Battery pack

Abstract

To provide effective technology for tracking the whereabouts of batteries removed from a vehicle.SOLUTION: A drive battery pack installed in a vehicle includes a control unit. The control unit detects that the battery pack has been removed from the vehicle. The control unit acquires the current location of the battery pack triggered by the detecting that the battery pack has been removed from the vehicle. The control unit transmits a signal to a server indicating that the battery pack has been removed from the vehicle at the acquired current position of the battery pack.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a battery pack nine Regarding. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for acquiring electrical characteristic information and / or usage history information from a secondary battery module, storing the information in a database, and grading the secondary battery module for reuse based on the acquired information. Patent Document 2 discloses a chargeable and dischargeable secondary battery module that operates under the control of a battery controller and stores at least one of its own electrical characteristic information and usage history information. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-146389 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-141464 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a technology that is effective in tracking the whereabouts of a battery that has been removed from a vehicle. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] One aspect of the present disclosure is A driving battery pack mounted on a vehicle, detecting that the battery pack has been removed from the vehicle; obtaining a current location of the battery pack in response to the detection; transmitting a signal indicating that the battery pack has been removed from the vehicle at the acquired current location to a server; The battery pack includes a controller configured to perform the above.

[0006] Another aspect of the present disclosure is A vehicle equipped with a driving battery pack, detecting that the battery pack has been removed from the vehicle; In response to the detection, obtaining a current location of the vehicle; transmitting a signal indicating that the battery pack has been removed from the vehicle at the acquired current location to a server; The vehicle is provided with a control unit configured to execute the above.

[0007] The present disclosure can also be seen as an information processing method in which a computer executes processing of a battery pack or a vehicle, or as a program for causing a computer to execute the information processing method, or a computer-readable storage medium that non-temporarily stores the program. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a technique that is effective in tracking the whereabouts of a battery that has been removed from a vehicle. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of a system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a battery pack according to the first embodiment. FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a software configuration of the battery pack according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] 4 is a flowchart showing a processing flow executed in the battery pack in the first embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a vehicle according to a second embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a software configuration of a vehicle according to a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle), HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle), and P Drive batteries removed from vehicles such as HEVs (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles) Secondary use of repacks is being considered. In secondary use of battery packs, it is important to track the whereabouts of battery packs removed from vehicles. However, battery packs are not always removed from vehicles at authorized locations under the control of the vehicle manufacturer or the battery pack manufacturer. If a battery pack is removed from a vehicle at a location other than an authorized location, it becomes difficult to track the whereabouts of the removed battery pack.

[0011] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a battery pack, which is one aspect of the present disclosure, is triggered by the battery pack being removed from a vehicle, and transmits the current location of the battery pack (the current location at the time the battery pack was removed from the vehicle) to a server.

[0012] In particular, in a battery pack according to the present disclosure, when the battery pack is removed from the vehicle, a control unit detects the removal of the battery pack from the vehicle. Here, the battery pack according to the present disclosure may further include a sensor that electrically or mechanically detects connection and disconnection between the battery pack and the vehicle. In one example, the sensor may be a sensor that electrically detects continuity / disconnection of a power supply cable or a communication cable between the battery pack and the vehicle. In another example, the sensor may be a sensor that mechanically detects connection / disconnection of the power supply cable or the communication cable between the battery pack and the vehicle. When the above-mentioned sensor is installed in the battery pack, the control unit of the battery pack may detect that the battery pack has been removed from the vehicle in response to the sensor detecting disconnection between the battery pack and the vehicle.

[0013] When the sensor described above is mounted on the vehicle side, a signal indicating that the battery pack has been removed from the vehicle may be transmitted from the vehicle to the battery pack via wireless communication. In this case, the control unit may detect that the battery pack has been removed from the vehicle in response to receiving the signal.

[0014] A control unit of a battery pack according to the present disclosure acquires the current position of the battery pack in response to detecting removal of the battery pack from a vehicle. Here, the battery pack according to the present disclosure may include a receiver for receiving GPS (Global Positioning System) signals. When such a receiver is mounted on a battery pack, a control unit of the battery pack may acquire the current location of the battery pack according to the GPS signal received by the receiver. Then, the control unit of the battery pack according to the present disclosure transmits a signal indicating that the battery pack has been removed from the vehicle at the acquired current location to a server. In one example, the server referred to here may be operated by a business operator that manages the whereabouts of the battery pack. The business operator may manage the vehicle or may be the manufacturer of the battery pack or a business operator commissioned by the manufacturer.

