Method and system for protecting sticking of relay of battery pack and vehicle

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a method and a system for protecting sticking of a relay of a battery pack, and a vehicle. The method for protecting comprises steps of: detecting whether the relay is stuck, and generating sticking fault information in case of sticking of the relay; closing and opening the relay for a preset number of times at a preset interval based on the sticking fault information, and generating an alarm signal; and detecting whether the relay is de-stuck, and generating de-sticking information. According to the present disclosure, after detecting that the relay is stuck, de-sticking operations are performed by closing and opening the relay for many times, so that the sticking state may be released on time, continuous power supply caused by the stuck relay is avoided, and potential damage to other electrical components and / or people is reduced.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROTECTING STICKING OF RELAY OF BATTERY PACK AND VEHICLEThis invention claims the priority of the Chinese patent application 202411342584.0 filed on September 25,.2024, of which the content (Text, Drawings and Claims) is incorporated by reference.RELATED FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of vehicles, and in particular to the field of battery systems for vehicles. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a method and a system for protecting sticking of a relay of a battery pack, a vehicle comprising the system for protecting, a computer-readable storage medium for implementing the method for protecting, and a computer program product for implementing the method for protecting.BACKGROUND

[0002] In a power electronic system, a relay, as an important element for controlling on- off of a circuit, is widely used in fields such as power distribution, device protection and automatic control and so on. The functions of the relay are particularly important especially in a high-voltage battery pack of a new energy vehicle. In the new energy vehicle, when contacts of the relay of the battery pack carry a large current or there is a large voltage difference between two ends of the relay, an arc is easily generated between the contacts at the moment when the relay is opened or closed. When the arc is stretched and extinguished between the contacts, it may cause local high temperature of the contacts, ablation and even partial melting of the contacts. In the process of re-contacting and cooling of the melted contacts, physical sticking is easily formed on the surfaces of the contacts, so that the relay cannot be normally opened. This sticking phenomenon causes the relay to lose control function of the circuit. In the battery pack, the sticking of the relay may cause the battery pack to always maintain a voltage output of, for example, up to 400 V, causing safety hazards to both vehicle and people.SUMMARY

[0003] It is an object of the present disclosure to solve the above problems in the prior art, and to provide a method and a respective system for protecting sticking of a relay of a battery pack, so as to protect the sticking of the relay in a cost-effective and reliable manner.

[0004] To this end, according to an aspect of the present disclosure, a method for protecting sticking of a relay of a battery pack is provided, wherein the method for protecting comprises steps of: detecting whether the relay is stuck, and generating sticking fault information in case of sticking of the relay; closing and opening the relay for a preset number of times at a preset interval based on the sticking fault information, and generating an alarm signal; and detecting whether the relay is de-stuck, and generating de-sticking information.

[0005] According to the above technical concept, the present disclosure may further comprise one or more of the following alternative forms.

[0006] In some alternative forms, the method for protecting comprises a step of: detecting historical de-sticking information of the relay based on the sticking fault information.

[0007] In some alternative forms, the method for protecting comprises a step of: detecting whether a current of a control circuit related to the relay exceeds a preset threshold.

[0008] In some alternative forms, the method for protecting comprises a step of: closing and opening the relay for the preset number of times at the preset interval in response to the current of the control circuit not exceeding the preset threshold.

[0009] In some alternative forms, the step of detecting whether the relay is de-stuck comprises: detecting whether a voltage at a load end of the relay reduces to a preset voltage and / or detecting whether a current of a control circuit related to the relay is not present after resting the relay for a preset time.

[0010] In some alternative forms, the step of detecting whether the relay is de-stuck further comprises: determining the relay to be de-stuck in response to the voltage at the load end of the relay reducing to the preset voltage and / or the current of the control circuit related to the relay not being present.

[0011] In some alternative forms, the method for protecting comprises a step of: storing the sticking fault information and / or the de-sticking information in a non-volatile memory.

[0012] In some alternative forms, the method for protecting comprises a step of: performing manual intervention in response to the alarm signal, so as to replace the relay.

