Battery pack, battery module, propulsion system and movable device

Abstract

A battery pack (101), a battery module (100), a propulsion system (500) and a movable device (600). The battery pack (101) comprises: a battery cell (1011), a battery management system (1013), and a first switch unit (1012). The battery management system (1013) comprises at least one input end and at least one output end, wherein the at least one input end comprises a first input end (In1), and the at least one output end comprises a first output end (Out1), the first input end (In1) being connected to one end of the first switch unit (1012), the other end of the first switch unit (1012) being connected to the battery cell (1011), and the first output end (Out1) being configured for being connected to the first input end (In1) of the battery management system (1013) of the next battery pack (101).

Description

Battery packs, battery modules, propulsion systems and mobile devices Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of battery technology, and in particular to a battery pack, a battery module, a propulsion system, and a movable device. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, the demand for batteries in various mobile devices (such as electric vehicles and electric ships) has become increasingly widespread. Mobile devices can be powered by a single battery pack or by connecting multiple battery packs to form a large-capacity battery pack. When using multiple battery packs for power, the related art requires the user to press the switches of multiple battery packs one by one to power them up. This power-up method is cumbersome and inefficient.

[0003] Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of this, one of the objectives of this application is to provide a battery pack, a battery module, a propulsion system and a movable device.

[0005] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a battery pack, which is applied to a battery module, wherein the battery module includes at least two battery packs connected in sequence;

[0006] The battery pack includes: battery cells, a battery management system and a first switch unit. The battery management system includes at least one input end and at least one output end; the at least one input end includes a first input end, and the at least one output end includes a first output end; the first input end is connected to one end of the first switch unit, and the other end of the first switch unit is connected to the battery cell; the first output end is used to connect to the first input end of the battery management system in the next battery pack.

[0007] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a battery module comprising at least two battery packs described in the first aspect connected in sequence.

[0008] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a propulsion system, comprising: a battery module as described in the second aspect; and a thruster; wherein the battery module is used to power the thruster.

[0009] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a mobile device, comprising: a movable body; and the propulsion system described in the third aspect, wherein the propulsion system is installed on the movable body.

[0010] The battery pack provided in the embodiments of the present application, based on the devices and connection structure it contains, allows a user to operate the first switch unit of a battery pack to connect the circuit between the battery cells in the battery pack and the battery management system, so that the battery cells in the battery pack can power the battery management system. In addition, the first output terminal of the battery pack can be connected to the first input terminal of the battery management system in the next battery pack, so that the battery management system in the battery pack after being powered on can control the battery management system in the next battery pack connected to the battery pack to power on through the first output terminal. In other words, after at least two battery packs are connected in sequence, the user only needs to operate the first switch unit of one of the battery packs to power on the battery pack and the battery packs connected to it in sequence, which not only makes the battery pack more convenient to use, but also improves the efficiency of powering on at least two battery packs connected in sequence. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without any creative work.

[0012] FIG1 is a schematic structural diagram of a battery module provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0013] FIG2 is a schematic structural diagram of a first battery pack provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0014] FIG3 is a schematic structural diagram of a second battery pack provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0015] FIG4 is a schematic structural diagram of a third battery pack provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0016] FIG5A is a schematic diagram showing the connection between two battery packs provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0017] FIG5B is another connection diagram of two battery packs provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0018] FIG5C is another connection diagram of two battery packs provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0019] FIG6 is a schematic structural diagram of the fifth battery pack provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0020] FIG7 is a schematic structural diagram of a sixth battery pack provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0021] FIG8 is a schematic diagram showing the connection between a multi-battery pack and a thruster provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0022] FIG9 is a schematic diagram showing the connection between a multi-battery pack and a charging device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0023] FIG10 is a circuit diagram of a battery pack provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0024] FIG11 is a schematic diagram showing the connection between multiple battery packs provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0025] FIG12 is a schematic diagram of the addressing process provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0026] FIG13 is a schematic diagram of the re-addressing process provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0027] FIG14 is a schematic structural diagram of a propulsion system provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0028] Figure 15 is a schematic structural diagram of the water propeller provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0029] FIG16 is a schematic structural diagram of a movable device for use in water areas provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of this application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the embodiments described are only part of the embodiments of this application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0031] In mobile devices, multiple battery packs can be connected in parallel for power supply. This can increase the upper limit of the supply current and extend the operating time. However, when multiple battery packs are involved, how to power them all is a pressing issue. Requiring users to power up each pack individually is cumbersome.

[0032] Based on the problems in the related art, please refer to Figures 1, 2 and 16. An embodiment of the present application provides a battery pack 101, a battery module 100, a propulsion system 500 and a movable device 10.

[0033] A first switch unit 1012 is added between the battery cells 1011 of the battery pack 101 and the battery management system 1013. The user can operate the first switch unit 1012 to connect the circuit between the battery cells 1011 in the battery pack 101 and the battery management system 1013, so that the battery cells 1011 in the battery pack 101 supply power to the battery management system 1013. In addition, the first output terminal Out1 of the battery pack 101 can be connected to the first input terminal In1 of the battery management system 1013 in the next battery pack 101, so that the battery management system 1013 in the current battery pack 101 after power-on can control the battery management system 1013 in the next battery pack 101 connected to the local device to power on through the first output terminal Out1. That is to say, after the at least two battery packs 101 provided in the present application are connected in sequence, the user only needs to operate the first switch unit 1012 of one of the battery packs 101, so that the battery pack 101 and the battery pack 101 connected to it can be powered on in sequence, which not only makes the use of the battery pack 101 more convenient, but also improves the efficiency of powering on at least two battery packs 101 connected in sequence.

[0034] Please refer to Figure 1, which shows a schematic diagram of the structure of a battery module 100. The battery module 100 includes at least two battery packs 101 connected in sequence. Each battery pack 101 can have the same configuration, specifically, the same software configuration, the same hardware configuration, the same appearance, and / or the same wiring method. This eliminates the need for users to distinguish between multiple battery packs 101 when connecting them, improving operational convenience.

[0035] Referring to Figures 1 and 2 , each battery pack 101 includes a battery cell 1011, a battery management system 1013, and a first switch unit 1012. The battery management system 1013 includes at least one input terminal and at least one output terminal. The at least one input terminal includes a first input terminal In1, and the at least one output terminal includes a first output terminal Out1. The first input terminal In1 is connected to one end of the first switch unit 1012, and the other end of the first switch unit 1012 is connected to the battery cell 1011. The first output terminal Out1 is used to connect to the first input terminal In1 of the battery management system 1013 in the next battery pack 101.

[0036] The battery cells 1011 can store and release electrical energy. They power the power-consuming components in the battery pack 101, including the battery management system 1013, as well as other components such as indicator lights and a buzzer. The indicator lights can indicate the status of the battery pack 101, such as charging, complete charging, fault status, and low battery. The buzzer can output an alarm when the battery pack 101 is in an abnormal state.

[0037] The battery cell 1011 can be connected to the battery management system 1013 via a first switch unit 1012. The first switch unit 1012 can control the opening and closing of the path between the battery cell 1011 and the battery management system 1013. When the first switch unit 1012 is open, the path between the battery cell 1011 and the battery management system 1013 is disconnected, and the battery cell 1011 stops supplying power to the battery management system 1013. When the first switch unit 1012 is closed, the path between the battery cell 1011 and the battery management system 1013 is connected, and the battery cell 1011 supplies power to the battery management system 1013. The first switch unit 1012 can be closed in response to a user operation. For example, the first switch unit 1012 can include an interactive component such as a physical button, a slider, a rotary component, or a voice-activated component. Accordingly, the closing operation can be pressing a physical button, dragging a slider, rotating a rotary component, or emitting a voice signal.

[0038] The battery management system 1013 is used to monitor, control, and protect the battery pack 101. At least one input terminal of the battery management system 1013 includes a first input terminal In1. When the first switch unit 1012 is closed, the battery cell 1011 can output a power supply signal to the first input terminal In1 of the battery management system 1013 through the first switch unit 1012. The first input terminal In1 transmits the power supply signal to the battery management system 1013, thereby powering the battery management system 1013.

[0039] Referring again to Figures 1 and 2 , the at least one output terminal of the battery management system 1013 includes a first output terminal Out1, which is configured to connect to a first input terminal In1 of the battery management system 1013 in the next battery pack 101. The battery management system 1013 of one battery pack 101 can control the power supply of the battery management system 1013 of the next battery pack 101 via its first output terminal Out1, thereby enabling sequential power-up of multiple sequentially connected battery packs 101 and improving power-up efficiency.

[0040] 1 , it can be understood that when the battery pack 101 where the battery management system 1013 is located is the last battery pack 101 among multiple battery packs 101 connected in sequence, the first output terminal Out1 of the battery management system 1013 of the last battery pack 101 may not need to be connected to other ports.

[0041] For example, if the battery pack 101 is the first battery pack 101 in the battery module, the battery management system 1013 in the battery pack 101 is powered on when it receives electrical energy at any input terminal (such as the first input terminal In1, the second input terminal In2 mentioned below, the third input terminal In31, and any one of the fourth input terminal In32).

[0042] Exemplarily, if the battery pack 101 is not the first battery pack 101 in the battery module, the battery management system 1013 in the battery pack 101 is powered on when the first input terminal In1 receives power.

[0043] For example, when N battery packs 101 are connected sequentially, where N is an integer greater than 0, a user can operate the first switch unit 1012 of any of the N battery packs 101 as needed. For example, a user can operate the first switch unit 1012 of the i-th battery pack 101 to power the battery management system 1013 of the i-th battery pack 101. The battery management system 1013 of the i-th battery pack 101 then powers the battery management system 1013 of the i+1-th battery pack 101 through its first output terminal Out1. The battery management system 1013 of the i+1-th battery pack 101 then powers the battery management system 1013 of the i+2-th battery pack 101 through its first output terminal Out1. This process continues in this manner, thereby powering the battery management systems 1013 of each of the i-th through N-th battery packs 101 sequentially and commencing operation, where 0 < i ≤ N. In this way, the user can power on the i-th battery pack 101 to the N-th battery pack 101 with one click by operating the first switch unit 1012 in the i-th battery pack 101, thereby improving the power-on efficiency of the battery pack 101 and shortening the power-on judgment time.