[0015] According to the battery pack of the present disclosure, the location where the battery pack was removed from the vehicle can be stored in a server. This makes it easy for a server operator to track the whereabouts of the removed battery pack if the battery pack was removed from the vehicle at a location other than an authorized location. For example, if the battery pack was removed in a port area, it can be determined that the battery pack was exported overseas via an unauthorized route.

[0016] The control unit of the battery pack according to the present disclosure is a BMS (Battery Management System) ) or may be realized by a processor of a microcomputer mounted in the battery pack separately from the BMS.

[0017] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle includes a control unit that detects that a battery pack has been removed from the vehicle, acquires a current location of the vehicle in response to the detection, and transmits a signal indicating that the battery pack has been removed from the vehicle at the acquired current location to a server, thereby achieving the same effect as the battery pack described above.

[0018] Specific embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Unless otherwise specified, the hardware configurations, module configurations, functional configurations, and the like described in the following embodiments are not intended to limit the technical scope of the disclosure to those configurations alone.

[0019] <Embodiment 1> In this embodiment, an example will be described in which a battery pack according to the present disclosure is applied to a system that tracks the whereabouts of a battery pack removed from a vehicle. (System Overview) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overview of a system according to an embodiment. In the example of FIG. 1, the system includes a battery pack 100 and a server 200. The battery pack 100 and the server 200 are connected to each other by a network N1. The network N1 is, for example, a global public communication network such as the Internet, and may be a WAN (Wide Area Network) or other similar network. The network N1 may also include a telephone communication network such as a mobile phone network, or a wireless communication network such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark).

[0020] The battery pack 100 supplies power for driving the vehicle 10. The vehicle 10 is a vehicle equipped with an electric motor for driving, such as a BEV, HEV, or PHEV. The battery pack 100 in this embodiment has a function of detecting removal of the battery pack 100 from the vehicle 10, a function of acquiring the current location of the battery pack 100 at the time the battery pack 100 is removed from the vehicle 10, and a function of transmitting removal information including the location where the battery pack 100 is removed from the vehicle 10 to the server 200.

[0021] The server 200 is operated by a business operator that manages the whereabouts of the battery pack 100 removed from the vehicle 10. The server 200 accumulates removal information transmitted from the battery pack 100.

[0022] According to the system of this embodiment, the location where the battery pack 100 is removed from the vehicle 10 is stored in the server 200, which makes it easy to track the whereabouts of the battery pack 100 removed from the vehicle 10. In particular, it makes it easy to track the whereabouts of the battery pack 100 removed from the vehicle 10 at a location other than an authorized base.

[0023] (Battery pack hardware configuration) The hardware configuration of the battery pack 100 included in the system according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the battery pack 100.

[0024] 2, the battery pack 100 in this embodiment is configured to include a BMS 110 and a battery module 120. The battery module 120 is configured to include a plurality of chargeable and dischargeable battery cells. The BMS 110 controls the charge and discharge of each battery cell included in the battery module 120, controls the temperature of each battery cell, and controls cell balancing. The BMS 110 in this embodiment also has a function of detecting removal of the battery pack 100 from the vehicle 10, a function of acquiring the current location of the battery pack 100, and a function of transmitting the location where the battery pack 100 was removed from the vehicle 10 to the server 200.

[0025] 2, the BMS 110 is configured to include a processor 111, a main memory device 112, an auxiliary memory device 113, a sensor 114, a GPS receiver 115, and a communication I / F 116. Note that in the example shown in Fig. 2, only the hardware components related to tracking the battery pack 100 are illustrated among the hardware components of the BMS 110, but hardware components related to controlling the battery module 120 are also included in the BMS 110.

[0026] The processor 111 is an arithmetic processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a DSP (Digital Signal Processor). The stored program is loaded into the main memory 112 and executed, and the BMS 110 is controlled through its execution.

[0027] The main memory device 112 includes semiconductor memories such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) and a ROM (Read Only Memory). The main memory device 112 provides a storage area and a working area for loading programs stored in the auxiliary memory device 113. The main memory device 112 is also used as a buffer for arithmetic processing by the processor 111.

[0028] The auxiliary storage device 113 is, for example, an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM) or The auxiliary storage device 113 is a removable medium, i.e., a DD (Hard Disk Drive). The auxiliary storage device 113 may include a portable recording medium. The auxiliary storage device 113 stores various programs and data used by the processor 111 when executing each program. The programs stored in the auxiliary storage device 113 include an OS (Operating System) as well as dedicated programs for causing the processor 111 to execute processes related to tracking of the battery pack 100. The data stored in the auxiliary storage device 113 also includes pack data D300 and the like. The pack data D300 includes an identifier (vehicle ID) of the vehicle 10 on which the battery pack 100 is mounted, an identifier (pack ID) of the battery pack 100, and the like.