[0013] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a system for protecting sticking of a relay of a battery pack is provided, wherein the system for protecting comprises: a detecting unit configured to detect whether the relay is stuck and to generate sticking fault information in case of sticking of the relay; an actuating unit configured to close and open the relay for a preset number of times at a preset interval based on the sticking fault information, and to generate an alarm signal, wherein the detecting unit is further configured to detect whether the relay is de-stuck and generate de-sticking information.

[0014] In some alternative forms, the detecting unit is configured to detect historical desticking information of the relay based on the sticking fault information.

[0015] In some alternative forms, the detecting unit is configured to detect whether a current of a control circuit related to the relay exceeds a preset threshold.

[0016] In some alternative forms, the actuating unit is configured to close and open the relay for the preset number of times at the preset interval in response to the current of the control circuit not exceeding the preset threshold.

[0017] In some alternative forms, the detecting unit is configured to detect whether a voltage at a load end of the relay reduces to a preset voltage and / or detect whether a current of a control circuit related to the relay is not present after resting the relay for a preset time.

[0018] In some alternative forms, the detecting unit is configured to determine the relay to be de-stuck in response to the voltage at the load end of the relay reducing to the preset voltage and / or the current of the control circuit related to the relay not being present.

[0019] In some alternative forms, the system for protecting further comprises a storage unit comprising a non-volatile memory, and the non-volatile memory is configured to store the sticking fault information and / or the de-sticking information.

[0020] In some alternative forms, the detecting unit comprises current sensor and / or voltage sensor, and / or the actuating unit comprises relay driver chip and / or microcontroller.

[0021] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle is provided, wherein the vehicle comprises a battery pack, a battery management system and a system forprotecting sticking of a relay of a battery pack as described above, and wherein the system for protecting is integrated with the battery management system.

[0022] In some alternative forms, the system for protecting is configured to clear the sticking fault information by an external diagnostic device via the unified diagnostic services protocol.

[0023] In some alternative forms, the system for protecting is configured to prevent the sticking of the relay when the battery pack of the vehicle powers on each time.

[0024] In some alternative forms, the vehicle comprises a vehicle body controller, and the battery management system is configured to control the closing and opening of the relay in case of sticking of the relay and to control the closing and opening of the relay in response to a command from the vehicle body controller in case of no sticking of the relay.

[0025] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein the computer-readable storage medium has computer-executable instructions stored thereon, and wherein the computer-executable instructions are used to implement a method for protecting sticking of a relay of a battery pack as described above.

[0026] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program product is provided, wherein the computer program product comprises computer-executable instructions, and wherein the computer-executable instructions implement a method for protecting sticking of a relay of a battery pack as described above when executed by at least one processor.

[0027] According to the present disclosure, after detecting that the relay of the battery pack is stuck, de-sticking operation is performed by closing and opening the relay for many times, so that the sticking state may be released on time, continuous power supply caused by the stuck relay is avoided, and potential damage to other electrical components and / or people is reduced.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will be readily understood through the following optional embodiments described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in the drawings:

[0029] FIG. 1 shows a schematic flowchart of a method for protecting sticking of a relay of a battery pack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0030] FIG. 2 shows a schematic flowchart of the method for protecting sticking of the relay of the battery pack according to another embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0031] FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a system for protecting sticking of a relay of a battery pack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] The implementation and usage of the embodiments are discussed in detail below. Although the exemplary method and system described below comprise software and / or firmware executed on hardware in other components, it should be noted that these examples are merely illustrative and should not be considered limiting. Thus, while exemplary method and system have been described below, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the specific embodiments discussed are merely illustrative of specific ways to implement and use the disclosure, and do not limit the scope of the disclosure.

[0033] In addition, the flowcharts and block diagrams in the drawings show architectures, functions and operations that may be implemented based on the method and system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be noted that the functions noted in the blocks may also occur in an order different from that noted in the drawings. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the two blocks may sometimes be executed in a reverse order, depending upon a function involved. It will also be noted that each block in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams, and the combination of the blocks in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams can be implemented by using a dedicated hardware-based system that performs the specified functions or operations, or can be implemented by using a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions.