[0044] For example, the user can operate the first switch unit 1012 in the first battery pack 101 so that the battery management systems 1013 in the N sequentially connected battery packs 101 are powered in sequence. Alternatively, the user can operate the first switch unit 1012 in the second battery pack 101 so that the battery management systems 1013 in the second battery pack 101 through the battery management system 1013 in the Nth battery pack 101 are powered in sequence. This embodiment does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0045] Referring to Figure 3 , first switch unit 1012 includes a double-pole switch 1012b, which includes a first switch 01 and a second switch 02. At least one input terminal also includes a second input terminal In2. One end of first switch 01 is connected to first input terminal In1, and the other end of first switch 01 is connected to battery cell 1011. One end of second switch 02 is connected to second input terminal In2, and the other end of second switch 02 is connected to the end of first switch 01 connected to first input terminal In1. In other words, the electrical energy output by battery cell 1011 is split into two paths: one path is transmitted to first input terminal In1 via first switch 01, and the other path is transmitted to second input terminal In2 via second switch 02.

[0046] In some embodiments, the double-pole switch 1012b is a double-pole resettable switch. When the user presses the double-pole resettable switch, the circuit between the battery cell 1011 in the battery pack 101 and the battery management system 1013 is connected, and the battery cell 1011 can supply power to the battery management system 1013. When the user releases the double-pole resettable switch, the circuit between the battery cell 1011 in the battery pack 101 and the battery management system 1013 is disconnected. In order to ensure that the circuit between the battery cell 1011 in the battery pack 101 and the battery management system 1013 remains connected even when the user releases the double-pole resettable switch, please refer to Figure 4. The first switch unit 1012 also includes a switch element 1012a, one end of the switch element 1012a is connected to the first input terminal In1, and the other end is connected to the battery cell 1011; the switch element 1012a is used to close after the battery management system 1013 of the local device is powered on.

[0047] As can be seen in Figure 4, switch element 1012a and double-pole switch 1012b are connected in parallel. In one case, when double-pole switch 1012b is closed, the circuits between the battery cells 1011 in the battery pack 101, double-pole switch 1012b, and battery management system 1013 are connected, and the battery cells 1011 in the battery pack 101 supply power to the battery management system 1013. In another case, when switch element 1012a is closed, the circuits between the battery cells 1011 in the battery pack 101, switch element 1012a, and battery management system 1013 are connected, and the battery cells 1011 in the battery pack 101 supply power to the battery management system 1013.

[0048] Illustratively, at least one output terminal of the battery management system 1013 further includes a second output terminal Out2, which is connected to the switch element 1012a. Upon power-up, the battery management system 1013 of the device is configured to send a hold signal to the switch element 1012a via the second output terminal Out2, thereby maintaining the switch element 1012a in a closed state, thereby maintaining the circuit between the battery cell 1011 of the device and the battery management system 1013. Of course, when power is no longer needed for the battery management system 1013, the battery management system 1013 of the device is configured to send a disconnect signal to the switch element 1012a, thereby controlling the switch element 1012a to disconnect, thereby disconnecting the power supply circuit from the battery cell 1011 to the battery management system 1013 and reducing the power consumption of the battery cell 1011 by the battery management system 1013.

[0049] For example, in order to avoid the problem of power loss in the circuit between the battery cell 1011 and the battery management system 1013 of the device after the user releases the double-pole resettable switch, the battery management system 1013 of the device is also used to send a hold signal to the switch element 1012a through the second output terminal Out2 within a preset time after power-on, thereby ensuring that the battery management system 1013 of the device is not disconnected after power-on. The preset time can be set accordingly according to the specific hardware settings of the battery pack 101, and this embodiment does not impose any restrictions on this. For example, the preset time is 300ms or 200ms. Among them, the switch element 1012a can be a device with a switching function such as a relay. It is understandable that if the battery management system 1013 does not send a hold signal to the switch element 1012a through the second output terminal Out2 within the preset time, it may be that the double-pole resettable switch has been released by the user, the battery management system 1013 loses power, and the hold signal can no longer be sent to the outside. Therefore, executing the action of sending the hold signal within the preset time period can ensure that the battery management system 1013 can remain powered on after the double-pole resettable switch is released by the user.

[0050] The following examples illustrate several possible implementations of the powered-up battery management system 1013 in the battery pack 101 controlling the power-up of the battery management system 1013 in the next connected battery pack 101 via the first output terminal Out1.

[0051] In a first possible implementation, the first output terminal Out1 of any battery pack 101 is used to directly connect to the first input terminal In1 of the next battery pack 101. Referring to FIG1 , when N battery packs 101 are connected sequentially, the first output terminal Out1 of the battery management system 1013 in the i-th battery pack 101 can be directly connected to the first input terminal In1 of the battery management system 1013 in the (i+1)-th battery pack 101. Thus, after powering on, the battery management system 1013 in the i-th battery pack 101 can input a power supply signal to the first input terminal In1 of the battery management system 1013 in the (i+1)-th battery pack 101 through its first output terminal Out1, thereby powering on the battery management system 1013 in the (i+1)-th battery pack 101.

[0052] For example, when N battery packs 101 are connected in sequence, the user can close the double-pole switch 1012b in the first battery pack 101, so that the battery management system 1013 in the first battery pack 101 is powered on. The powered-on battery management system 1013 then provides electrical energy to the first input terminal In1 of the battery management system 1013 in the next battery pack 101 through the first output terminal Out1, so that the battery management system 1013 in the next battery pack 101 is powered on, and so on, until the battery management systems 1013 in all battery packs 101 are powered on, so that all battery packs 101 can be powered on with one click, thereby improving the power-on efficiency.

[0053] In a second possible embodiment, to effectively control current flow and enhance safety, as shown in FIG5A , each battery pack 101 further includes a second switch unit 1015. The first output terminal Out1 of each battery pack 101 is connected to the first input terminal In1 of the next battery pack 101 via the second switch unit 1015. Specifically, the first output terminal Out1 of each battery pack 101 is connected to its second switch unit 1015, and the second switch unit 1015 of each battery pack 101 is directly connected to the first input terminal In1 of the next battery pack 101. Upon power-up, the battery management system 1013 of each battery pack 101 controls the closing of the second switch unit via the first output terminal Out1, thereby enabling the battery management system 1013 of the current battery pack 101 to supply power to the battery management system 1013 of the next battery pack 101. The provision of the second switch unit 1015 in this embodiment effectively controls current flow and provides enhanced safety. When maintenance, battery replacement, or other operations are required, the switch can be turned off to prevent accidental electric shock or short circuits.

[0054] For example, when N battery packs 101 are connected in sequence, the user can close the double-pole switch 1012b in the first battery pack 101, so that the battery management system 1013 in the first battery pack 101 is powered on. Then, the powered-on battery management system 1013 closes the second switch unit 1015 through the first output terminal Out1, thereby providing power to the first input terminal In1 of the battery management system 1013 in the next battery pack 101, so that the battery management system 1013 in the next battery pack 101 is powered on, and so on, until the battery management systems 1013 in all battery packs 101 are powered on, so that all battery packs 101 can be powered on with one click, thereby improving the power-on efficiency.

[0055] Exemplarily, when N battery packs 101 are connected in sequence, N is an integer greater than 0, and the battery management system 1013 of the i-th battery pack 101 is used to control the second switch unit 1015 to disconnect through the first output terminal Out1 after the battery management system 1013 in the next battery pack 101 connected to it (i.e., the i+1-th battery pack 101) is powered on. Specifically, after the battery management system 1013 of the i-th battery pack 101 closes the second switch unit 1015 of the i-th battery pack 101 so that the battery management system 1013 of the i+1-th battery pack 101 is powered, the battery management system 1013 of the i+1-th battery pack 101 can send a hold signal to the switch element 1012a of the i+1-th battery pack 101, turning on the line between the battery cells 1011, the switch element 1012a and the battery management system 1013 of the i+1-th battery pack 101, so that the battery management system 1013 in the i+1-th battery pack 101 can be powered by the battery cells in the i+1-th battery pack 101, and the battery management system 1013 of the i-th battery pack 101 can control the second switch unit 1015 of the battery pack 101 to disconnect, thereby avoiding the loss of excessive power in the i-th battery pack 101, which is beneficial to improving the balance between the power of each battery pack 101.

[0056] In a third possible embodiment, referring to FIG. 5B , the first output terminal Out1 of any battery pack 101 includes a first sub-output terminal Out11 and a second sub-output terminal Out12. The first sub-output terminal Out11 is connected to the first input terminal In1 of the next battery pack 101 via one end of the first switch unit 1012 of the next battery pack 101, and the second sub-output terminal Out12 is connected to the battery cells 1011 of the next battery pack 101 via the other end of the first switch unit 1012 of the next battery pack 101. In other words, when N battery packs 101 are connected sequentially, the battery management system 1013 of the i-th battery pack 101, the battery cells 1011 of the i+1-th battery pack 101, and the battery management system 1013 of the i+1-th battery pack 101 form a closed loop. The battery cells 1011 of the i+1-th battery pack 101 can supply power to the battery management system 1013 of the i+1-th battery pack 101, thereby facilitating improved balance of charge between the battery packs 101.

[0057] For example, referring to Figures 4 and 5B , the first switch unit 1012 includes a first switch 01, one end of which is connected to the first input terminal In1, and the other end of which is connected to the battery cell 1011. The first output terminal Out1 includes a first sub-output terminal Out11 and a second sub-output terminal Out12. The first sub-output terminal Out11 is connected to the first input terminal In1 via one end of the first switch 01, and the second sub-output terminal Out12 is connected to the battery cell 1011 via the other end of the first switch 01. In other words, when N battery packs 101 are connected sequentially, if the battery management system 1013 in the (i+1)th battery pack 101 is powered on under the control of the (i)th battery pack 101, the battery management system 1013 in the (i+1)th battery pack 101 is powered on when the first input terminal In1 receives power, and the second input terminal In2 of the battery management system 1013 in the (i+1)th battery pack 101 does not receive an input signal, thereby facilitating subsequent master-slave identification.

[0058] In a fourth possible implementation, please refer to Figure 5C, each battery pack 101 also includes a second switch unit 1015, and the first output terminal Out1 is connected to the first input terminal In1 of the next battery pack 101 through the second switch unit 1015; specifically, the first output terminal Out1 of the local battery management system 1013 is connected to the second switch unit 1015, one end of the second switch unit 1015 is connected to the first input terminal In1 of the next battery pack 101 through one end of the first switch unit 1012 of the next battery pack 101, and the other end of the second switch unit 1015 is connected to the battery cell 1011 of the next battery pack 101 through the other end of the first switch unit 1012 of the next battery pack 101. After power is applied, the battery management system 1013 of this device controls the closure of the second switch unit 1015 via the first output terminal Out1. After the second switch unit 1015 is closed, the circuits between the second switch unit 1015, the cells 1011 in the next battery pack 101, and the battery management system 1013 are connected, allowing the cells 1011 in the next battery pack 101 to power its battery management system 1013. The second switch unit 1015 can be a device with a switching function, such as a relay. In this embodiment, the provision of the second switch unit 1015 enables precise control of the power supply from the cells 1011 in the next battery pack 101 to the battery management system 1013 in the next battery pack 101. The power supply status of each battery pack 101 is independent of each other, which helps to improve the balance of power among the battery packs 101.