[0029] The sensor 114 detects that the battery pack 100 has been removed from the vehicle 10. In one example, the sensor 114 may be a sensor that monitors the continuity / disconnection of a power supply cable between the battery pack 100 and the vehicle 10. In another example, the sensor 114 may be a sensor that monitors the continuity / disconnection of a communication cable between the battery pack 100 and the vehicle 10. In yet another example, the sensor 114 may be a sensor that mechanically detects the connection / disconnection of the power supply cable or the communication cable between the battery pack 100 and the vehicle 10.

[0030] The GPS receiver 115 receives a GPS signal and detects the current position of the battery pack 100 according to the received GPS signal.

[0031] The communication I / F 116 connects the battery pack 100 to the network N1. The communication I / F 116 is, for example, a mobile communication system (e.g., LTE (Long Term Evolution), LT The device is connected to the network N1 using a wireless communication method such as E-Advanced, 5G (5th Generation), or 6G (6th Generation), or Wi-Fi (registered trademark). The communication I / F 116 communicates with the server 200 through the network N1. In this embodiment, the communication I / F 116 transmits removal information to the server 200 through the network N1.

[0032] The communication I / F 116 may be a communication interface that performs short-range wireless communication according to the BLE standard. In this case, the communication I / F 116 may communicate with the vehicle 10 through short-range wireless communication and connect to the network N1 via the vehicle 10.

[0033] (Battery pack software configuration) Next, the software configuration of the battery pack 100 in this embodiment will be described. Fig. 3 is a block diagram that schematically shows an example of the software configuration of the battery pack 100 (BMS 110) in this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 3, the battery pack 100 in this embodiment is configured to have three software modules: a detection unit F101, an acquisition unit F102, and a transmission unit F103.

[0034] The detection unit F101, the acquisition unit F102, and the transmission unit F103 may be realized by the processor 111 of the BMS 110 executing a program stored in the auxiliary storage device 113 of the BMS 110. Note that at least some of the detection unit F101, the acquisition unit F102, and the transmission unit F103 may be realized by a hardware circuit such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

[0035] The detection unit F101 detects the removal of the battery pack 100 from the vehicle 10 through the sensor 114. In one example, when the sensor 114 detects the removal of the battery pack 100 from the vehicle 10, if a detection signal from the sensor 114 is input to the processor 111 of the BMS 110, the detection unit F101 may determine that the battery pack 100 has been removed from the vehicle 10, using the input as a trigger.

[0036] If the sensor 114 is not mounted on the battery pack 100 but a sensor having the same function as the sensor 114 is mounted on the vehicle 10, the detection of removal of the battery pack 100 from the vehicle 10 by the sensor may be used as a trigger to transmit a signal indicating that the battery pack 100 has been removed from the vehicle 10 to the battery pack 100 via wireless communication from the vehicle 10 to the battery pack 100. Then, the detection unit F101 may detect removal of the battery pack 100 from the vehicle 10 in response to the signal transmitted from the vehicle 10 being received by the communication I / F 116.

[0037] The acquisition unit F102 acquires the current position of the battery pack 100 (the current position of the battery pack 100 when the battery pack 100 was removed from the vehicle 10) when the detection unit F101 detects that the battery pack 100 has been removed from the vehicle 10. Specifically, when the detection unit F101 detects that the battery pack 100 has been removed from the vehicle 10, the acquisition unit F102 acquires the current position of the battery pack 100 via the GPS receiver 115. The current position of the battery pack 100 acquired in this manner corresponds to the position at which the battery pack 100 was removed from the vehicle 10.

[0038] The transmission unit F103 generates removal information including information about the location acquired by the acquisition unit F102 (the location where the battery pack 100 was removed from the vehicle 10), and transmits the generated removal information to the server 200. Specifically, the transmission unit F103 first accesses the pack data D300 stored in the auxiliary storage device 113 of the BMS 110, and reads out the vehicle ID of the vehicle 10 and the pack ID of the battery pack 100. Next, the transmission unit F103 generates removal information including the information about the location acquired by the acquisition unit F102, the vehicle ID read out from the pack data D300, and the pack ID read out from the pack data D300. Then, the transmission unit F103 transmits the generated removal information to the server 200 via the communication I / F 116.

[0039] In addition, when the communication I / F 116 is configured as a communication interface that performs short-range wireless communication, the transmission unit F103 transmits a command signal to the vehicle 10 via the communication I / F 116 to transmit the generated removal information to the server 200, and indirectly transmits the removal information to the server 200 via the vehicle 10.