[0034] In a battery pack of a new energy vehicle, a relay may generate an arc during opening and closing due to a large current in a high-voltage circuit or a large voltage difference between two ends of the relay, and cause ablation and melting of contacts. Long-term ablation and melting will change geometry of the contacts, resulting in an increase in their resistance and leading sticking of the contacts, so that the relay is still in a closed state when the relayshould be opened, thereby forming safety hazards. The inventor has found that, at present, after detecting that the relay is stuck, a manner of stopping operations and waiting for maintenance people to replace the relay is usually selected. However, this manner may extend the time that the high-voltage circuit is in an unsafe state and may even cause the maintenance people to get an electric shock during testing of the circuit or replacement of the relay.

[0035] Referring to FIG. 1, a method for protecting sticking of a relay of a battery pack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may comprise the following steps.

[0036] Step S101 : detecting whether the relay is stuck, and generating sticking fault information in case of sticking of the relay.

[0037] As shown in FIG. 3, a system for protecting sticking of a relay of a battery pack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure comprises a detecting unit 110 and an actuating unit 120. The system for protecting may be integrated with a battery management system (BMS) of the vehicle to control closing and opening of the relay. For example, the detecting unit 110 may comprise current sensor, voltage sensor and the like, and the actuating unit 120 may comprise relay driver chip, microcontroller and the like. In step S101, the detecting unit 110 may detect whether the relay is stuck. In some embodiments, the detecting unit 110 may judge the state of the relay by detecting a voltage between two ends of the relay. Specifically, after the BMS sends an open instruction to the relay, it is detected that there is no voltage difference between the two ends of the relay, that is, the load end of the relay is still at a high voltage, and it is judged that the relay is stuck. It may be understood that the manner of judging the relay being stuck is not limited thereto, and may be changed as required. For example, after the BMS sends the open instruction to the relay, it is detected that there is still a current of a control circuit related to the relay, and it is judged that the relay is stuck.

[0038] If the judgement result in step S101 is “No”, it indicates that the relay is not stuck, and there is no need to perform a subsequent protection process. If the judgement result is “Yes”, it indicates that the relay is stuck, the detecting unit 110 will generate the sticking fault information, and step SI 02 continues.

[0039] Step SI 02: closing and opening the relay for a preset number of times at a preset interval based on the sticking fault information, and generating an alarm signal.

[0040] In step SI 02, when detecting that the relay is stuck, the actuating unit 120 maycontrol the relay to be closed and opened for the preset number of times at the preset time interval, and generate the alarm signal. In some embodiments, the preset time interval may be in a range from 5 ms to 10 ms, and the preset number of times may be in a range from 50 to 100. For example, the actuating unit 120 may control the relay to be continuously closed and opened 50 times, and the time for each closing and opening is 10 ms. As such, the sticking of the relay may be quickly and effectively released by repeatedly powering on the relay in a short time and repeatedly closing and opening the stuck relay in a large amount, which is equivalent to pushing the relay to be closed and opened back and forth for many times to separate the stuck contacts of the relay and power off the circuit. In addition, the relay still needs to be replaced after the contacts of the relay are opened since the relay has been stuck and is in the unsafe state. Therefore, the actuating unit 120 further generates the alarm signal to notify the user to perform manual intervention and replace the relay. In some embodiments, the alarm signal may provide an alert to the user through dashboard and / or infotainment system of head unit screen of the vehicle, so that subsequent maintenance may be performed on time.

[0041] Step SI 03: detecting whether the relay is de-stuck, and generating de-sti eking information.