[0059] As can be seen from FIG. 5C , the second switch unit 1015 of this unit is connected in parallel with the first switch unit 1012 in the next battery pack 101 .

[0060] Please refer to Figures 4 and 5C. The first switch unit 1012 in any battery pack 101 includes a first switch 01, one end of the first switch 01 is connected to the first input terminal In1, and the other end of the first switch 01 is connected to the battery cell 1011; one end of the second switch unit 1015 in any battery pack 101 is connected to the first input terminal In1 of the next battery pack 101 through one end of the first switch 01 of the next battery pack 101, and the other end of the second switch unit 1015 is connected to the battery cell 1011 of the next battery pack 101 through the other end of the first switch 01 of the next battery pack 101. That is to say, when N battery packs 101 are connected in sequence, if the battery management system 1013 in the i+1th battery pack 101 is powered on after the i-th battery pack 101 controls its second switch unit 1015 to close, then the battery management system 1013 in the i+1th battery pack 101 is powered on when the first input terminal In1 receives electric energy, and the second input terminal In2 of the battery management system 1013 in the i+1th battery pack 101 does not receive an input signal, thereby facilitating subsequent master-slave identification.

[0061] For example, when N battery packs 101 are connected in sequence, the user can close the double-pole switch 1012b in the first battery pack 101, so that the battery management system 1013 in the first battery pack 101 is powered on, and then the powered-on battery management system 1013 closes the second switch unit 1015 connected to it, so that the battery management system 1013 in the second battery pack 101 is powered on, and the powered-on battery management system 1013 in the second battery pack 101 closes the second switch unit 1015 connected to it, so that the battery management system 1013 in the third battery pack 101 is powered on, and so on, until the battery management systems 1013 in all battery packs 101 are powered on, so that all battery packs 101 can be powered on with one click, thereby improving the power-on efficiency.

[0062] Exemplarily, when N battery packs 101 are connected in sequence, N is an integer greater than 0, and the battery management system 1013 of the i-th battery pack 101 is used to control the second switch unit 1015 to disconnect through the first output terminal Out1 after the battery management system 1013 in the next battery pack 101 connected to it (i.e., the i+1-th battery pack 101) is powered on. Specifically, after the battery management system 1013 of the i-th battery pack 101 closes the second switch unit 1015 of the i-th battery pack 101 so that the battery management system 1013 of the i+1-th battery pack 101 is powered, the battery management system 1013 of the i+1-th battery pack 101 can send a hold signal to the switch element 1012a of the i+1-th battery pack 101 to turn on the line between the battery cell 1011 of the i+1-th battery pack 101, the switch element 1012a and the battery management system 1013, so that the battery cell 1011 in the i+1-th battery pack 101 continues to supply power to the battery management system 1013 of the i+1-th battery pack 101 when the second switch unit 1015 of the i-th battery pack 101 is not needed. Then the battery management system 1013 of the i-th battery pack 101 can control the second switch unit 1015 of this battery pack 101 to disconnect.

[0063] This embodiment takes into account that when the switch element 1012a of the (i+1)th battery pack 101 and the second switch unit 1015 of the (i)th battery pack 101 are both closed, a closed loop is formed between the battery management system 1013 of the (i+1)th battery pack 101, the second switch unit 1015 of the (i+1)th battery pack 101, the switch element 1012a of the (i+1)th battery pack 101, and the battery management system 1013 of the (i+1)th battery pack 101, so that the battery management system 1013 of the (i+1)th battery pack 101 can also supply power to the battery management system 1013 of the (i+1)th battery pack 101, which may cause an imbalance in the power levels of the battery packs 101. Therefore, the battery management system 1013 of this local battery pack can control the second switch unit 1015 connected to it to disconnect through the first output terminal Out1 after the battery management system 1013 in the next battery pack 101 connected to it is powered on, thereby ensuring the balance of power levels between the battery packs 101.

[0064] By analogy, the battery management system 1013 of the i+1th battery pack 101 can control the second switch unit 1015 in the i+1th battery pack 101 to be closed through the first output terminal Out1, so as to turn on the line between the second switch unit 1015 of the i+1th battery pack 101, the battery cell 1011 of the i+2th battery pack 101 and the battery management system 1013, so that the battery management system 1013 of the i+2th battery pack 101 is powered, and after being powered, the battery management system 1013 of the i+2th battery pack 101 can send a hold signal to its switch element 1012a. signal, turns on the line between the battery cell 1011, the switch element 1012a and the battery management system 1013 in the i+2th battery pack 101, so that the battery cell 1011 in the i+2th battery pack 101 continues to supply power to the battery management system 1013 in the i+2th battery pack 101 without the need for the second switch unit 1015 of the i+1th battery pack 101. The battery management system 1013 of the i+1th battery pack 101 can control the second switch unit 1015 of the battery pack 101 to disconnect, thereby ensuring the balance of power between the battery packs 101.

[0065] In some embodiments, the battery pack 101 may further include a voltage conversion unit 1014 , one end of which is connected to the battery management system 1013 and the other end of which is connected to the battery cell 1011 , for converting the output voltage of the battery cell 1011 . For example, referring to FIG. 6 , one end of the voltage conversion unit 1014 is connected to the battery management system 1013 and the other end is connected to the battery cell 1011 via the first switch unit 1012 .

[0066] To meet the power requirements of electrical devices, the voltage output by battery cell 1011 is often relatively high. By adding a voltage conversion unit 1014 to the battery pack 101, the voltage output by battery cell 1011 can be converted to a suitable operating voltage for the battery management system 1013, preventing damage to the battery management system 1013 due to excessive input voltage. Furthermore, when the output voltage of battery cell 1011 changes, voltage conversion unit 1014 can convert the output voltage of battery cell 1011 to a fixed voltage, thereby ensuring the stability of the power supply and control signals input to the battery management system 1013. Optionally, voltage conversion unit 1014 can be a direct current-to-direct current (DC-DC) converter.

[0067] For example, referring to FIG4 , the first switch unit 1012 includes a double-pole switch 1012b, which includes a first switch 01 and a second switch 02. One end of the first switch 01 is connected to the first input terminal In1 of the battery management system 1013 via the voltage conversion unit 1014, and the other end of the first switch 01 is connected to the battery cell 1011. One end of the second switch 02 is connected to the second input terminal In2, and the end of the second switch 02 connected to the first switch 01 is connected to the first switch 01 via the voltage conversion unit 1014.

[0068] 6 , one end of the switch element 1012a is connected to the battery cell 1011, and the other end is connected to the first input terminal In1 of the battery management system 1013 via the voltage conversion unit 1014. Thus, when the switch element 1012a is disconnected, the battery cell 1011 can stop supplying power to the voltage conversion unit 1014 and the battery management system 1013, thereby reducing the power consumption of the battery cell 1011 by the voltage conversion unit 1014 and the battery management system 1013.

[0069] Considering that in some application scenarios, the powered device or charging device is typically equipped with an interface for receiving power and communication signals from only one battery. Therefore, when using multiple battery packs 101 for power, it is necessary to set up a master and slave system for the battery management system 1013 in each battery pack 101. The master can be used to control the master and each slave, while the slave can control the battery pack 101 in which the master is located. This management includes but is not limited to power supply control, charging control, fault monitoring, fault reporting, temperature monitoring, and / or communication and data management.

[0070] In some embodiments, referring to Figures 3 and 4 , first switch unit 1012 includes a double-pole switch 1012b, which includes a first switch 01 and a second switch 02. When a user operates double-pole switch 1012b, the second input terminal In2 of the local battery management system 1013 can also receive an input signal. However, if the local battery management system 1013 is powered under the control of the battery management system 1013 of the previous battery pack 101 connected to the local device, the second input terminal In2 of the local battery management system 1013 cannot receive an input signal. Therefore, the local battery management system 1013 is further configured to set the local device as the host when the second input terminal In2 receives an input signal.

[0071] If the second input terminal In2 of the battery management system 1013 in a battery pack 101 fails to receive an input signal, the battery management system 1013 sets the battery pack 101 as a slave. For example, the battery management system 1013 may start timing upon power-up. If the timing reaches a preset threshold and the second input terminal In2 of the battery management system 1013 still fails to receive an input signal, the battery management system 1013 sets the battery pack 101 as a slave. This embodiment can accurately distinguish between the master and slave devices based on whether the user operates the first switch unit 1012, thereby improving the convenience of master and slave identification.

[0072] It can be understood that one end of the first switch 01 in the double-pole switch 1012b is connected to the first input terminal In1 of the battery management system 1013, and the other end of the first switch 01 is connected to the battery cell 1011, thereby providing power to the battery management system 1013. One end of the second switch 02 is connected to the second input terminal In2, and the other end of the second switch 02 is connected to the end of the first switch 01 connected to the first input terminal In1, thereby providing a basis for master-slave identification. In this embodiment, the transmission of the power supply signal and the transmission of the input signal for master-slave identification are achieved by multiplexing the same double-pole switch 1012b, which makes the battery pack 101 have the advantages of simple structure and low cost.

[0073] In other embodiments, please refer to Figure 7, at least one input terminal of the battery management system 1013 also includes an external signal input terminal In3, and the external signal input terminal In3 is used to connect to an external power source. The battery management system 1013 of this machine is used to set this machine as a master when the external signal input terminal In3 receives an input signal. If the battery management system 1013 fails to obtain the electrical signal output by the external power supply through the external signal input terminal In3, the battery management system 1013 sets this machine as a slave. By setting the external signal input terminal In3, in addition to the user manually operating the first switch unit 1012, the master and slave machines can also be set by powering the machine with an external power supply, making the master and slave machine settings more flexible and meeting the needs of various usage scenarios.