[0040] (Processing flow) Here, the flow of processing performed in the battery pack 100 in this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing executed in the battery pack 100 when triggered by the sensor 114 detecting removal of the battery pack 100 from the vehicle 10. The processor 111 of the BMS 110 is the executing entity in Fig. 4, but here the description will be given assuming that the software module of the battery pack 100 is the executing entity.

[0041] 4, when the sensor 114 detects that the battery pack 100 has been removed from the vehicle 10 and the detection signal is input to the processor 111 of the BMS 110, the processor 111 operates as a detection unit F101 and detects that the battery pack 100 has been removed from the vehicle 10 (step S101). After the detection unit F101 has completed the processing of step S101, the processor 111 operates as an acquisition unit F102 and executes the processing of step S102.

[0042] In step S102, the acquisition unit F102 acquires the current position of the battery pack 100 through the GPS receiver 115. When the acquisition unit F102 completes the processing of step S102, the processor 111 operates as a transmission unit F103 and executes the processing of step S103.

[0043] In step S103, the transmission unit F103 generates removal information. Specifically, the transmission unit F103 first accesses the pack data D300 stored in the auxiliary storage device 113 of the BMS 110, and reads out the vehicle ID of the vehicle 10 and the pack ID of the battery pack 100. Next, the transmission unit F103 generates removal information including the information about the location acquired by the acquisition unit F102, the vehicle ID read out from the pack data D300, and the pack ID read out from the pack data D300. After completing the processing of step S103, the transmission unit F103 executes the processing of step S104.

[0044] In step S104, the transmission unit F103 transmits the removal information generated in step S103 to the server 200 via the communication I / F 116. When the transmission unit F103 has completed execution of the process of step S104, execution of the process flow in FIG. 4 ends.

[0045] (Actions and Effects of Embodiment 1) In the above-described embodiment, when the battery pack 100 is removed from the vehicle 10, the current location of the battery pack 100 is transmitted to the server 200. This makes it easy for businesses operating the vehicle 10 to track the whereabouts of the battery pack 100 that has been removed from the vehicle 10. In particular, when the battery pack 100 has been removed from the vehicle 10 at a location other than an authorized base, it becomes easy to track the whereabouts of the battery pack 100.

[0046] <Embodiment 2> In this embodiment, an example will be described in which a vehicle according to the present disclosure is applied to a system for tracking the whereabouts of a battery pack removed from the vehicle. In the following, configurations different from those in the first embodiment will be described, and similar configurations will be omitted.

[0047] Fig. 5 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the vehicle 10 according to this embodiment. In the example illustrated in Fig. 5, only the hardware components related to tracking the battery pack 100 are illustrated among the hardware components of the vehicle 10, but the vehicle 10 also includes hardware components related to driving control and advanced safety control of the vehicle 10.

[0048] 5, the vehicle 10 in this embodiment includes an on-board terminal 130, an ECU 140, a sensor 150, and a GPS receiver 160. The on-board terminal 130, the ECU 140, the sensor 150, and the GPS receiver 160 are connected to each other via a CAN (Controller Area Network) ) and other in-vehicle networks.

[0049] The in-vehicle terminal 130 includes a processor 131, a main storage device 132, an auxiliary storage device 133, and a communication I / F 134. The processor 131, the main storage device 132, the auxiliary storage device 133, and the communication I / F 134 of the in-vehicle terminal 130 are similar to the processor 111, the main storage device 112, the auxiliary storage device 113, and the communication I / F 116 of the BMS 110 in the first embodiment described above, respectively. However, the auxiliary storage device 113 of the in-vehicle terminal 130 stores pack data D400. The pack data D400 is similar to the pack data D300 in the first embodiment described above.

[0050] The ECU 140 is a computer that controls the devices (prime mover (electric motor), battery pack 100, inverter, braking device, steering device, advanced safety device, etc.) mounted on the vehicle 10. In this embodiment, the ECU 140 has a function of transmitting a detection signal from the sensor 150 to the in-vehicle terminal 130, a function of transmitting position information measured by the GPS receiver 160 to the in-vehicle terminal 130, etc.

[0051] Similar to the sensor 114 in the first embodiment described above, the sensor 150 detects the removal of the battery pack 100 from the vehicle 10. The GPS receiver 160 receives a GPS signal and detects the current position of the vehicle 10 according to the received GPS signal.