[0042] In step S103, the detecting unit 110 may detect whether the relay is successfully de-stuck after being closed and opened continuously for many times, and the detecting unit 110 may generate the de-sticking information based on the detection result. In some embodiments, the relay may be rested for a preset time, for example, 2 s to 5 s, after the relay is closed and opened continuously for many times. Then, the detecting unit 110 may detect whether a voltage at a load end of the relay reduces to a preset voltage and / or detect whether a current of a control circuit related to the relay is not present, so as to detect whether the relay is de-stuck. For example, the preset voltage may be about 100V. In this way, it is possible to detect whether the de-sticking of the relay is successful, and the generated de-sticking information may help to accelerate maintenance efficiency in the subsequent maintenance process of the battery pack, so that the maintenance people are prepared for full protection, etc. In addition, the contacts may still be in an unstable state after the relay is continuously operated. If the voltage and the current are detected immediately, the accuracy of the detection result will be low. In this embodiment, parasitic capacitance or inductive load of the circuit may be given time to completely discharge by resting the relay, ensuring that the change of the voltage at the loadend is due to the state change of the relay rather than a transient effect, and a more accurate residual current will be detected.

[0043] If the judgement result in step SI 03 is “Yes”, it indicates that the relay has been destuck, and the protection process is ended; If the judgement result of step SI 03 is “No”, it indicates that the relay has not been de-stuck. In this case, step S101 may be repeated and the relay is continuously controlled to be closed and opened for the preset number of times at the preset interval in step SI 02, or, for example, the de-sti eking operation may be performed again by increasing the preset time interval and the preset number of times. After the relay is closed and opened for the preset number of times at the preset interval or the preset time interval and the preset number of times are increased to a certain degree to continue the de-sticking operation, if the judgement result of step SI 03 is still “No”, it indicates that the sticking state cannot be repaired by the de-sticking operation, and manual intervention is required. It should be understood that the foregoing “a certain degree” may be set and modified as required, and is not limited herein.

[0044] In this way, according to the method for protecting of the present embodiment, after detecting that the relay is stuck, the de-sticking operation is performed by closing and opening the relay for many times, so that the sticking state may be released on time, continuous power supply caused by the stuck relay is avoided, and potential damage to other electrical components and / or people is reduced.

[0045] With reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, a method for protecting sticking of a relay of a battery pack according to another embodiment of the present disclosure comprises the following steps:

[0046] Step S201 : detecting whether the relay is stuck, and generating sticking fault information in case of sticking of the relay.

[0047] If the judgement result in step S201 is “No”, it indicates that the relay is not stuck, and there is no need to perform a subsequent protection process. If the judgement result is “Yes”, it indicates that the relay is stuck, the sticking fault information may be generated, and step S202 continues.

[0048] Step S202: detecting historical de-sticking information of the relay based on the sticking fault information.

[0049] In step S202, in case the detecting unit 110 detects that the relay is stuck, the detecting unit 110 may continue to detect the historical de-stuck information of the relay. If it is detected that the relay has performed the de-sticking but has not successfully opened the contacts, the sticking state may not be repaired by the de-sticking operation due to serious ablation and melting of the contacts. At this time, repeatedly closing and opening the relay will only aggravate the damage. Thus, the system for protecting will stop performing the subsequent protection process, and the actuating unit 120 may generate an alarm signal based on the sticking fault information, so as to notify the user to perform manual intervention. If it is detected that the relay has not performed the de-sticking, step S203 continues.

[0050] Step S203: detecting whether a current of a control circuit related to the relay exceeds a preset threshold.

[0051] In step S203, in case the relay has not performed the de-sticking, the detecting unit 110 may detect whether the current of the control circuit related to the relay exceeds the preset threshold. In some embodiments, the preset threshold may be in a range from 100 Ato 300 A. As such, the state of the control circuit may be monitored. In case the relay has not performed the de-sticking, the current exceeding the preset threshold may indicate that there is current leakage, short circuit or the like in the circuit caused by the sticking of the relay. However, if the de-sticking is still performed when, for example, the circuit is shorted, the relay may further be sintered and stuck again because there is a large current in the circuit. Thus, it may be judged whether to perform the de-sticking operation through the current detection in advance, thereby improving the safety and reliability of the method for protecting.

[0052] If the judgement result in step S203 is “Yes”, it indicates that the current of the control circuit exceeds the preset threshold. At this time, there is a risk such as short circuit in the control circuit, the system for protecting will stop the subsequent protection process, and step S201 may be repeated after working condition of the vehicle being stable to perform the detection process again. If the judgement result is “No”, it indicates that the current of the control circuit does not exceed the preset threshold, and step S204 continues.