[0074] For example, referring to FIG7 , the external signal input terminal In3 includes a third input terminal In31, which is used to connect to an external battery 200. For example, referring to FIG8 , when the battery pack 101 is used in a propeller 400 (such as an outboard motor), the propeller 400 is equipped with a battery 200, which is mainly used to power electrical devices such as the ECU, the tilting motor, and the steering motor of the propeller 400. When the propeller 400 is connected to the battery pack 101 and the propeller 400 is powered on, the propeller 400 will input the power provided by the battery 200 into the third input terminal In31 of the battery management system 1013 of the battery pack 101 directly connected thereto, so that the battery management system 1013 is powered. Therefore, the master and slave devices can be set by whether there is power input at the third input terminal In31, making the master and slave device settings more flexible and meeting the needs of various usage scenarios.

[0075] Exemplarily, please refer to FIG7 , the external signal input terminal In3 includes a fourth input terminal In32, and the fourth input terminal In32 is used to connect to an external charging device 300. For example, please refer to FIG9 , when charging, the battery pack 101 can also be charged without operating the first switch unit 1012. The charging device 300 only supplies power and communicates with the battery pack 101 directly connected to it. When the charging device 300 is plugged in, the charging device 300 provides power to the fourth input terminal In32 of the battery pack 101 directly connected to it, thereby powering on the power management system 1013 of the battery pack 101. Therefore, the master and slave machines can be set by whether there is power input at the fourth input terminal In32, which makes the setting method of the master and slave machines more flexible and can meet the needs of various usage scenarios.

[0076] In some embodiments, after multiple battery packs 101 determine the master and slave devices, the battery management system 1013 in the host device is further configured to, after power-on, disconnect the circuit between the battery cells 1011 of the host device and the battery management system 1013 of the host device if a power-off signal is detected, thereby powering down the host device. The power-off signal can be generated by a user operating the first switch unit 1012 in the host device; alternatively, the power-off signal can be sent by the powered device; alternatively, the power-off signal can be generated after the connection between the charging device 300 and the battery pack 101 is disconnected, etc., which is not limited in this application. Specifically, the battery management system 1013 in the host device can disconnect the switch element 1012a in the host device, thereby disconnecting the circuit between the battery cells 1011 of the host device and the battery management system 1013 of the host device.

[0077] For example, considering that the host performs unified management of each slave, the battery management system 1013 in the host is also configured to, after power-on, if a power-off signal is detected, first send a shutdown command to all slaves, causing each slave to disconnect the line between its own battery cell 1011 and its own battery management system 1013, and then disconnect the line between its own battery cell 1011 and its own battery management system 1013, thereby enabling multiple battery packs 101 to be powered off with one click, which is beneficial for improving power-off efficiency. The battery management system 1013 in each slave can disconnect its own switch element 1012a, thereby disconnecting the line between its own battery cell 1011 and its own battery management system 1013.

[0078] For example, the user can operate the first switch unit 1012 of the host so that the battery management system 1013 in the host receives the power-off signal. Since the first switch unit 1012 can both power on and power off the battery pack 101, in order to prevent the user from long-pressing the first switch unit 1012 and causing the battery pack 101 to mistakenly regard the power-on signal as a power-off signal, the battery management system 1013 in the host is used to control the host and all slave devices to power off if a power-off signal is detected after a first time period from power-on. This embodiment implements the process of determining whether a power-off signal is detected after a period of time after power-on to ensure the accuracy of power-off. It will be understood that the first time period can be specifically set according to the actual application scenario, and this embodiment does not impose any restrictions on this. For example, the first time period can be 10s or 20s.

[0079] Exemplarily, the power-off signal is an input signal received by the battery management system 1013 of the host from its second input terminal In2.

[0080] Exemplarily, in order to ensure that the slave can receive the shutdown command sent by the host, the battery management system 1013 in the host is used to send a shutdown command to all slaves every second time period after detecting the power-off signal. After sending the shutdown command a preset number of times, the line between the battery cell 1011 of the local machine and the battery management system 1013 of the local machine is disconnected. This embodiment sends the shutdown command multiple times to ensure that the slave can receive the shutdown command and perform the power-off operation according to the shutdown command to ensure the accuracy of the power-off. It can be understood that the second time period and the preset number of times can be specifically set according to the actual application scenario, and this embodiment does not impose any restrictions on this. For example, the second time period can be 200ms or 250ms; the preset number of times can be 3 times or 5 times, etc.

[0081] In some embodiments, when multiple battery management systems 1013 are connected in sequence, each battery management system 1013 needs to be addressed in order to distinguish the multiple battery management systems 1013. For example, the battery management system 1013 in the master is used to address the battery management system 1013 in the slave.

[0082] For example, the host is the first battery pack 101 among N battery packs 101 connected in sequence, and the second through Nth battery packs 101 are slaves. If each battery pack 101 is not addressed, the battery management system 1013 in the host can address each of the N battery packs 101 in sequence. After powering on, the battery management system 1013 in the host determines that it is the host and addresses it. After successfully addressing itself, the host controls the battery management system 1013 in the second connected battery pack 101 to power on and address the battery management system 1013 in the second battery pack 101. After the battery management system 1013 in the second battery pack 101 is successfully addressed, the battery management system 1013 in the second battery pack 101 controls the battery management system 1013 in the third battery pack 101 to power on in the above manner, and then the battery management system 1013 in the host program the battery management system 1013 in the third battery pack 101, and so on, until all the battery management systems 1013 in N battery packs 101 are successfully addressed.

[0083] In another example, the battery management system 1013 in the master may not address itself, but only address the battery management system 1013 in the slave. This embodiment does not impose any limitation on this.

[0084] In one possible implementation, the battery management system 1013 in the host is used to determine the address of the battery management system 1013 in the slave device based on the connection order of the slave devices in the battery module 100. For example, when N battery packs 101 are connected in sequence, for example, the address of the battery management system 1013 in the host is "0", the address of the battery management system 1013 in the second battery pack 101 connected to the host is "1", the address of the battery management system 1013 in the third battery pack 101 connected to the second battery pack 101 is "2", and so on. The address of the battery management system 1013 in the Nth battery pack 101 is "N-1". This embodiment determines the address of the slave device based on the connection order of the slave device, which can simplify the addressing process and improve addressing efficiency. Moreover, since the connection order of different slave devices is different, each slave device is assigned a unique address, avoiding the situation where multiple slave devices use the same address, thereby ensuring the reliability and stability of communication.

[0085] In a possible implementation, the battery management system 1013 in the master is also used to monitor the battery management system 1013 in the slave.

[0086] Exemplarily, the battery management system 1013 in the host is further configured to control the second switch unit 1015 in the previous battery pack 101 connected to the slave to close to activate the slave and re-address the slave when no feedback signal is received from the slave. The re-addressed address may be the original address of the slave.

[0087] For the convenience of description, the battery management system 1013 that needs to be addressed is referred to as the target battery management system 1013 hereinafter.

[0088] In some embodiments, the action of addressing the target battery management system 1013 can be performed when the battery management system 1013 is just powered on. The addressing at this time is the first addressing. For example, when a battery management system 1013 among the multiple battery management systems 1013 receives a user operation and is powered on, the action of addressing the battery management system 1013 and the remaining battery management systems 1013 connected to the battery management system 1013 begins.

[0089] In another embodiment, during the operation process after multiple battery management systems 1013 are addressed, the signal of a battery management system 1013 may be lost due to vibration, environmental problems, etc. In this case, the target battery management system 1013 is the battery management system 1013 that has lost the signal. The host can address the battery management system 1013, and the addressing at this time is re-addressing (re-addressing for short). Assuming that the slave with lost signal is the battery management system 1013 in the i-th battery pack 101, the host can activate the battery management system 1013 in the i-th battery pack 101 through the battery management system 1013 in the i-1th battery pack 101, and after the battery management system 1013 in the i-th battery pack 101 is activated, the battery management system 1013 in the i-th battery pack 101 is re-addressed; wherein, the activation process is the process of powering on the battery management system 1013 in the i-th battery pack 101, and please refer to the above description for details.

[0090] During the operation of multiple battery management systems 1013 after addressing is completed, each slave can send a feedback signal to the host, and the feedback signal can serve as the basis for the host to determine whether each slave is lost. If the host fails to receive the feedback signal sent by a slave, the host can determine that the slave signal is lost, thereby determining the battery management system 1013 in the slave as the target battery management system 1013, and controlling the previous battery management system 1013 of the target battery management system 1013 to activate the target battery management system 1013 to re-address the target battery management system 1013. Monitoring the connection status of the slave based on the reception of the feedback signal can help the host to promptly detect the loss of the slave and make corresponding decisions, thereby ensuring the reliability and stability of the operation of multiple battery management systems 1013.

[0091] Regarding the type of feedback signal, the feedback signal can optionally be a heartbeat signal sent by the slave to the master at a preset frequency. Since the heartbeat signal is sent at a preset frequency, the master can promptly determine whether a slave is lost based on the reception of the heartbeat signal, which helps improve the efficiency of detecting whether a slave is lost. Alternatively, the feedback signal can also be a response signal, which the slave responds to the polling signal sent by the master. It is understood that compared to the solution of using an additional heartbeat signal for slave loss detection, the additional heartbeat signal may occupy the timing of communication between the master and the slave. In the case of a large number of slaves, it may extend the polling cycle between the master and all slaves, reduce the host's polling frequency for all slaves, and hinder the host from timely acquiring slave data. Directly using the response signal for slave loss detection does not require the insertion of an additional communication process, does not occupy the communication timing between the master and any slave, and can also ensure the polling frequency between the master and multiple slaves while meeting the requirements of slave loss detection, thereby ensuring the host's timely acquisition of slave data. In one example of the present application, after multiple battery management systems 1013 are addressed, the type of feedback signal can be determined based on the number of slaves in the multiple battery management systems 1013. When the number reaches a set number, a response signal is selected as the feedback signal; when the number is less than the set number, a heartbeat signal is selected as the feedback signal. This improves the timeliness of slave loss monitoring when the number of slaves is small, and ensures the timeliness of slave data acquisition when the number of slaves is large.

[0092] When addressing the target battery management system 1013 (first addressing or re-addressing), the host may send the address of the target battery management system 1013 to the target battery management system 1013. The target battery management system 1013 may store an address field. After receiving the address sent by the host, the target battery management system 1013 may assign the address sent by the host to the address field of the local device, thereby setting its own address to the address sent by the host.

[0093] The address of the target battery management system 1013 can include numbers, letters, and / or symbols. The host can assign different addresses to different battery management systems 1013 to distinguish them. Optionally, the address of the target battery management system 1013 is determined based on the connection order of the target battery management system 1013 among multiple battery management systems 1013 that are connected in sequence. For example, if the target battery management system 1013 is the i-th battery management system 1013 among N battery management systems 1013, the address of the target battery management system 1013 is N. It will be appreciated that if a battery management system 1013 is lost, the host can notify the user that the battery management system 1013 is lost and provide the user with the address of the lost target battery management system 1013. Because the address is related to the connection order of the lost battery management system 1013 among the multiple battery management systems 1013, the user can easily find the lost battery management system 1013 among the multiple battery management systems 1013. This greatly facilitates the user in identifying the lost battery management system 1013.

