battery packs having a voltage value within a predefined range to determine a charging group; The battery control device controls the battery packs included in the charging group to be charged together to a predefined target voltage; and a step of updating the charging group by the battery control device adding to the charging group, when charging to the target voltage is completed, a battery pack that is not included in the charging group and has a voltage value within a predefined range of the voltage value of the charging group.

9. The step of determining a charging group includes: determining a first battery pack having a lowest voltage value among the plurality of battery packs; selecting a second battery pack having a voltage difference from the first battery pack equal to or less than a first threshold value; and The method for controlling a battery system according to claim 8 , further comprising: determining the first battery pack and the second battery pack as a charge group.

10. The step of updating the charging group includes: selecting a third battery pack from among the battery packs not included in the charging group, the third battery pack having a voltage value equal to or higher than the voltage value of the charging group and a voltage value difference between the third battery pack and the charging group equal to or lower than a second preset threshold value; and The method for controlling a battery system according to claim 8 , further comprising the step of: adding the selected third battery pack to the charging group.

11. The step of updating the charging group includes: selecting a fourth battery pack from among the battery packs not included in the charging group, the fourth battery pack having a voltage value lower than the voltage value of the charging group and a voltage value difference between the fourth battery pack and the charging group equal to or lower than a preset third threshold value; and The method for controlling a battery system according to claim 10, further comprising the step of: adding the selected fourth battery pack to the charging group.

12. The third threshold value is The method for controlling a battery system according to claim 11 , wherein the second threshold value is defined as a value equal to or greater than a maximum measurement error value of a voltage measuring device that measures a voltage value of the battery pack and equal to or less than the second threshold value.

13. The third threshold value is The method for controlling a battery system according to claim 11 , wherein the threshold value is defined as a value equal to or greater than a maximum rise voltage during a data processing time for updating the charging group and equal to or less than the second threshold value.

14. A battery control device located in a battery system including a plurality of battery packs, at least one processor; a memory for storing at least one instruction to be executed by said at least one processor; The at least one instruction: instructions for collecting a voltage value for each of the plurality of battery packs; instructions for determining a charging group by filtering one or more battery packs having a voltage value within a predefined range; A command to control the battery packs included in the charging group to be charged together to a predefined target voltage; and a command to add to the charging group, among the battery packs not included in the charging group, a battery pack having a voltage value within a predefined range of the voltage value of the charging group, when the charging to the target voltage is completed, and update the charging group.

15. The instruction to determine the charging group includes: instructions for determining a first battery pack among the plurality of battery packs having a lowest voltage value; An instruction to select a second battery pack having a voltage difference from the first battery pack equal to or smaller than a first threshold value; and The battery control device of claim 14 , further comprising: instructions for determining the first battery pack and the second battery pack as a charge group.

16. The command to update the charging group includes: an instruction to select a third battery pack from among the battery packs not included in the charging group, the third battery pack having a voltage value equal to or higher than the charging group and a voltage value difference between the third battery pack and the charging group equal to or lower than a second preset threshold value; and The battery control device of claim 14 , further comprising: instructions for adding the selected third battery pack to the charging group.

17. The command to update the charging group includes: an instruction to select a fourth battery pack from among the battery packs not included in the charging group, the fourth battery pack having a voltage value lower than the voltage value of the charging group and a voltage value difference between the fourth battery pack and the charging group equal to or smaller than a preset third threshold value; and 17. The battery control device of claim 16, further comprising: instructions for adding the selected fourth battery pack to the charging group.

18. The third threshold value is The battery control device according to claim 17 , wherein the second threshold value is defined as a value equal to or greater than a maximum measurement error value of a voltage measuring device that measures a voltage value of the battery pack and equal to or less than the second threshold value.

19. The third threshold value is The battery control device according to claim 17 , wherein the threshold value is defined as a value equal to or greater than a maximum rising voltage during a data processing time for updating the charging group and equal to or less than the second threshold value.

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