[0053] Step S204: closing and opening the relay for the preset number of times at the preset interval in response to the current of the control circuit not exceeding the preset threshold.

[0054] Step S205: detecting whether a voltage at a load end of a relay reduces to a presetvoltage and / or detecting whether the current of the control circuit related to the relay is not present after resting the relay for a preset time.

[0055] In step S205, if the judgment result is “Yes”, it indicates that the voltage at the load end of the relay reduces to the preset voltage and / or the current of the control circuit related to the relay is not present, and step S206 continues. If the judgment result is “No”, it indicates that the voltage at the load end of the relay does not reduce to the preset voltage and / or the current of the control circuit related to the relay is present. At this time, step S201 may be repeated, and the relay may be continuously controlled to be closed and opened for the preset number of times at the preset interval in step S204, or, for example, the de-sticking operation may be performed again by increasing the preset time interval and the preset number of times. After the relay is closed and opened for the preset number of times at the preset interval or the preset time interval and the preset number of times are increased to a certain degree to continue the de-sticking operation, if the judgement result of step S205 is still “No”, it indicates that the case of sticking cannot be repaired by the de-sticking operation, and manual intervention is required. It should be understood that the foregoing “a certain degree” may be set and modified as required, and is not limited herein.

[0056] Step S206: determining the relay to be de-stuck in response to the voltage at the load end of the relay reducing to the preset voltage and / or the current of the control circuit related to the relay not being present.

[0057] Step S207: generating de-sticking information by the detecting unit 110.

[0058] Step S208: storing the sticking fault information and / or the de-sticking information in a non-volatile memory.

[0059] The system for protecting according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may further comprise a storage unit 130. The storage unit 130 may store the sticking fault information and / or the de-sticking information, so that it may be judged whether the relay has performed the de-sticking by the storage unit 130 in the next protection process. In some embodiments, the storage unit 130 may comprise a non-volatile memory (NVM), for example electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, or the like. The data stored in the NVM does not disappear after being powered off. The NVM has a long data storage life, may store data for a long time, and improves the reliability and data traceabilityof the system for protecting. The BMS may optimize battery and power management by reading the historical sticking fault information and / or the de-sticking information, thereby improving the safety of the vehicle system.

[0060] As shown in FIG. 3, the system for protecting sticking of the relay of the battery pack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may comprise the detecting unit 110 and the actuating unit 120. The detecting unit 110 is configured to detect whether the relay is stuck and to generate sticking fault information in case of sticking of the relay. The actuating unit 120 is configured to close and open the relay for a preset number of times at a preset interval based on the sticking fault information, and to generate an alarm signal. In addition, the detecting unit 110 is further configured to detect whether the relay is de-stuck and generate desticking information.

[0061] The functions of the system for protecting sticking of the relay of the battery pack according to this embodiment are described with reference to FIG. 1, which will not be repeated herein.

[0062] In some embodiments, the detecting unit 110 is configured to detect historical desticking information of the relay based on the sticking fault information. In some embodiments, the detecting unit 110 is configured to detect whether a current of a control circuit related to the relay exceeds a preset threshold. The actuating unit 120 is configured to close and open the relay for the preset number of times at the preset interval in response to the current of the control circuit not exceeding the preset threshold. In some embodiments, the detecting unit 110 is configured to detect whether a voltage at a load end of the relay reduces to a preset voltage and / or detect whether a current of a control circuit related to the relay is not present after resting the relay for a preset time, and determine the relay to be de-stuck in response to the voltage at the load end of the relay reducing to the preset voltage and / or the current of the control circuit related to the relay not being present. In some embodiments, the storage unit 130 comprises a non-volatile memory configured to store the sticking fault information and / or the de-sticking information. In some embodiments, the detecting unit 110 may comprise current sensor and / or voltage sensor, and / or the actuating unit 120 may comprise relay driver chip and / or microcontroller.