[0094] When the target battery management system 1013 is re-addressed, the re-addressed address of the target battery management system 1013 can be the original address of the target battery management system 1013. Continuing with the previous example, when the target battery management system 1013 is the i-th battery management system 1013, the original address of the target battery management system 1013 is N, and the re-addressed address of the target battery management system 1013 is also N. It can be understood that when a battery management system 1013 among multiple battery management systems 1013 is lost, the lost battery management system 1013 is generally directly re-addressed without changing the connection order of the lost battery management system 1013 among the multiple battery management systems 1013. Therefore, the address of the lost battery management system 1013 can be set to the original address. On the one hand, it can avoid assigning a new address to the lost battery management system 1013, which may cause the new address to be duplicated with the address of other battery management systems 1013. On the other hand, it is also convenient for the host to manage the address. Furthermore, it is also convenient for users to distinguish where the lost battery management system 1013 is located among multiple battery management systems 1013.

[0095] In other examples, the re-addressed address of the target battery management system 1013 and the original address of the target battery management system 1013 can both be determined based on the connection order of the target battery management system 1013 among the multiple battery management systems 1013 connected in sequence, but the re-addressed address and the original address may be different. For example, the address of the target battery management system 1013 may carry information about the number of times the target battery management system 1013 has been re-addressed. Still assuming that the target battery management system 1013 is the i-th battery management system 1013, after the target battery management system 1013 is addressed for the xth time, the address of the target battery management system 1013 can be recorded as i_x. Wherein, if x=1, it means that the i-th battery management system 1013 is addressed for the first time; if x>1, it means that the i-th battery management system 1013 has been re-addressed x-1 times.

[0096] Through the above method, the number of times each battery management system 1013 is re-addressed can be recorded. If the number of times a battery management system 1013 is re-addressed exceeds a preset threshold, a prompt message can be output. This prompt message can include the address of the battery management system 1013 that has been re-addressed more than the preset threshold. If a battery management system 1013 is frequently re-addressed, it may be that the battery management system 1013 has loose wiring or other problems. Therefore, by outputting a prompt message, the user can be reminded to promptly address abnormal conditions such as loose wiring.

[0097] In some embodiments, after the host controls the previous battery management system 1013 to activate the target battery management system 1013, the previous battery management system 1013 returns an activation response signal to the host. The activation response signal may indicate that the previous battery management system 1013 successfully activated the target battery management system 1013. Therefore, addressing the target battery management system 1013 may include: upon receiving the activation response signal sent by the previous battery management system 1013, the host addresses the target battery management system 1013. The feedback of the activation response signal can facilitate the host to understand the activation status of the target battery management system 1013, thereby facilitating the host to perform subsequent addressing operations and ensuring the smooth implementation of the addressing process.

[0098] In some embodiments, if the host does not receive the activation response signal, it can also return to executing the action of controlling the previous battery management system 1013 of the target battery management system 1013 to activate the target battery management system 1013. In the event of an abnormality such as loose wiring or poor communication signal, the host may fail to successfully receive the activation response signal. Some abnormal conditions may last for a short time. Therefore, by repeatedly attempting to control the previous battery management system 1013 of the target battery management system 1013 to activate the target battery management system 1013, the target battery management system 1013 can be successfully activated after the abnormal condition returns to normal, thereby improving the success rate of activation of the target battery management system 1013.

[0099] Furthermore, a threshold value of the number of times the previous battery management system 1013 that controls the target battery management system 1013 activates the target battery management system 1013 (referred to as a third preset number of times) can be pre-set. If the activation response signal is still not received when the number of times the previous battery management system 1013 that controls the target battery management system 1013 activates the target battery management system 1013 reaches the third preset number, it means that the activation of the target battery management system 1013 has failed. At this time, the host can output a fault prompt so that the user can deal with the fault in time. The fault prompt can also include fault type information (for example, the fault code corresponding to the failure to activate the target battery management system 1013), the address of the battery management system 1013 that failed to be activated, etc., so that the user can find the battery management system 1013 that failed to be activated and troubleshoot the cause of the fault.

[0100] If an activation response signal is received before the previous battery management system 1013 controlling the target battery management system 1013 activates the target battery management system 1013 the number of times reaches the third preset number, the host can also reset the number of times the previous battery management system 1013 controlling the target battery management system 1013 activates the target battery management system 1013, so as to facilitate the accurate determination of the current activation times of the next target battery management system 1013 when addressing the next target battery management system 1013, thereby avoiding the problem that the next target battery management system 1013 cannot be activated multiple times after the first activation fails due to the activation times not being reset to zero, thereby ensuring the smooth progress of the addressing process of the next target battery management system 1013.

[0101] After the target battery management system 1013 is successfully addressed, the target battery management system 1013 may return an addressing response signal to the host. After the target battery management system 1013 is addressed, the addressing method may further include: upon receiving the addressing response signal fed back by the target battery management system 1013, the host confirms that the target battery management system 1013 has been successfully addressed. Feedback of the addressing response signal allows the host to understand whether the target battery management system 1013 has been successfully addressed, thereby facilitating the host to perform subsequent operations.

[0102] If the host fails to receive the above-mentioned addressing response signal due to the target battery management system 1013 being offline, the communication link between the target battery management system 1013 and the host being abnormal, etc., the host will try to address the target battery management system 1013 again. Since some abnormal situations last for a relatively short time, by trying to address the target battery management system 1013 multiple times, the target battery management system 1013 can be successfully addressed after the abnormal situation returns to normal, thereby improving the addressing success rate. The maximum number of times the target battery management system 1013 is addressed can be pre-set (hereinafter referred to as the first preset number). The first preset number can be set according to actual needs, for example, to 3 times, 5 times or 10 times. Optionally, the first preset number in the first addressing process can be less than the first preset number in the re-addressing process. For example, during the first addressing, the first preset number can be 3 times; and during re-addressing, the first preset number can be 10 times. Setting a smaller first preset number during the first addressing can reduce the delay of the addressing process, so that each battery pack 101 can obtain the address as soon as possible; setting a larger first preset number during re-addressing can reduce the situation of re-addressing failure caused by short-term abnormalities and improve the success rate of re-addressing.

[0103] The host can record the current number of times the target battery management system 1013 has been addressed in the host computer and start counting the number of times the target battery management system 1013 is addressed. If the host fails to receive an addressing response signal from the target battery management system 1013 before the timer times out, the host will increase the current number of times the target battery management system 1013 has been addressed by 1 and attempt to address the target battery management system 1013 again. By counting and setting a timeout, the host can promptly determine if the target battery management system 1013 has failed to send back a response signal and retry addressing the target battery management system 1013, thereby improving addressing efficiency.

[0104] In some embodiments, if the number of times the target battery management system 1013 is addressed reaches a first preset number of times and no addressing response signal is received, it means that the addressing of the target battery management system 1013 has failed. At this time, the host can output a fault prompt so that the user can handle the fault in a timely manner. The fault prompt can also include fault type information (for example, the fault code corresponding to the failure of addressing the target battery management system 1013), the address of the battery management system 1013 that failed to address, etc., so that the user can find the battery management system 1013 that failed to address and troubleshoot the cause of the fault.

[0105] In some embodiments, if an addressing response signal fed back by the target battery management system 1013 is received before the number of times the target battery management system 1013 is addressed reaches a first preset number, it indicates that the target battery management system 1013 has been successfully addressed, and the host can reset the number of times the target battery management system 1013 has been addressed. By resetting the number of times the target battery management system 1013 has been addressed, it is easier to accurately determine the number of times the next target battery management system 1013 has been addressed when addressing the next target battery management system 1013, thereby avoiding the problem that the next target battery management system 1013 cannot be addressed multiple times after the first addressing fails due to the number of times not being reset, thereby ensuring the smooth progress of the addressing process of the next target battery management system 1013.

[0106] In some embodiments, after addressing the target battery management system 1013, the host controls the battery management system 1013 preceding the target battery management system 1013 to stop activating the target battery management system 1013. By controlling the preceding battery management system 1013 to stop activating the target battery management system 1013, the power consumption of the battery pack 101 in which the preceding battery management system 1013 is located due to the activation of the target battery management system 1013 can be reduced, thereby improving the balance of power among the battery packs 101 in which each battery management system 1013 is located.

[0107] The host can control the previous battery management system 1013 to activate and deactivate the target battery management system 1013 by sending an activation instruction to the target battery management system 1013. Specifically, the host can send an activation control instruction to the previous battery management system 1013, and the previous battery management system 1013 can respond to the activation control instruction and activate the target battery management system 1013. The host can also send a deactivation control instruction to the previous battery management system 1013, and the previous battery management system 1013 can respond to the deactivation control instruction and deactivate the target battery management system 1013.

[0108] In one implementation, two adjacent battery management systems 1013 can be connected via a second switch unit 1015. The host controls the preceding battery management system 1013 to close the second switch unit 1015 between it and the target battery management system 1013 to activate the target battery management system 1013. In this implementation, the instruction sent by the host to control the closing of the second switch unit 1015 (referred to as the closing instruction) is the activation control instruction. After the second switch unit 1015 is closed, the target battery management system 1013 can be powered and activated. In this embodiment, by setting the second switch unit 1015, the host can power the target battery management system 1013 and activate it as long as it controls the second switch unit 1015 to be closed. Since the process from the closing of the second switch unit 1015 to the successful powering and activation of the target battery management system 1013 takes a short time, the activation efficiency of the target battery management system 1013 can be effectively improved.

[0109] The host can also control the second switch unit 1015 to disconnect, so that the previous battery management system 1013 stops activating the target battery management system 1013. In this implementation, the instruction sent by the host to control the second switch unit 1015 to disconnect (referred to as the disconnect instruction) is the stop activation control instruction. The above embodiment only needs to set the second switch unit 1015 in hardware to realize the activation and stop activation of the previous battery management system 1013 and the target battery management system 1013. Since the cost of the second switch unit 1015 is relatively low, the hardware cost of the battery pack 101 can be effectively reduced. In addition, the host only needs to control the second switch unit 1015 to close or open to activate and stop activating the target battery management system 1013, and the control logic is simple.