[0052] (Vehicle software configuration) Next, the software configuration of the vehicle 10 in this embodiment will be described. Fig. 6 is a block diagram that schematically shows an example of the software configuration of the vehicle 10 (on-board terminal 130) in this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 6, the on-board terminal 130 in this embodiment is configured to have three software modules: a detection unit F131, an acquisition unit F132, and a transmission unit F133.

[0053] The detection unit F131, the acquisition unit F132, and the transmission unit F133 may be realized by the processor 131 of the in-vehicle terminal 130 executing a program stored in the auxiliary storage device 133 of the in-vehicle terminal 130. Note that at least some of the detection unit F131, the acquisition unit F132, and the transmission unit F133 may be implemented using an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or an FPGA. It may be realized by a hardware circuit such as a Field Programmable Gate Array (Field Programmable Gate Array).

[0054] The detection unit F131 detects the removal of the battery pack 100 from the vehicle 10 through the ECU 140 and the sensor 150. In one example, when the sensor 150 detects the removal of the battery pack 100 from the vehicle 10, if a detection signal of the sensor 150 is transmitted to the in-vehicle terminal 130 through the ECU 140, the detection unit F131 may determine that the battery pack 100 has been removed from the vehicle 10, using the input as a trigger.

[0055] The acquisition unit F132 acquires the current position of the vehicle 10 (the current position of the vehicle 10 when the battery pack 100 was removed from the vehicle 10) when the detection unit F131 detects that the battery pack 100 has been removed from the vehicle 10. Specifically, when the detection unit F131 detects that the battery pack 100 has been removed from the vehicle 10, the acquisition unit F132 acquires the positioning information (the current position of the vehicle 10) of the GPS receiver 160 via the ECU 140. The current position of the vehicle 10 acquired in this manner corresponds to the position where the battery pack 100 was removed from the vehicle 10.

[0056] The transmission unit F133 generates removal information including information on the location acquired by the acquisition unit F132 (the location where the battery pack 100 is removed from the vehicle 10), and transmits the generated removal information to the server 200. Specifically, the transmission unit F133 first accesses the pack data D400 stored in the auxiliary storage device 133 of the in-vehicle terminal 130, and reads out the vehicle ID of the vehicle 10 and the pack ID of the battery pack 100. Next, the transmission unit F133 generates removal information including the location information acquired by the acquisition unit F132, the vehicle ID read out from the pack data D400, and the pack ID read out from the pack data D400. Then, the transmission unit F133 transmits the generated removal information to the server 200 via the communication I / F 134.

[0057] According to the system of this embodiment, even if the sensor 114, the GPS receiver 115, and the communication I / F 116 are not mounted on the battery pack 100, the same effects as those of the first embodiment described above can be obtained.

[0058] <Other> The above-described embodiment is merely an example, and the present disclosure may be modified and implemented as appropriate without departing from the spirit thereof. For example, a process described as being performed by one device may be shared and executed by multiple devices. Alternatively, a process described as being performed by different devices may be executed by a single device. In a computer system, the hardware configuration for implementing each function can be flexibly changed.

[0059] The present disclosure can also be realized by providing a computer program implementing the functions described in the above embodiments to a computer, and having one or more processors in the computer read and execute the program. Such a computer program may be provided to the computer via a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium connectable to the computer's system bus or via a network. Non-transitory computer-readable storage media include, for example, any type of disk, such as a magnetic disk (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk drive (HDD), etc.), an optical disk (e.g., a CD-ROM, a DVD disk, a Blu-ray disk), a read-only memory (ROM), a random-access memory (RAM), an EPROM, an EEPROM, a magnetic card, a flash memory, an optical card, or any type of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions. [Explanation of symbols]

[0060] 10 Vehicle, 100 Battery pack, 110 BMS, 111 Processor, 112 Main memory, 113 Secondary memory, 114 Sensor, 1 15···GPS receiver, 116···Communication I / F, 120···Battery module, D300···Pack data, F101···Detection unit, F102···Acquisition unit, F103···Transmission unit, 131···Processor, 132···Main memory device, 133···Auxiliary memory device, 134···Communication I / F, 140···ECU, 150···Sensor, 160···GPS receiver, D400···Pack data

Claims

1. A driving battery pack mounted on a vehicle, detecting that the battery pack has been removed from the vehicle in response to receiving a signal from the vehicle indicating that the battery pack has been removed from the vehicle; obtaining a current location of the battery pack in response to the detection; transmitting a signal indicating that the battery pack has been removed from the vehicle at the acquired current location to a server; a control unit configured to perform Battery pack.

2. further comprising a receiver for receiving a GPS (Global Positioning System) signal; the control unit acquires a current position of the battery pack in response to the GPS signal received by the receiver. The battery pack according to claim 1 .

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