[0063] The functions of the system for protecting sticking of the relay of the battery packaccording to this embodiment are described with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 2, which will not be repeated herein.

[0064] As described above, the system for protecting may be integrated with the BMS. In addition, when the relay is stuck, the BMS may preferentially perform emergency processing to control closing and opening of the relay. This autonomous control of the relay through the BMS enables timely response measures to be taken in emergency cases, thereby improving the safety of the vehicle. When the relay is not stuck, the BMS controls closing and opening of the relay in response to instructions of a vehicle control unit (VCU), so as to maintain a normal working process of the vehicle, so that power and battery management of the vehicle meet requirements of the vehicle system.

[0065] In some embodiments, the system for protecting may clear the sticking fault information by an external diagnostic device via the unified diagnostic services (UDS) protocol. For example, the external diagnostic device may comprise diagnostic instrument, CAN open environment diagnostic tool, and the like. Specifically, when the external diagnostic device is connected to the vehicle, the external diagnostic device will communicate with the VCU / electronic control unit (ECU) of the vehicle through the UDS protocol. The external diagnostic device sends a command for reading the fault information to the VCUZECU. The VCUZECU obtains the related sticking fault information from the BMS through the Controller Area Network (CAN) in the vehicle, and sends the sticking fault information to the external diagnostic device to clear the sticking fault information. In this way, after the relay is replaced, the sticking fault information can be cleared by using the external diagnostic device, so as to ensure that the fault state of the relay has been repaired, avoid false alarm caused by the historical fault information and the like, and improve the reliability of the system for protecting.

[0066] In addition, the system for protecting may protect the sticking of the relay when the vehicle is powered on each time. That is to say, when the vehicle is powered at high voltage on each time and the battery pack is ready to start supplying power, the BMS first checks the state of the relay to ensure that the relay is not stuck, or the BMS performs the de-sticking operation when the relay is stuck and sends the alarm signal to perform subsequent replacement of the relay. As such, abnormal power supply of the high-voltage battery pack is prevented, and potential safety hazards of the vehicle can be avoided.

[0067] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein the computer-readable storage medium has computerexecutable instructions stored thereon, and wherein the computer-executable instructions are used to implement a method for protecting sticking of a relay of a battery pack according to the embodiments as described above.

[0068] Optionally, the computer-readable storage medium according to this embodiment may be read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), semiconductor storage device, magnetic surface storage device, optical storage device, and the like.

[0069] The present disclosure further provides a computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions, wherein the computer-executable instructions implement a method for protecting sticking of a relay of a battery pack according to the embodiments as described above when executed by at least one processor.

[0070] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware, dedicated circuits, software programs, firmware, logic circuits, or any combination thereof, as desired. In particular, some aspects may be implemented in hardware, and other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software programs executable by controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. While various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representation, it will be appreciated that the blocks, devices, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuits, logic circuits, general hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0071] The computer-executable instructions or the computer program product for implementing various embodiments of the present disclosure can also be stored in cloud, and when it needs to be called, the user can access the computer-executable instructions for implementing one embodiment of the present disclosure stored on the cloud through mobile Internet, fixed network or other networks, thereby implementing various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0072] It should be understood that the embodiments shown in the drawings only illustrate the optional configuration of the system for protecting sticking of the relay of the battery packaccording to the present disclosure. However, these embodiments are merely intended to be illustrative rather than restrictive. Other configurations may be adopted without departing from the idea and scope of the present disclosure.

[0073] The technical contents and technical features of the present disclosure have been disclosed above. However, it may be understood that, those skilled in the art can make various changes and improvements to the above-disclosed concept under the creative concept of the present disclosure, and all these various changes and improvements still fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure. The description of the foregoing embodiments is illustrative rather than restrictive, and the scope of protection of the present disclosure is determined by the appended claims.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method for protecting sticking of a relay of a battery pack, comprising steps of: detecting whether the relay is stuck, and generating sticking fault information in case of sticking of the relay (S 101 ; S201); closing and opening the relay for a preset number of times at a preset interval based on the sticking fault information, and generating an alarm signal (SI 02); detecting whether the relay is de-stuck, and generating de-sti eking information (SI 03).