[0110] After the host controls the previous battery management system 1013 to stop activating the target battery management system 1013, the previous battery management system 1013 can return a stop activation response signal to the host to indicate that it has stopped activating the target battery management system 1013. After controlling the previous battery management system 1013 to stop activating the target battery management system 1013, if the host receives the stop activation response signal sent by the previous battery management system 1013, it is confirmed that the previous battery management system 1013 has successfully stopped activating the target battery management system 1013. By sending the stop activation response signal to the host by the previous battery management system 1013, it is convenient for the host to determine whether the target battery management system 1013 has been successfully stopped, and then, it is convenient for the host to perform further actions according to the judgment result, for example, retrying to control the previous battery management system 1013 to stop activating the target battery management system 1013, or outputting a fault prompt, to ensure the smooth progress of the addressing process.

[0111] In some embodiments, if the host fails to receive the deactivation response signal, the host returns to executing the action of controlling the previous battery management system 1013 to deactivate the target battery management system 1013, i.e., the host again attempts to control the previous battery management system 1013 to deactivate the target battery management system 1013. A maximum number of times the previous battery management system 1013 can be controlled to deactivate the target battery management system 1013 (hereinafter referred to as the second preset number) can be preset. The second preset number can be set to the same or different value as the first preset number based on actual needs. The host can record the number of times the previous battery management system 1013 has been controlled to deactivate the target battery management system 1013 and start a timer at the same time as the previous battery management system 1013 is controlled to deactivate the target battery management system 1013. If the host fails to receive the deactivation response signal before the timer expires, the host increments the number of times the previous battery management system 1013 has been controlled to deactivate the target battery management system 1013 by 1 and attempts to control the previous battery management system 1013 to deactivate the target battery management system 1013 again.

[0112] If the stop activation response signal is not received when the number of times the previous battery management system 1013 stops activating the target battery management system 1013 is controlled to reach the second preset number, it means that the previous battery management system 1013 fails to stop activating the target battery management system 1013. Therefore, if the stop activation response signal is not received when the number of times the previous battery management system 1013 stops activating the target battery management system 1013 is controlled to reach the second preset number, the host outputs a fault prompt so that the user can handle the fault in time. The fault prompt can also include fault type information (for example, the fault code corresponding to the failure of the previous battery management system 1013 to stop activating the target battery management system 1013), the address of the previous battery management system 1013, etc., so that the user can find the previous battery management system 1013 and troubleshoot the cause of the fault.

[0113] If a stop activation response signal is received before the number of times the previous battery management system 1013 stops activating the target battery management system 1013 reaches the second preset number, it indicates that the previous battery management system 1013 successfully stopped activating the target battery management system 1013. Therefore, if a stop activation response signal is received before the number of times the previous battery management system 1013 stops activating the target battery management system 1013 reaches the second preset number, the host will reset the number of times the previous battery management system 1013 stops activating the target battery management system 1013. In this way, when addressing the next target battery management system 1013, it is possible to accurately determine the number of times the previous battery management system 1013 that controlled the next target battery management system 1013 stopped activating the next target battery management system 1013, thereby avoiding the problem of being unable to execute multiple stop activations after the previous battery management system 1013 fails to stop activation for the first time due to the stop activation count not being reset to zero, thereby ensuring the smooth implementation of the addressing process.

[0114] After the target battery management system 1013 is successfully addressed, the next battery management system 1013 of the target battery management system 1013 is used as the updated target battery management system 1013, and the action of controlling the previous battery management system 1013 of the target battery management system 1013 to activate the target battery management system 1013 is returned.

[0115] In some embodiments, if the updated target battery management system 1013 fails to be successfully addressed, the original target battery management system 1013 is confirmed to be the last slave. For example, assuming that the original target battery management system 1013 is the i-th battery management system 1013, the updated target battery management system 1013 is the i+1-th battery management system 1013. If the i+1-th battery management system 1013 fails to be successfully addressed, the i-th battery management system 1013 can be confirmed to be the last slave, thereby completing the current round of addressing.

[0116] In some embodiments, if the process of addressing the target battery management system 1013 is re-addressing the target battery management system 1013 rather than addressing it for the first time, it is determined whether a feedback signal from the target battery management system 1013 is received.

[0117] Based on this, when no feedback signal is received, the previous battery management system 1013 that controls the target battery management system 1013 activates the target battery management system 1013 .

[0118] During the re-addressing process of the target battery management system 1013, the target battery management system 1013 is updated, and the process returns to execute the action of controlling the battery management system 1013 preceding the target battery management system 1013 to activate the target battery management system 1013. If the target battery management system 1013 is the last slave, the first slave may be used as the updated target battery management system 1013; otherwise, the battery management system 1013 following the target battery management system 1013 may be used as the updated target battery management system 1013.

[0119] Specifically, if the target battery management system 1013 is the last slave, the host can determine whether it has received the feedback signal from the first slave. If it has not received the feedback signal from the first slave, it will update the first slave to the target battery management system 1013. If it has received the feedback signal from the first slave, it will continue to determine whether it has received the feedback signal from the second slave. This process continues until a slave is determined to have received no feedback signal and is determined as the target battery management system 1013.

[0120] Similarly, if the target battery management system 1013 is not the last slave, the host can determine whether it has received a feedback signal from the battery management system 1013 that is next to the target battery management system 1013 (i.e., the first battery management system 1013 after the target battery management system 1013). If no feedback signal is received from the next battery management system 1013, the next battery management system 1013 is updated to the target battery management system 1013. If a feedback signal is received from the next battery management system 1013, the host continues to determine whether a feedback signal is received from the second battery management system 1013 after the target battery management system 1013. This process continues in this manner until a slave that has not received a feedback signal is determined and is designated as the target battery management system 1013. Therefore, if the host receives a feedback signal from a slave, it can directly determine that the slave has been successfully addressed. Therefore, there is no need to address the slave again. Instead, the host can directly determine whether the next slave has been successfully addressed, thereby improving addressing efficiency.

[0121] The battery pack 101 provided in this application is exemplarily described below with reference to FIG8 , FIG9 , FIG10 and FIG11 .

[0122] Please refer to the battery pack 101 shown in Figure 10. Each battery pack 101 has a double-pole resettable switch (i.e., double-pole switch 1012b). When the user presses the double-pole resettable switch, the self-locking relay (i.e., switch element 1012a) is short-circuited, and the circuits between the battery cell 1011, the first switch 01, the DC-DC converter (i.e., the voltage conversion unit 1014) and the battery management system 1013 are connected. The DC-DC converter obtains battery power and outputs a 12V or 24V power supply signal to the first input terminal In1 of the battery management system 1013 (i.e., the ON port in Figure 10), so that the battery management system 1013 can be powered and operate.

[0123] When the user presses the double-pole resettable switch, the lines between the battery cell 1011, the second switch 02, the DC-DC converter and the battery management system 1013 are connected, and the 12V control signal output by the DC-DC converter will be given to the second input terminal In2 (i.e., the PWM signal detection port) of the battery management system 1013. After power-on, the battery management system 1013 can detect the 12V control signal and set itself as the host.

[0124] To prevent the user from releasing the double-pole resettable switch, which causes the battery management system 1013 to power off, the battery management system 1013 sends a hold signal to the latching relay (i.e., the switch element 1012a) through the second output terminal Out2 within a preset period of time after powering on. The second output terminal Out2 includes two sub-output terminals, which are respectively connected to KIP and KIN in the latching relay (not shown in Figure 10). In this way, when the double-pole resettable switch is disconnected, the circuits between the battery cell 1011, the latching relay, the DC-DC converter, and the battery management system 1013 are connected, and the DC-DC converter can continue to obtain power from the battery cell 1011, so that the battery management system 1013 remains in a powered-on state.

[0125] Taking the host as an example, after the host's battery management system 1013 is powered and operational, it controls the start-stop relay (i.e., second switch unit 1015) to close via its first output terminal Out1 (the two start-stop relay ports in FIG10 ). Referring to FIG10 and FIG11 , the first port (i.e., Ignition 1 port below the host) of the start-stop relay (i.e., second switch unit 1015) is connected to the battery cell 1011 in the next battery pack 101 via the Ignition 1 port above the slave 1. The second port (i.e., Ignition 2 port below the host) of the start-stop relay (i.e., second switch unit 1015) is connected to the first input terminal In1 of the battery management system 1013 in the next battery pack 101 via the Ignition 2 port above the slave 1 and the DC-DC converter of the next battery pack 101. After the start-stop relay of this unit is closed, the start-stop relay of this unit, the battery cell 1011 of the next battery pack 101, the DC-DC converter and the battery management system 1013 form a closed loop, so that the battery cell 1011 of the next battery pack 101 can supply power to its battery management system 1013 through its DC-DC converter.

[0126] After the battery management system 1013 in the next battery pack 101 is powered on, its second input terminal In2 does not receive an input signal, so the battery management system 1013 is set to a slave.

[0127] As shown in Figures 8, 9, and 10, each battery pack 101 also has an external 12V power supply 12V-C detection port (i.e., external signal input terminal In3). When the battery pack 101 is used in a propeller 400 (e.g., an outboard motor), the propeller 400 (e.g., an outboard motor) is equipped with a 12V battery 200. The 12V battery 200 is mainly used to power the ECU, tilting motor, steering motor, and other electrical devices of the propeller 400 (e.g., an outboard motor). When the propeller 400 (e.g., an outboard motor) is connected to the battery pack 101 and the propeller 400 (e.g., an outboard motor) is powered on, the propeller 400 (e.g., an outboard motor) will output the 12V-C signal provided by the battery 200 to the battery management system 1013 of the battery pack 101 directly connected thereto, so that the battery management system 1013 is powered. After receiving power, the battery management system 1013 detects a 12V signal input at the 12V-C detection port in the figure and can set itself as the master. However, for the battery management system 1013 of the battery pack 101 not directly connected to the propeller 400 (such as an outboard motor), its 12V-C detection port does not detect a 12V signal, so this part of the battery management system 1013 sets itself as a slave.

[0128] As shown in Figures 8 and 9, during charging, the battery pack 101 can be charged without operating the first switch unit 1012. The charger (i.e., the charging device 300 in the aforementioned embodiment) only supplies power and communicates with the battery pack 101 directly connected to it (hereinafter referred to as the directly connected battery pack 101). When the charger is plugged in, the charger outputs an auxiliary 12V power supply to the directly connected battery pack 101. The directly connected battery pack 101 is powered on and the CHG_P+ detection port (i.e., the external signal input terminal In3) of the battery management system 1013 of the directly connected battery pack 101 detects the auxiliary charging 12V power supply and sets itself as the master. However, for the battery management system 1013 of the battery pack 101 that is not directly connected to the charger, its CHG_P+ detection port does not detect the 12V signal. Therefore, this part of the battery management system 1013 sets itself as a slave.

[0129] This implements the power-on work of multiple battery packs 101 connected in sequence and the master-slave setting process. After the host and slave are set up, the host can send a host message, and the slave can send a slave message. The number of hosts can be determined based on the number of battery management systems 1013 that send host messages. If the number of hosts is greater than 1 (for example, the user presses the first switch unit 1012 in multiple battery packs 101), a fault prompt can be output. In addition, the battery pack 101 can also output a high-voltage signal to the powered device. If high voltage power has not been applied when the fault prompt is output, high voltage power is not allowed (that is, the battery pack 101 is prohibited from outputting a high-voltage signal); if high voltage power has been applied at this time, the host sends a high-voltage instruction to the host and all slaves to cause all battery packs 101 to reduce high voltage (that is, stop outputting high-voltage signals).

[0130] For example, the user can operate the first switch unit 1012 of the host so that the battery management system 1013 in the host receives a power-off signal. After the multiple battery packs 101 determine the master and slave devices, the battery management system 1013 in the host controls the host and all slave devices to power off if a power-off signal is detected after the first power-on time (for example, 10s). Specifically, the battery management system 1013 in the host can send a shutdown command to all slave devices every second time (for example, 200ms) to enable each slave to disconnect its own self-locking relay, thereby disconnecting the line between its own battery cell 1011 and its own battery management system 1013. After sending the shutdown command a preset number of times (for example, 3 times), the self-locking relay of the host is disconnected, thereby disconnecting the line between the battery cell 1011 of the host and the battery management system 1013 of the host.

[0131] Continuing with Figures 10 and 11 , after the user manually presses the double-pole resettable switch, the host's battery management system 1013 receives power. The host controls the start-stop relay in the host through its first output terminal Out1, closing it. This then forms a closed loop among the host's start-stop relay, the battery cell 1011 of slave 1, the DC-DC converter, and the battery management system 1013. The battery management system 1013 in slave 1 is powered on, and the host addresses slave 1 after it is powered on. After successfully addressing slave 1, the host disconnects the start-stop relay through its first output terminal Out1.

[0132] Slave 1 controls the start / stop relay of slave 1 through its first output terminal Out1 to close. This forms a closed loop among the start / stop relay of slave 1, the battery cell 1011 of slave 2, the DC-DC converter, and the battery management system 1013. The battery management system 1013 in slave 2 is powered on, and the host can address slave 2 after it is powered on. This can be deduced from the above. It is understood that the slave power-on process is also the process of activating the slave.

[0133] The following describes the processes of initial addressing and re-addressing respectively in conjunction with the structures of FIG. 1 to FIG. 11 and the control flows of FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 .

[0134] Please refer to Figure 12, which shows the process of the first addressing of the battery management system 1013. Multiple battery management systems 1013 are connected sequentially, with the 0th slave being the master, the 1st slave being the battery directly connected to the master, the 2nd slave being the battery directly connected to the 1st slave, and so on.

[0135] For the host:

[0136] First, the battery management system 1013 is powered on (step S41). The battery management system 1013 determines whether a power-on signal (e.g., a control signal transmitted by the user after closing the first switch unit 1012, or an electrical signal output by an external power supply via the external signal input terminal In3) is received within a preset time period (e.g., 3 seconds) after power-on (step S42). If so, the battery management system 1013 sets the device as the host, enters host mode, and sets K = 0 (step S43).

[0137] The host activates the K+1th slave through the Kth slave and addresses the K+1th slave. The specific process is as follows: the host sends an activation control signal to the Kth slave. The activation control signal can be a message that controls the start-stop relay of the Kth slave to close, so that the start-stop relay of the Kth slave closes and activates the K+1th slave (step S44). Then, the host sends an addressing signal for the K+1th slave to the K+1th slave. The addressing signal can be an addressing message (step S45). The host determines whether it has received an addressing response signal (also called an addressing reply signal) sent by the K+1th slave (step S46). The addressing reply signal can be a reply message.

[0138] If the addressing response signal is received, it means that the addressing of the K+1th slave is completed. If not, it is determined whether the number of times the addressing message has been sent reaches a preset number (for example, 3 times) (step S47). If not, it returns to step S44, and then the host sends the addressing message of the K+1th slave to the K+1th slave for the second time. Subsequently, the host again determines whether it has received the addressing response signal sent by the K+1th slave. If it has, it means that the addressing of the K+1th slave is completed. If not, the host sends the addressing message of the K+1th slave to the K+1th slave for the third time, and determines for the third time whether the response addressing message (i.e., the addressing response signal) from the K+1th slave is received. If it has, it means that the addressing of the K+1th slave is completed. If not, the process ends (step S53). After addressing is completed, the host sends a message to disconnect the start-stop relay to the Kth slave to disconnect the start-stop relay of the Kth slave, and the K+1th slave is powered by its own internal DC-DC converter (step S48).

[0139] The host determines whether it has received the response message of the K-th slave (i.e., the stop activation response signal in the aforementioned embodiment) (step S49). If so, the number of slaves K is set to K+1 (step S51), and the number of message retransmissions is cleared to zero (step S52), and then the host continues to address the next slave. If the judgment result of step S49 is no, it is determined whether the number of retransmissions of the response message has reached a preset number (for example, 3 times) (step S50). If not, the host continues to send the disconnection start-stop relay message to the K-th slave until the start-stop relay disconnection response message of the K-th slave is received, or when the number of times the start-stop relay disconnection response message of the K-th slave has reached 3 times, the process ends (step S53).

[0140] For the slave:

[0141] If the battery management system 1013 does not receive a power-on signal within a preset period of time (e.g., 3 seconds) after power-on, it enters slave mode (step S54) and determines whether it has received a master-addressed message (step S55). If not, it enters single-box mode (step S56). If so, it obtains its own address and sends a response-addressed message to the master (step S57).

[0142] After the slave addressing is completed, the slave needs to assist in the addressing of the next slave directly connected to it. Therefore, the slave also needs to determine whether it has received a message to close the start-stop relay (step S58). Upon receiving the message, the slave closes its own start-stop relay to activate the next slave (step S60). Subsequently, the slave also needs to determine whether it has received a message to disconnect the start-stop relay (step S61). Upon receiving the message, the slave disconnects its own start-stop relay (step S62) and sends a start-stop relay disconnect response message to the master. If the number of times the slave sends the response addressing message reaches a preset threshold (for example, 3 times) (step S59), or the slave does not receive a message to disconnect the start-stop relay, the process ends (step S53).

[0143] FIG13 shows the process of re-addressing.

[0144] During the operation of multiple battery management systems 1013 after addressing is completed, a slave signal may be lost due to vibration, environmental problems, etc. At this time, the slave needs to be re-addressed. If the addressing still fails, a slave communication failure is reported. The process is as follows:

[0145] K = 1;

[0146] The host determines whether it has received the heartbeat message from the Kth slave (step S71);

[0147] When the heartbeat message of the Kth slave is received, the value of K is increased by 1 (step S72). At this time, K=2. The host determines whether K is greater than the number of slaves (step S73).

[0148] If yes, the host continues to determine whether it has received the heartbeat message from the Kth slave (step S71);

[0149] If not, K=1 is set (step S74), and the host continues to determine whether the heartbeat message of the Kth slave is received (step S71);

[0150] And so on.

[0151] When the host does not receive the heartbeat message of the K-th slave, the host sends a start-stop relay closing message to the K-1-th slave (step S75) to activate the K-th slave (if the host does not receive the heartbeat message of the first slave, the host directly closes its own start-stop relay to activate the first slave);

[0152] The master sends an addressed message to the Kth slave (step S76);

[0153] The host determines whether it has received the response addressing message sent by the Kth slave (step S77);

[0154] If the host receives the response addressing message sent by the K-th slave, it means that the K-th slave is addressed successfully, and the host sends a message to disconnect the start-stop relay to the K-1-th slave (step S78);

[0155] The host determines whether it has received the start-stop relay disconnection response message sent by the K-1th slave (step S79);

[0156] If the host receives the start-stop relay disconnection response message sent by the K-1th slave, the host clears the number of times the response addressing message is sent (step S80) and returns to step S71; if the host does not receive the start-stop relay disconnection response message sent by the K-1th slave, the host determines that the communication of the K-1th slave has timed out and reports a fault (step S83);

[0157] If the host does not receive the reply addressing message sent by the K-th slave, the host continues to send the addressing message to the K-th slave until the host receives the reply addressing message sent by the K-th slave, or the number of times the reply addressing message is sent reaches a preset number (for example, 10 times) (step S81);

[0158] When the number of times the response addressing message is sent reaches 10 but the host has not received the response addressing message sent by the Kth slave, the host determines that the Kth slave is disconnected, reports a fault, and ignores the heartbeat message (i.e., feedback signal) of the slave (step S82).

[0159] During operation, the loss of slaves includes any slave restart or power failure. In the above cases, the host can control the slave to power on again.

[0160] Any message from the slave can be considered as the heartbeat message of the slave. In other words, there is no need to set up an additional heartbeat message. Any message sent by the slave can be used to assist the host in determining whether the slave is lost.

[0161] All battery packs 101 in this application can be powered on to determine the master and slave devices while having the same software and hardware, and address the battery management system 1013, which not only facilitates the burning of the battery program, but also facilitates the parallel connection of batteries and improves efficiency.

[0162] In addition, since the present application re-addresses all connected battery management systems 1013, addressing can be performed according to the connection order of the battery management systems 1013. When a battery pack 101 where a battery management system 1013 is located fails, the user can directly find the failed battery pack 101 from multiple battery packs 101 based on the address of the failed battery management system 1013. For example, if the address of the failed battery management system 1013 is 3, the user can directly assume that the third battery pack 101 has failed.

[0163] In addition, the battery pack 101 can solve the problem of slave communication loss due to poor contact during operation. When the signal is suddenly lost, the lost slave is re-addressed, effectively solving the signal loss caused by contact problems.

[0164] The various technical features in the above embodiments can be arbitrarily combined as long as there is no conflict or contradiction between the combinations of features. Therefore, the arbitrary combination of the various technical features in the above embodiments also falls within the scope of disclosure of this specification.

[0165] In some embodiments, referring to FIG. 14 , a propulsion system 500 is further provided, including a battery module 100 and a propeller 400 . The battery module 100 is used to supply power to the propeller 400 .