2. The method for protecting according to claim 1, wherein the method for protecting comprises a step of: detecting historical de-sticking information of the relay based on the sticking fault information (S202).

3. The method for protecting according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the method for protecting comprises a step of: detecting whether a current of a control circuit related to the relay exceeds a preset threshold (S203).

4. The method for protecting according to claim 3, wherein the method for protecting comprises a step of: closing and opening the relay for the preset number of times at the preset interval in response to the current of the control circuit not exceeding the preset threshold (S204).

5. The method for protecting according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the step of detecting whether the relay is de-stuck comprises: detecting whether a voltage at a load end of the relay reduces to a preset voltage and / or detecting whether a current of a control circuit related to the relay is not present after resting the relay for a preset time (S205).

6. The method for protecting according to claim 5, wherein the step of detecting whether the relay is de-stuck further comprises: determining the relay to be de-stuck in response to the voltage at the load end of the relay reducing to the preset voltage and / or the current of the control circuit related to the relay not being present (S206).

7. The method for protecting according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the method for protecting comprises a step of: storing the sticking fault information and / or the de-sticking information in a non-volatile memory (S208).

8. The method for protecting according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the method for protecting comprises a step of: performing manual intervention in response to the alarm signal to replace the relay.

9. A system for protecting sticking of a relay of a battery pack, comprising: a detecting unit (110) configured to detect whether the relay is stuck and to generate sticking fault information in case of sticking of the relay; an actuating unit (120) configured to close and open the relay for a preset number of times at a preset interval based on the sticking fault information, and to generate an alarm signal, wherein the detecting unit (110) is further configured to detect whether the relay is destuck and generate de-sticking information.

10. The system for protecting according to claim 9, wherein the detecting unit (110) is configured to detect historical de-sticking information of the relay based on the sticking fault information.

11. The system for protecting according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the detecting unit (110) is configured to detect whether a current of a control circuit related to the relay exceeds a preset threshold.1712. The system for protecting according to claim 11, wherein the actuating unit (120) is configured to close and open the relay for the preset number of times at the preset interval in response to the current of the control circuit not exceeding the preset threshold.

13. The system for protecting according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the detecting unit (110) is configured to detect whether a voltage at a load end of the relay reduces to a preset voltage and / or detect whether a current of a control circuit related to the relay is not present after resting the relay for a preset time.

14. The system for protecting according to claim 13, wherein the detecting unit (110) is configured to determine the relay to be de-stuck in response to the voltage at the load end of the relay reducing to the preset voltage and / or the current of the control circuit related to the relay not being present.

15. The system for protecting according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the system for protecting further comprises a storage unit (130) comprising a non-volatile memory, and the non-volatile memory is configured to store the sticking fault information and / or the de-sticking information.

16. The system for protecting according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the detecting unit (110) comprises current sensor and / or voltage sensor, and / or the actuating unit (120) comprises relay driver chip and / or microcontroller.

17. A vehicle comprising a battery pack, a battery management system and a system for protecting sticking of a relay of a battery pack according to any one of claims 9 to 16, wherein the system for protecting is integrated with the battery management system.

18. The vehicle according to claim 17, wherein the system for protecting is configured to18 clear the sticking fault information by an external diagnostic device via the unified diagnostic services protocol.

19. The vehicle according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the system for protecting is configured to protect the sticking of the relay when the battery pack of the vehicle powers on each time.

20. The vehicle according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the vehicle comprises a vehicle body controller, and the battery management system is configured to control the closing and opening of the relay in case of sticking of the relay and to control the closing and opening of the relay in response to a command from the vehicle body controller in case of no sticking of the relay.

21. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer-executable instructions stored thereon, wherein the computer-executable instructions are used to implement a method for protecting sticking of a relay of a battery pack according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

22. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions, wherein the computer-executable instructions implement a method for protecting sticking of a relay of a battery pack according to any one of claims 1 to 8 when executed by at least one processor.

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