[0166] For example, the relationship may be one-to-many, such as one battery module 100 is used to power multiple propellers 400 (as shown in FIG14 ); or one-to-one, such as multiple battery modules 100 are used to power multiple propellers 400; or many-to-one, such as multiple battery modules 100 are used to power one propeller 400. The term "multiple" refers to two or more.

[0167] Taking the propeller 400 as an example of a water area propeller, please refer to the water area propeller shown in Figure 15. The water area propeller includes a main unit 401 and a lifting device 402, wherein the lifting device 402 is connected to the main unit 401. Exemplarily, the lifting device 402 includes a clamp 120, an adjustment mechanism 130 and a motor 140, wherein the clamp 120 is used to be fixed to the movable body 601, the adjustment mechanism 130 is connected between the clamp 120 and the main unit 401, the motor 140 is installed on the clamp 120 or the main unit 401, and is connected to the adjustment mechanism 130, and is used to drive the adjustment mechanism 130 to deform, and the deformation of the adjustment mechanism 130 drives the main unit 401 to rise and fall relative to the clamp 120, and the main unit 401 is always located on the outside of the movable body in the water area. Exemplarily, the main unit 401 includes at least a drive motor and a propeller, and the drive motor is used to drive the propeller to rotate to achieve the propulsion of the movable device in the water area.

[0168] In some embodiments, please refer to Figure 16 (Figure 16 takes the movable device 600 as a water movable device and the propeller 400 as a water propeller as an example), a movable device 600 is also provided, including: a movable body 601; and the above-mentioned propulsion system 500, the propulsion system 500 is installed on the movable body.

[0169] Mobile devices include devices that can operate or move on land, water, air, etc. As an example, a mobile device may be a land-based mobile device, such as a car or truck. As another example, a mobile device may be an aircraft, such as a drone or airship.

[0170] The following description uses the example of movable device 600 being a mobile device for water movement and propeller 400 being a propeller for water movement. The propeller is movably connected to the mobile device. As the power supply for the mobile device, the propeller can change its position relative to the mobile device. When the propeller is needed, it is positioned below the water surface to provide propulsion for the mobile device. When not needed, the propeller is positioned above the water surface to reduce the resistance of the water flow to the mobile device during movement.

[0171] The movable device in the water area of ​​this embodiment can be various types of water transportation vehicles such as commercial ships, passenger ships, yachts, fishing boats, sailboats, and civilian ships. It can also be water area inspection equipment, water area management equipment, water area environment monitoring equipment, and other equipment that can move in the water area. This application does not impose any restrictions on this. When the movable device in the water area is various types of ships, the movable body in the water area is correspondingly the hull. The water area propeller of this embodiment can be an outboard motor, a pod propeller, or other equipment that can provide power. The water area propeller can be installed at the head, tail, or side. When installed on the side, it can be used as a side thruster to assist the steering of the movable device in the water area.

[0172] It should be noted that, in this article, relational terms such as first and second, etc. are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. The terms "comprise", "include" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device that includes a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements that are not explicitly listed, or also includes elements that are inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, an element defined by the sentence "comprises a..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device that includes the element.

[0173] The above is a detailed introduction to the methods and devices provided in the embodiments of the present application. Specific examples are used herein to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of the present application. The description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the methods and core ideas of the present application. At the same time, for those skilled in the art, based on the ideas of the present application, there may be changes in the specific implementation methods and application scope. In summary, the content of this specification should not be understood as a limitation on the present application.

Claims

1. A battery pack, characterized in that: Applied to a battery module, the battery module comprises at least two battery packs connected in sequence; The battery pack includes: a battery cell, a battery management system and a first switch unit, the battery management system includes at least one input terminal and at least one output terminal; the at least one input terminal includes a first input terminal, and the at least one output terminal includes a first output terminal; the first input terminal is connected to one end of the first switch unit, and the other end of the first switch unit is connected to the battery cell; the first output terminal is used to connect to the first input terminal of the battery management system in the next battery pack.

2. The battery pack according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first switch unit comprises a double-pole switch, the double-pole switch comprises a first-way switch and a second-way switch, and the at least one input terminal further comprises a second input terminal; One end of the first switch is connected to the first input end, and the other end of the first switch is connected to the battery cell; One end of the second switch is connected to the second input end, and the other end of the second switch is connected to one end of the first switch connected to the first input end.

3. The battery pack according to claim 2, characterized in that: The double-pole switch is a double-pole self-resetting switch; the first switch unit also includes a switch element, one end of which is connected to the first input end, and the other end is connected to the battery cell; the switch element is used to close after the battery management system of the machine is powered on.

4. The battery pack according to claim 3, characterized in that: The at least one output terminal of the battery management system further includes a second output terminal, and the second output terminal is connected to the switch element; The battery management system of the machine is used to send a holding signal to the switch element through the second output terminal after power-on.

5. The battery pack according to claim 4, characterized in that: The battery management system of the machine is also used to send the holding signal to the switch element through the second output terminal within a preset time period after power-on.

6. The battery pack according to claim 2, characterized in that: The battery management system of the machine is also used to set the machine as a host when the second input end receives an input signal.

7. The battery pack according to claim 1, characterized in that: The at least one input terminal further includes an external signal input terminal, and the external signal input terminal is used to connect to an external power source.

8. The battery pack according to claim 7, characterized in that: The external signal input terminal includes a third input terminal, and the third input terminal is used to connect to an external battery.

9. The battery pack according to claim 7, characterized in that: The external signal input terminal includes a fourth input terminal, and the fourth input terminal is used to connect to an external charging device.

10. The battery pack according to claim 7, characterized in that: The battery management system of the machine is used to set the machine as a host when the external signal input terminal receives an input signal.

11. The battery pack according to claim 7, characterized in that: The first switch unit includes a double-pole switch, the double-pole switch includes a first switch and a second switch, and the at least one input end also includes a second input end; one end of the first switch is connected to the first input end, and the other end of the first switch is connected to the battery cell; one end of the second switch is connected to the second input end, and the other end of the second switch is connected to one end of the first switch connected to the first input end; The battery management system of the local device is used to set the local device as a host device when the second input terminal or the external signal input terminal receives an input signal, otherwise, the local device is set as a slave device.

12. The battery pack according to claim 6 or 11, characterized in that: The battery management system in the host is used to disconnect the line between the battery cell of the host and the battery management system of the host after power-on if a power-off signal is detected.

13. The battery pack according to claim 12, characterized in that: The battery management system in the host is used to send a shutdown command to all slaves after power-on if the power-off signal is detected, so that each slave disconnects the line between its own battery cell and its own battery management system.

14. The battery pack according to claim 13, characterized in that: The battery management system in the host is used to control the host and all slaves to power off if a power-off signal is detected after a first period of time from power-on.

15. The battery pack according to claim 13, characterized in that: The battery management system in the host is used to send a shutdown command to all slaves every second period after detecting a power-off signal. After sending the shutdown command a preset number of times, the line between the battery cell of the local machine and the battery management system of the local machine is disconnected.

16. The battery pack according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first output terminal is used to directly connect to the first input terminal of the next battery pack.

17. The battery pack according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first output end includes a first sub-output end and a second sub-output end. The first sub-output end is connected to the first input end of the next battery pack through one end of the first switch unit of the next battery pack, and the second sub-output end is connected to the battery cell of the next battery pack through the other end of the first switch unit of the next battery pack.

18. The battery pack according to claim 17, characterized in that: The first switch unit comprises a first switch, one end of the first switch is connected to the first input end, and the other end of the first switch is connected to the battery cell; The first sub-output end is connected to the first input end through one end of the first switch, and the second sub-output end is connected to the battery cell through the other end of the first switch.

19. The battery pack according to claim 1, characterized in that: The battery pack further includes a second switch unit; the first output terminal is connected to the first input terminal of the next battery pack through the second switch unit; The battery management system of the machine is used to control the closing of the second switch unit through the first output end after power-on.

20. The battery pack according to claim 19, characterized in that: The battery management system of this machine is used to control the second switch unit to be disconnected through the first output end after the battery management system in the next battery pack connected to it is powered on.

21. The battery pack according to claim 19, characterized in that: The second switch unit is directly connected to the first input terminal of the next battery pack.

22. The battery pack according to claim 19, characterized in that: One end of the second switch unit is connected to the first input end of the next battery pack through one end of the first switch unit of the next battery pack, and the other end of the second switch unit is connected to the battery cell of the next battery pack through the other end of the first switch unit of the next battery pack.

23. The battery pack according to claim 22, characterized in that: The first switch unit comprises a first switch, one end of the first switch is connected to the first input end, and the other end of the first switch is connected to the battery cell; One end of the second switch unit is connected to the first input end of the next battery pack through one end of the first switch of the next battery pack, and the other end of the second switch unit is connected to the battery cell of the next battery pack through the other end of the first switch of the next battery pack.

24. The battery pack according to any one of claims 16 to 23, characterized in that: The battery management system in the master is used to address the battery management system in the slave.

25. The battery pack according to claim 24, characterized in that: The battery management system in the host is used to determine the address of the battery management system in the slave according to the connection order of the slave in the battery module.

26. The battery pack according to any one of claims 19 to 23, characterized in that: The battery management system in the master is also used to monitor the battery management system in the slave.

27. The battery pack according to claim 26, characterized in that: The battery management system in the host is also used to control the second switch unit in the previous battery pack connected to the slave to close to activate the slave and re-address the slave when no feedback signal is received from any slave.

28. The battery pack according to claim 27, characterized in that: The address after re-addressing is the original address of the slave.

29. The battery pack according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The battery pack also includes a voltage conversion unit; One end of the voltage conversion unit is connected to the battery management system, and the other end is connected to the battery cell.

30. The battery pack according to claim 1, characterized in that: If the battery pack is the first battery pack in the battery module, the battery management system in the battery pack is powered on when any input terminal receives electric energy.

31. The battery pack according to claim 30, characterized in that: If the battery pack is not the first battery pack in the battery module, the battery management system in the battery pack is powered on when the first input end receives electric energy.

32. A battery module, characterized in that: Comprising at least two battery packs according to any one of claims 1 to 31 connected in sequence.

33. A propulsion system, characterized in that: include: The battery module as claimed in claim 32; and Thrusters; Wherein, the battery module is used to supply power to the thruster.

34. The propulsion system of claim 33, wherein: One battery module is used to power multiple thrusters; or, multiple battery modules are used to power multiple thrusters.

35. A mobile device, characterized in that: include: A movable body; and The propulsion system of claim 33 or 34, wherein the propulsion system is mounted on the movable body.

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